Thousands of Colombians bid farewell to late presidential candidate Miguel Uribe

Thousands of people gathered at the Colombian Congress on Tuesday to bid farewell to Senator and presidential candidate Miguel Uribe, who died the previous day after spending two months in intensive care following an assassination attempt.

The assassination of the opponent shakes the 2026 presidential campaign and rekindles memories of political violence that, over the country’s history, has cut short the ambitions of at least eight presidential candidates in this South American nation.

Since morning, mile-long lines surrounded Congress and stretched to the central Plaza de Bolívar. Thousands of people waited their turn to approach the politician’s coffin inside the hemicycle and pay tribute for a few seconds, according to images captured by the media.

The son of a journalist killed by Pablo Escobar, Uribe was the favored candidate of the right to succeed leftist President Gustavo Petro.

"We can't go on like this."

“In our country, unfortunately, we have this major problem: if someone thinks differently, the solution is to kill them,” graphic designer José Corvita told AFP outside Congress. “We can’t go on like this,” he added.

Inside the legislative palace, the father of the presidential candidate, Miguel Uribe Londoño, embraced the coffin draped in a Colombian flag and surrounded by flowers. Amid tears and hugs, the pre-candidate’s wife, María Claudia Tarazona, also arrived, carrying her youngest son alongside her two other daughters, whom Uribe had welcomed as his own.

Pedestrians continued to stream through all day to bid a final farewell to the politician.