Colombian presidential candidate's condition critical after assassination attempt

Doctors treating a Colombian presidential candidate wounded twice in the head by a would-be assassin cautioned Monday that he was not responding well to treatment and that his situation was critical.

A 15-year-old suspected hitman shot right-wing Senator Miguel Uribe, 39, at close range while campaigning in Bogota on Saturday.

The daring attack has surprised Colombians, many of whom thought decades of brutal politics and narco-violence were behind them.

As police investigated for a motive and suspects, Uribe was fighting for his life in a Bogota hospital.

Medics at the Santa Fe Clinic announced Monday that he was still in “the most grave condition” and was “scarcely responding to the interventions and medical treatments.”

Meanwhile, state prosecutor Luz Adriana Camargo said the alleged teen gunman arrested at the scene was believed to be part of a network of “sicarios” – or hitmen – working for hire.

The Glock pistol he is alleged to have used was purchased legally in the US state of Arizona in 2020, according to police chief Carlos Triana.

Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez said authorities were working on several hypotheses to explain the attack.

Sanchez said that it could have been a message to Uribe’s conservative party ahead of the 2026 elections, or an effort to destabilize the country’s first-ever leftist government.

The shocking attack has already sparked a febrile political response in some quarters.

Opponents of President Gustavo Petro have accused the pugilistic left-wing leader of creating fertile ground for political violence.

Petro has joined politicians from across the political spectrum in denouncing the attempted assassination.

Powerful ex-president Alvaro Uribe – whose term brought a bloody head-on war against left-wing guerrillas – claimed that he had been warned by overseas intelligence of a second assassination plot, this time targeting him.