Colombia: President Petro asks US for help to investigate attack against Senator Miguel Uribe

The attack against senator and presidential pre-candidate Miguel Uribe has generated a state of alarm in Colombia and, now, is also having implications in the United States. Colombian President Gustavo Petro confirmed that he formally requested support from U.S. intelligence agencies to investigate the facts behind the assassination attempt against the conservative politician that occurred last June 7.

As Petro explained, the weapon used in the attack was purchased in Arizona, passed through Florida and then entered the South American country irregularly.

"I have asked through the U.S. embassy, that the secret agencies of that country help in depth in the investigation of the attempted assassination of Senator Uribe Turbay. The assassin's weapon was purchased in Arizona, USA, and passed through Florida," Petro said on his X account, hinting at the possibility of an international criminal network behind the attack.

Miguel Uribe, Centro Democrático senator and presidential aspirant, was shot in the head and leg by a minor during a political event in the Modelia neighborhood of Bogota. Since then, he underwent emergency surgery and remains in critical condition at the Fundación Santa Fe.

Although the first versions pointed to an isolated assassination, as the hours went by, the hypothesis of coordination of transnational crime began to gain more strength, especially after some Colombian government officials revealed that other conservative political figures, such as former president Álvaro Uribe Vélez, journalist and pre-candidate Vicky Dávila and Senator María Fernanda Cabal, could also be in potential danger of assassination attempts.

The pistol used in the attack against Miguel Uribe, a Glock 9 mm caliber, was legally purchased in August 2020 by a U.S. citizen identified as Charles Joe Anderson, as confirmed by the director of the Colombian National Police, General Carlos Fernando Triana and the Colombian Attorney General, Luz Adriana Camargo.

The purchase was made through the distributor Aji Port, but there are no official records of its entry into Colombia, indicating irregular arms trafficking.

The Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Agency (ATF), was in charge of delivering the information to the Colombian authorities after tracing the weapon's serial number and identifying the person who first purchased it.

General Triana and Attorney General Camargo ratified that the weapon's traceability reinforces suspicion of a criminal structure behind the attack.

In addition, Colombian authorities discovered that the minor who fired the shots and is in custody received a significant payment through digital means, a method commonly used by criminal organizations to cover up their operations.