Il Nuovo Postiglione - Colombia presidential hopeful 'critical' after shooting

Uribe, a 39-year-old conservative senator, was shot twice in the head and once in the leg by a 15-year-old suspected hitman while giving a speech on June 7.

He has been in hospital since the attack fighting for his life.

After an emergency operation to stop internal bleeding early on Monday, doctors said his condition had worsened.

"He is out of surgery and his condition is extremely critical," said medic Adolfo Llinas Volpe.

He was said to be suffering from "persistent cerebral edema and intercerebral bleeding that is difficult to control."

Uribe's wife Maria Claudia Tarazona called for Colombians to join in prayer for her husband.

"I have to tell you that he is fighting the most difficult battle we have had to date" she said outside the hospital.

"Today is crucial, and we need all your prayers, your pleas, your words of love."

Uribe, a member of the Democratic Center party of former right-wing president Alvaro Uribe (no relation), announced his intention to run in the May 2026 presidential election last October.

His shooting has kindled fears that Colombia may return to the violence of the 1980s and 1990s, when political assassinations and bombings were commonplace.

He is the son of Diana Turbay, a famed journalist who was killed after being kidnapped by Pablo Escobar's Medellin Cartel, and grandson of Julio Cesar Turbay, who led Colombia from 1978 to 1982.

On Sunday thousands of Colombians marched in major cities to voice their anger at the attack and demand peace.

G.Palmiero--INP