Bogotá.- With a solemn mass in the Primada Cathedral and military honors, Colombia gave a massive farewell to Senator and opposition presidential pre-candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay, who died on Monday, after battling for two months injured in an attack in Bogotá.
The Eucharist was officiated by the Archbishop of Bogota, Cardinal Luis José Rueda, in the presence of former presidents César Gaviria (1990-1994), Ernesto Samper (1994-1998) and Juan Manuel Santos (2010-2018), as well as former Vice President Marta Lucía Ramírez, but with the total absence of representation from President Gustavo Petro’s Government at the family’s request.
“Miguel no quería que se repitiera lo que él tuvo que vivir a sus cuatro años y que dolorosamente hoy mi hijo amado, Alejandro, está viviendo, ese mismo pasado que Miguel no quería que volviera y que hoy golpea a nuestra familia de la manera más cruda y más cruel”
dijo su esposa María Claudia Tarazona.
Miguel Uribe Londoño, father of the assassinated politician, relived the moments he experienced 34 years ago at the funeral of Diana Turbay, murdered during a rescue attempt after being held for six months by the Medellín cartel.
“Today, 34 years later, this absurd violence also takes away from me that same boy who became a good man, loving husband, exemplary father, and honest and brave leader: Miguel Uribe Turbay. Today, 34 years later, we also had to tell my grandson Alejandro, Miguel’s four-year-old son, that his father was also murdered,” he stated.
Alejandro, el hijo de Uribe Turbay, de solo cuatro años, se acercó al féretro cubierto con la bandera de Colombia.
Also attending to bid farewell to the senator from the right-wing Centro Democrático party were a representation of the U.S. government, formed by the Under Secretary of State, Christopher Landau; Republican Senator Bernie Moreno and the head of the diplomatic mission of that country in Bogotá, John T. McNamara.
