Colombian

Oct. 24 (UPI) — The Treasury Department announced sanctions against Colombian President Gustavo Petro Urrego over cocaine production and smuggling into the United States.

The sanctions include Petro’s wife, first lady Veronica del Socorro Alcocer Garcia, his son Nicolas Petro and “close associate” Armando Benedettie, the Treasury Department announced Friday in a news release.

“Since President Gustavo Petro came to power, cocaine production in Colombia has exploded to the highest rate in decades, flooding the United States and poisoning Americans,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

“President Petro has allowed drug cartels to flourish and refused to stop this activity,” Bessent said.

“Today, President [Donald] Trump is taking strong action to protect our nation and make clear that we will not tolerate the trafficking of drugs into our nation.”

The sanctions are imposed in accordance with the president’s Executive Order 14059, which targets foreigners who are involved in the global trade of illicit drugs.

The sanctions freeze all property or interests in property owned by the Petro, his wife, son and associate that are located in the United States or territories controlled by the United States.

All such properties must be reported to the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.

The Treasury Department said Colombia is the world’s leading producer and exporter of cocaine that often is bought by Mexican drug cartels and smuggled into the United States.

Petro on Oct. 8 said an alleged drug-smuggling vessel that was sunk by the U.S. military in the Caribbean was manned by Colombian citizens.

He has recalled the Colombian ambassador to the United States after the U.S. military sank a vessel that was near Colombian waters and Trump halted U.S. financial support for Colombia.

Petro also met with U.S. diplomat John McNamara on Monday to ease tensions between Colombia and the Trump administration.

Petro is a former guerrilla member who became Colombia’s president in 2022 and “has provided narco-terrorist organizations with benefits under the auspices of his ‘total peace’ plan,” according to the Treasury Department.

Such policies have led to record cultivation of coca and production of cocaine, which the Treasury Department said prompted Trump to declare Colombia a “major drug-transit or major drug-producing country” that has failed to uphold its responsibility to control such activities.

The Treasury also said Petro has allied with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro‘s “narco-terrorist regime” and the Cartel de Los Soles.

The Colombian president’s activities create a significant risk of the international proliferation of illicit drugs, according to the federal agency.

DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,

The Colombian leader was filmed joining thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters outside UN headquarters in New York.

The United States Department of State has said it will revoke the visa of Colombian President Gustavo Petro, citing his “reckless and incendiary actions” in relation to a speech he gave to protesters outside the United Nations headquarters in New York City on Friday.

“Earlier today, Colombian president [Gustavo Petro] stood on a NYC [New York City] street and urged U.S. soldiers to disobey orders and incite violence,” the department said in a post on X.

The post did not provide specific details on Petro’s alleged offence, but footage circulated on social media showed the Colombian leader joining thousands of pro-Palestine protesters outside the UN building in Midtown Manhattan.

In one video clip, Petro can be heard saying his country plans to present a resolution to the UN seeking to establish an “army for the salvation of the world”.

In an unofficial translation of his speech to protesters, Petro said that world nations will contribute soldiers to the army, which will “enforce the orders of international justice” and must be “larger” than the US military.

“I ask all of the soldiers of the army of the US not to point their guns at humanity. Disobey the orders of Trump. Obey the orders of humanity,” the Colombian leader said.

Earlier today, Colombian president @petrogustavo stood on a NYC street and urged U.S. soldiers to disobey orders and incite violence.

We will revoke Petro’s visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions.

— Department of State (@StateDept) September 27, 2025

Huge protests took place outside the UN headquarters on Friday as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on the fourth day of the UN General Assembly’s General Debate.

The Israeli leader delivered a bombastic speech as he told world leaders Israel must be allowed to “finish the job” in Gaza, where the Israeli army has been accused of perpetrating genocide, and lambasting Western states for their “disgraceful decision” to recognise a Palestinian state.

Petro’s office and Colombia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the visa revocation from the Reuters news agency.

In a speech to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Petro also hit out at US President Donald Trump, saying the US leader was “complicit in genocide” in Gaza and called for “criminal proceedings” over US air attacks on boats in Caribbean waters that Washington has accused of trafficking drugs.

Petro’s social media profile on Friday showed he had reposted several video clips of himself speaking to the pro-Palestinian protesters in New York.

Sept. 23 (UPI) — Mexican authorities said Tuesday they had found the bodies of a pair of Colombian musicans days after the country’s president pleaded for their return, blaming drug cartels and the United States for their disappearance.

Prosecutors in Mexico City announced they had found the remains of Bayron Sanchez, known as B-King, and DJ Jorge Luis Herrera Lemos, known as Regio Clown, after they had been missing for a week, reported El Pais.

Officials have not offered any explanation for the deaths of the musicians who had just played one of their first international concerts. But Colombia President Gustavo Petro suggested in a post to X Sunday that “multinational mafias” had a role in their disappearance.

Petro also wrote that the mafias are growing in South America because of the “rampant drug consumption in the US,” which he called a “decadent society” lacking in love.

The Trump administration has had a fraught relationship with Colombia under the leadership of Petro, a former Marxist guerilla turned left-wing politician. President Donald Trump has accused Petro of not fulfilling his country’s counter-narcotic obligations. Trump administration officials also raised concerns about the assasination of conservative Colombian politician Miguel Uribe Turbay.

“It is a source of second-hand embarrassment to see a Head of State behaving in this rude manner, blaming the United States for the disappearance of two of his citizens in Mexico,” U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau wrote in a response to Petro on X.

In his post, Petro appealed to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum for help and stated that the musicians disappeared after a performance in the Mexican state of Sonora. However, the artists were last see at a gym in Mexico City’s upscale Polanco neighborhood, reported Parriva.

