Spanish
The attempt on the life of Uribe Turbay, a member of the Uribista Democratic Center party, has caused consternation in the country and total rejection of what many consider a 30-year setback in terms of political violence, added to a widespread clamor to put aside inflammatory and hateful speeches in the run-up to next year's elections.
"It is essential to protect all candidates as a fundamental element of our democracy. The past of political violence, with assassinated candidates, cannot be repeated. And all public actors, starting with the first president, must avoid violent language that fosters polarization and generates, in turn, more violence," stated today former minister José Antonio Ocampo.A bleeding country
That past of violence to which Ocampo alluded was the bloody presidential campaign for the 1990 elections in which the country was subjected to the violence of drug trafficking and three candidates for head of state were assassinated in just eight months.
The first was the liberal Luis Carlos Galán Sarmiento, assassinated on the night of August 18, 1989, during a rally in the main square of Soacha, a municipality adjacent to Bogotá, in an attack that, due to the way it was committed, bears similarities to yesterday's against Uribe Turbay.
Seven months later, on March 22, 1990, Bernardo Jaramillo Ossa, presidential candidate of the leftist party Unión Patriótica (UP), was assassinated at the Bogotá airport. Jaramillo had replaced Jaime Pardo Leal at the head of the UP, who was a presidential candidate in 1986 and was assassinated a year later, on October 11, 1987, in the town of La Mesa, near Bogotá, as part of the genocide that cost the lives of more than 4,000 members of that party born from an attempt at a peace agreement of the government of the time with the FARC guerrillas.The bloodbath also claimed the life of Carlos Pizarro Leongómez, who was commander of the guerrilla group Movimiento 19 de Abril (M-19) and signed the peace in March 1990 with then-President Virgilio Barco (1986-1990).
However, less than a month later, on April 26, 1990, when he was a presidential candidate, he was shot by a hitman who shot him on a plane in mid-flight as he was traveling to Barranquilla for an electoral rally.
Call for Concord
One of his daughters, the left-wing senator María José Pizarro, who is also a presidential pre-candidate for the ruling Pacto Histórico party, proposed an agreement against violence in politics to all parties."I am the daughter of a presidential candidate assassinated in 1990 and this story cannot be repeated," said Pizarro on her X account, adding: "Colombia is in pain, we must act with greatness, prudence and empathy. I call on the bases of the Historical Pact, influencers and media to abandon and reject messages of revenge, hatred and calls to violence."
Much of the criticism for the situation the country is experiencing points to President Gustavo Petro, who in recent months has hardened his discourse against his opponents, whom he disqualifies with adjectives such as "fascists", "assassins", "nazis", "coup plotters" and even "sewer rats", as he called them last night in his speech about the attack against Uribe Turbay.
"President Petro has led the country to an abyss that we never imagined we would face again. His way of dividing and pointing fingers has been interpreted by criminal groups as a signal that encourages violence," said the President of the Senate, the conservative Efraín Cepeda, who, like Uribe Turbay, is a severe critic of the president.Therefore, former liberal minister Juan Fernando Cristo, who until a few months ago was part of Petro's cabinet, proposed today to "take a break in this spiral of hatred and violence."
"If we don't do it, this campaign that hasn't even started will be impossible (...) That is the only way to regain tranquility and isolate the criminals who always resort to their murderous weapons," he stated in a post on X.
One of the first to respond to those calls was presidential pre-candidate Gustavo Bolívar, one of the figures on the left closest to Petro, who announced this Sunday the suspension of his political activity in the run-up to the 2026 elections due to the attack against Uribe Turbay.
"On my part and out of respect for Miguel Uribe, I am suspending all political activity and I ask the other pre-candidates to put an end to personal disqualification, to verbal violence," said Bolívar, while the country does not cease to express its solidarity with the injured senator and his family.
