A Colombian right-wing Opposition senator and candidate in next year’s presidential election was shot and wounded in Bogota today, various media reported, while the Government denounced an “attack”.

Miguel Uribe Turbay, 39, was in critical condition and one person had been arrested, according to media reports.

“Violence can never be the way ... I sincerely hope that [Uribe] is well and out of danger,” Foreign Minister Laura Sarabia wrote on social media.

Colombia President Petro Gustavo posted on X, formerly Twitter, reacting to the shooting.

“Oh, Colombia and its eternal violence.”

He expressed his solidarity with the Uribe and Turbay families.

“I don’t know how to ease their pain.”

Miguel Uribo has been a member of the Senate since 2022.

The President’s office later issued an official statement, saying the national Government categorically and forcefully rejected the attack.

“This act of violence was not only an attack against the personal integrity of the senator, it was also an attack against the democracy, freedom of thought and the legitimate exercise of politics in Colombia.”

Colombia’s Defence Minister Pedro Sánchez offered a reward of up to three million Colombian pesos or to anyone who can provide more information about those responsible, and also ordered the security forces to “deploy all their capabilities to urgently clarify the facts. In the coming minutes, we will hold an extraordinary meeting with the military and police leadership to outline a strategy to address this situation”.

According to the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Colombia is grappling with “overlapping persistent humanitarian challenges” caused by armed conflict and ongoing disasters.

The OCHA said as of 2024, 8.3 million people in the country were in need of urgent assistance.

The Council of Foreign Relations estimated that civil conflict in Colombia has left as many as 220,000 dead, 25,000 disappeared, and 5.7 million displaced over the last half-century.

– Agence France-Presse, additional reporting NZ Herald