The political violence has marked to Colombia with several magnicides throughout its history, including the presidential senator and candidate Miguel Uribe Turbayone of the cards on the right for the 2026 elections, who died Monday in Bogotá, 64 days after being seriously injured in an attack.
(You may be interested: ‘Very hard blow’: former government exnegociators with the FARC, after the death of Miguel Uribe).
The following is the list of magnicides committed in the country since the beginning of the 20th century, which begins and ends with the surname Uribe:
1. Rafael Uribe Uribe, 1914
Presidential Mogidios who marked Colombia.
Rafael Uribe Uribe (1914)
A liberal leader and defender of social rights. He was killed in Bogotá. His death unleashed a civil conflict that shook the country and marked the beginning of decades of political violence. pic.twitter.com/pqcf2ritl2– Contraluz | Politics, economy and more (@Contraluzec) August 11, 2025
He General Rafael Uribe UribeHead of the liberal troops defeated by the conservatives in the War of the Thousand Days (1899-1902), he was killed to axes on the side of the National Capitol on October 15, 1914.
(You can read: Miguel Uribe: How was his presidential aspiration truncated by his death).
Uribe Uribe, a politician of liberal ideas who defended in Congress and on the battlefield, was a lawyer, military, senator, diplomat, journalist and one of the most prestigious public men in the country.
He was also the first amnestied and demobilized killed in Colombia after signing peace with the victors of the War of the Thousand Days.
2. Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, 1948
Jorge Eliécer Gaitán
He Liberal leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitánwhich was outlined as a favorite for the presidential elections of 1949, was shot dead on April 9, 1948 when he left his lawyer’s office in the center of Bogotá, which triggered a wave of violence that entered the story with the name of ‘El Bogotazo’.
Inflamed Pooring Lawyer and politician, the leader headed the opposition of the conservative regime of President Mariano Ospina Pérez for the overflowing political violence after the defeat of the Liberal Party in the 1946 elections to which he presented himself divided between the official candidate David Turbay and the dissident Gaitán.
(Also read: Miguel Uribe Turbay: His last participation in a presidential debate).
The cry of “They killed Gaitán“It was watered as gunpowder through the streets of Bogotá, where Gaitanism, consisting of popular sectors, lynching the attacker, Juan Roa Sierra, so that he could never know if he acted alone or if someone entrusted this murder never clarified.
According to newspapers of the time, that day resulted in the intervention of the army and at least 550 dead, a figure that researchers raise more than 2,000 only in Bogotá, not counting those of other regions of the country to which violence spread.
3. Jaime Pardo Leal, 1987
Jaime Pardo Leal
It was in 1986 the first presidential candidate of the Patriotic Union (UP)leftist party born a year earlier as part of an attempt of peace of then President Belisario Betancur (1982-1986) with the FARC guerrillas.
However, the UP was the victim of an extermination campaign in which at least 5,733 of its members were killed or disappeared, including Pardo loyal, shooting by hitmen on October 11, 1987 when he mobilized in his car with his family.
4. Luis Carlos Galán, 1989
Luis Carlos Galán
Like Gaitán, the Liberal politician Luis Carlos Galán He was the favorite to win the 1990 presidential elections when he was shot dead on August 18, 1989, during a rally in the town of Soacha, south of Bogotá.
Lawyer, economist, journalist and politician, Galán was Minister of Education with only 27 years of age and then ambassador to Italy, councilor of Bogotá and Senator.
(We recommend: ‘He was a unique fighter’: the message of Miguel Uribe’s neurosurgeon, after his death).
Galán was characterized by his hard speech against infiltration of drug trafficking mafia in politics, and that is why he was killed.
Two of his children have been senators of the Republic and one of them, Carlos Fernando Galán, is the current mayor of Bogotá.
5. Bernardo Jaramillo Ossa, 1990
Bernardo Jaramillo Ossa
In the most bloody presidential campaign remembered Colombia, Galán’s murder followed on March 22, 1990 Bernardo Jaramillo OssaSuccessor of Loyal Pardo as presidential candidate of the Patriotic Union.
Jaramillo Ossa, lawyer and senator, was shot dead by a hitman when he was at the Bogotá Air Bridge facilities.
6. Carlos Pizarro Leongómez, 1990
Carlos Pizarro
It was the last guerrilla commander of the M-19to which he led on March 9, 1990 to the signing of La Paz with the government of President Virgilio Barco (1986-1990), and entered politics as presidential candidate of the newly created democratic alliance M-19.
On April 26, 1990, less than two months after signing La Paz, Pizarro was killed by a hitman who shot him on a plane in full flight when he was heading to Barranquilla for an electoral act.
More than three decades later, Gustavo Petro, who in his youth militated in the M-19, arrived in the presidency of Colombia, while Senator María José Pizarro, daughter of the murdered leader, aspires to that position in the next elections.
7. Álvaro Gómez Hurtado, 1995
Álvaro Gómez Hurtado
Three times presidential candidate (1974, 1986 and 1990), the Lawyer, journalist, diplomat, writer and politician Álvaro Gómez Hurtado It was the most representative figure of the Conservative Party in the second half of the twentieth century and fell murdered in Bogotá on November 2, 1995.
(You may be interested: What will happen to Miguel Uribe’s seat after the announcement of his death).
Considered one of the most important thinkers in the country, Álvaro Gómez could not be president because he charged with the weight of being the son of former president Laureano Gómez (1950-1953), nicknamed ‘The Monster’, for whom they consider him one of the instigators of political violence in the country.
8. Miguel Uribe Turbay, 2025
Miguel Uribe Turbay
He Senator Miguel Uribe Turbayof the right -wing party, was seriously injured in an attack on June 7, 2025 and died 64 days later.
Uribe Turbay was grandson of former liberal president Julio César Turbay (1978–1982) and son of journalist Diana Turbay, murdered in January 1991 by the Medellín poster, which had six months kidnapped.
The Prosecutor’s Office announced that the case will be typified as assassination, that is, homicide of a person for their political or social relevance.
EFE
