Miguel Uribe Turbay, a Colombian senator and presidential hopeful, died last week, two months after having been shot while speaking at a campaign event in Bogota. A 15-year-old suspect is in custody for the crime, accused of striking Uribe twice in the head and once in the leg. Uribe remained in critical condition after multiple surgeries until his death on Aug. 11.
The assassination fits a broader pattern of recent political violence in the Western Hemisphere. But in the particular context of Colombia’s recent history as well as its current polarized political environment, his death is rattling a country that is already on edge as next year’s presidential election approaches.
Starting with the international context, recent high-profile assassinations and assassination attempts against political figures in the Western Hemisphere have generally fallen into two categories.