Colombia’s president blames ‘international mafia’ for senator shooting

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(Bloomberg) — Colombian President Gustavo Petro blamed a global crime syndicate for an attempted assassination that’s shocked the Andean nation and left a contender for his job in critical condition.

The leftist leader said late Monday in a lengthy post on social media he was ordering increased security measures for opposition leaders ahead of next year’s presidential election.

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Miguel Uribe Turbay, the conservative senator who was shot in the head at a weekend rally, remained in intensive care Tuesday morning, according to the Bogotá hospital where he is being treated.

“There are very strong indications that have reached high-ranking opposition leaders and us that the perpetrator of the attack is the international mafia,” Petro said. “The assassins want us to kill each other, weaken the state, and advance their control over the illicit economy.”

He blamed a drug trafficking ring that extends from Dubai, Italy and Albania to Ecuador, saying it has links to Colombia’s Gulf Clan and a warlord known as Iván Mordisco.

The attempted assassination of Uribe is the latest sign that events in Colombia are spinning out of control, a little more than a year before Petro must leave office. Cocaine production is at a record as gangs capture more territory, and fiscal accounts are the worst they’ve been since the pandemic. The president has been unable to get his main initiatives past Congress and the courts, and his erratic handling of this incident is again raising doubts about his fitness to lead.

In addition to Uribe, Petro said security was being increased for María Fernanda Cabal, Abelardo de la Espriella, and Vicky Dávila.

The teenage suspect in the case is due to appear in court Tuesday morning, where he will likely be charged with attempted murder and illegal possession of a firearm. Authorities say the Glock pistol used in the attack was purchased in the US in 2020.

Since the suspect is a minor, he would be tried in a juvenile system under which the maximum sentence he faces if convicted is eight years.

Petro said the teenage hitman circled the park where the attack occurred for four hours. He arrived on a motorcycle, spoke with people in a van and had a cellphone with which he asked for a small payment that he is believed to have handed over to another person. The president also said Uribe’s son had been followed from school, and the prosecutor’s office was investigating whether the senator himself was being tailed.