Colombia on Edge as Miguel Uribe Undergoes Emergency Brain Surgery

0
5560
Bogotá's Plaza de Bolívar filled to capacity during Sunday's Marcha del Silencio.Photo: Richard Emblin

Colombia remains on edge after Senator and presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe Turbay was rushed into emergency brain surgery on Monday morning, just one day after tens of thousands took part in a peaceful, unprecedented nationwide march condemning political violence and expressing support for the critically wounded politician.

According to an official medical bulletin from the Fundación Santa Fe hospital in Bogotá, Uribe underwent urgent neurosurgery after doctors detected acute intracranial bleeding through clinical evaluation and CT imaging. The procedure, described as a “complementary surgical intervention to the initial operation,” was deemed necessary due to sudden complications more than a week after the close-range assassination attempt.

“The post-operative brain CT scan showed the expected results, with no significant additional changes,” the hospital reported, though Uribe’s condition remains critical and his neurological prognosis guarded.

The 39-year-old senator for the right-wing Democratic Center party was shot in the head on June 7 while addressing supporters at a campaign rally in Bogotá’s Modelia neighborhood. The orchestrated shooting has shocked the nation and triggered widespread condemnation across Colombia’s political spectrum.

In response, more than 70,000 citizens marched in Bogotá on Sunday, June 15, as part of the “March of Silence” – a historic demonstration that also drew major turnouts in Medellín, Cali, Barranquilla, and at least 20 other cities. Organizers emphasized that the march was nonpartisan and a call for national unity, mourning, and reflection.

Participants dressed in white, carried Colombian flags, and walked in silence to honor Uribe as well as to denounce all forms of political violence. The event unfolded without vandalism, looting, or clashes with riot police, in contrast to mobilizations summoned by Colombia’s trade unions and the presidency. Urban mobility was also unaffected despite the magnitude of the turnout.

As the largest demonstration of unity seen since the “No Más FARC” marches of February 2008, the March of Silence culminated with Senators Paloma Valencia and María Fernanda Cabal addressing a packed Plaza de Bolívar from the steps of the Capitol. The majority of marchers expressed concerns not only for Uribe’s life but also for the perilous state of Colombia’s democracy.

President Gustavo Petro’s increasingly polarizing rhetoric and his controversial push for a consulta popular—a national referendum on his labor reform plan that bypasses Congress—have sparked alarm among opposition leaders and legal scholars. Many see his attempts to override legislative checks and balances as the gravest threat to the constitutional order since the 1991 Constitution was enacted.

As the criminal investigation into the June 7 shooting unfolds, Colombia’s Attorney General’s Office confirmed that two additional suspects have been arrested: Carlos Eduardo Mora González and, on Monday, Katerine Andrea Martínez Martínez. Both are accused of aiding the 15-year-old gunman, who was apprehended immediately after the shooting with a 9mm Glock pistol in his possession.

Investigators are conducting ballistics tests on the weapon and have recovered 12 spent casings from the scene, believed to have come from both the assailant and Uribe’s security detail. Surveillance footage reportedly places Mora González—a Colombian-Venezuelan national—at the scene on the day of the attack. He is suspected of coordinating logistics and was allegedly recorded driving one of the two getaway vehicles used by the teenage shooter.

Martínez, who was arrested in Caquetá and flown to Bogotá by police, is allegedly involved in drug trafficking, particularly the sale of a pink cocaine known as “Tussi.” She was formally charged on Monday with aggravated attempted homicide, illegal possession of firearms, and using a minor to commit a crime. She has denied all charges before a control of guarantees judge. A hearing scheduled for Tuesday will determine whether she remains in pretrial detention.

Mora González faces similar charges, including the use of minors for criminal activity, and is currently being held in custody. Authorities believe the group may be part of a broader criminal conspiracy, although the motive for the attack has yet to be confirmed.

As investigators piece together the events behind the attack, Colombians are rallying around a message of peace and democratic integrity. With attention shifting from Bogotá’s Plaza de Bolívar to the intensive care unit at the Santa Fe Hospital, the survival of Miguel Uribe – and the political legacy he represents – is shaping the nation’s critical hours and days.

La Marcha del Silencio. Photo: “X”