”After having completed the neurosurgical interventions and the interventions on his left thigh, he was transferred to intensive care and postoperative stabilization,” the Santa Fe University Hospital in the capital Bogotá writes in a press release at 16.30, Swedish time.
His condition is described as extremely serious and the prognosis as uncertain.
Uribe was hit by two shots, according to Colombia's highest prosecutor's office.
The 39-year-old top politician, who belongs to the right-wing party Centro Democratico, was attacked when he spoke at an event in a park in Bogotá. Pictures taken shortly after the attack show how his head and back were covered in blood.
Uribe was flown to the hospital in a critical condition. His wife then wrote on social media that he “is fighting for his life right now”.
Suspect receives care
A 15-year-old has been arrested and is said to have carried a weapon. The boy also receives care as he was injured in connection with the attack. Two other people, a man and a woman, have also been injured.
The motive is still unclear. Colombia's Minister of Defense has promised that military, police, and intelligence services will do everything to find out what happened. A reward has also been promised for information about the shooting.
The attack has been condemned by politicians from right to left in the country and internationally.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio calls it “a direct threat to democracy”. Rubio blames Colombia's left-wing President Gustavo Petro and claims that he has led a “violent” and inflammatory rhetoric.
Critical of the president
Gustavo Petro, on the other hand, strongly condemns the attack and says in a statement that it is not just an attack on Miguel Uribe as a person but also on “democracy, freedom of expression, and the right to exercise politics in Colombia”. Petro cancels a planned trip to France.
Later on Saturday evening, the president held an unscheduled meeting with the country's security council and promised that the investigation will be conducted with full transparency.
Miguel Uribe, who is currently a senator, announced in March that he will run in next year's presidential election in Colombia. He is close to the country's former President Álvaro Uribe (no relation), and has been very critical of President Petro's policy.
He is also the son of a journalist who was kidnapped and killed in 1991, during one of the more violent periods in Colombia.