Sheinbaum, for her part, said Monay that the Mexican Foreign Ministry had been in touch with Colombia and that investigations into the musicians’ deaths were underway, the news outlet reported.

Defence minister says soldiers taken while evacuating area after a military operation that killed 11 rebels.

At least 34 government soldiers have been kidnapped by armed civilians in a jungle in southeastern Colombia after clashes that killed 11 fighters, including a commander of a dissident faction of the former FARC rebel group, Defence Minister Pedro Sanchez says.

The fighting occurred on Sunday in a rural part of the El Retorno municipality in the province of Guaviare and involved members of the Central General Staff (EMC), a group of former fighters with the left-wing FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, who rejected a 2016 peace deal with the government.

Sanchez said on Tuesday that the soldiers were taken as they were evacuating the area after a military operation that killed an EMC commander and 10 other rebels.

“This is an illegal, criminal action by people in civilian clothing,” Sanchez told reporters. “This is a kidnapping.”

The jungle region is considered a strategic corridor for drug trafficking and is known for its extensive coca crops, the main ingredient used to produce cocaine.

It followed a similar abduction in June when the army said 57 soldiers were seized by civilians in a southwestern mountainous area, a key zone for cocaine production and one of the most tense in the country’s ongoing security crisis.

The Colombian army has maintained that the civilians in the region receive orders from the EMC, the main FARC dissident group.

Armed groups – which fund themselves through drug trafficking, illegal mining and other crimes – remain present in Colombia after a six-decade conflict that has killed more than 450,000 people despite the peace deal with the FARC nine years ago when it was Colombia’s largest rebel group.

Last week, at least 18 people were killed and dozens injured in two attacks attributed to dissident FARC factions.

In Cali, the country’s third most populous city, a vehicle packed with explosives detonated on Thursday near a military aviation school, killing six people and injuring 71, according to the mayor’s office.

Hours earlier, a National Police Black Hawk helicopter participating in a coca crop eradication operation was downed by a drone in the municipality of Amalfi in the department of Antioquia, killing 12 police officers.

President Gustavo Petro blamed the attacks on dissident factions of FARC.

The deadly downing of a Colombian National Police (CNP) UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter by a drone on Thursday is the latest sign of the growing vulnerability of rotary-wing aircraft to these attacks. While apparently the first such incident in the Western Hemisphere, the tactic was developed by Ukraine to strike Russian helicopters and has reportedly spread to Asia as well. The downing comes as militaries are rethinking the utility of helicopters due to myriad threats, including drones, which is a danger we have been warning about for years.

The CNP helicopter was hit by a drone while “providing security to officers engaged in manual coca crop eradication efforts,” Antioquia Governor Andres Julian Rendon stated on X. “We have activated the hospital network and are closely monitoring this news, which is so painful for democracy and sad for our Forces. In that area, FARC dissidents and the Gulf Clan are operating.”

Video emerging from the scene shows the helicopters slowly approaching a landing zone. From the angle where the video was taken, the helicopter’s landing and the attack are obscured, but the sound of an explosion is heard and blackish gray smoke is seen wafting up. 

Another video, reportedly taken by the attackers, shows a different view of the aftermath of the strike. None of these videos, however, clearly depicts the method of attack.

At least 12 people aboard the helicopter were killed. Colombian President Gustavo Petro blamed the helicopter attack, along with a car bomb strike on a Colombian military base, on dissident factions of the now-defunct FARC guerrilla group that have rejected a 2016 peace agreement to end a prolonged internal conflict that has left more than 450,000 dead in the country.

This incident highlights several disturbing developments, especially regarding the vulnerability of helicopters to drone attacks. That concern directly led to South Korea cancelling a multi-billion-dollar deal to buy 36 AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopters.

Yu Yong-weon, a member of South Korea’s National Assembly belonging to the People Power Party, told The Korea Times that the vulnerability of helicopters to proliferated air defenses and loitering munitions/drones that have been showcased to the world in Ukraine spurred the decision.

“Drones and smart systems are redefining the modern battlefield,” Yu explained. “Rather than clinging to expensive legacy platforms, we must invest in capabilities that reflect the future of warfare.”

We previously predicted that drone attacks on helicopters would become a major problem. The danger is rising due to the widespread proliferation of weaponized drones across the world. This is in addition to all the other growing threats that put helicopters, especially those approaching contested landing zones, in the crosshairs.

As we noted in a previous story: Beyond traditional ground-based air defenses, which are becoming far more capable and deeply integrated/networked at an accelerating rate, helicopters have to now contend with FPV drones and loitering SAMs, as well as loitering interceptor drones, that can be used against rotary wing aircraft, as well. Countermeasures to some of these threats really have not caught up. The threat posed by drones, in general, has also vastly reinvigorated proliferation of short-range air defenses for counter-UAS needs, but many of these systems can also engage helicopters. Then there is the aerial threat, with fighter and support aircraft becoming more capable of spotting low and slow flying helicopters thanks to advanced sensors. The distances involved with future wars alone could relegate even the most advanced traditional helicopters into support roles. All this creates an increasingly complex and unpredictable operational reality for military helicopters, even in low-to-medium threat environments.

You can see a Russian helicopter being attacked by a Ukrainian first-person view (FPV) drone in the following video.

The risk posed to helicopters from small weaponized drones, especially FPV types, is rapidly expanding as this technology migrates to state and non-state actors around the globe. Small teams using a guided weapon against a helicopter used to require having man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS), also known as shoulder-fired heat-seeking missiles, or at least an anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), the latter of which only really works when engaging a helicopter within a narrow window of its performance envelope. Basically, this includes when it is landing, taking off or sitting on the ground. These are both expensive, hard-to-obtain weapons that require proprietary support.

A FPV drone, on the other hand, can be obtained easily and for a fraction of the cost and can fly out to an incoming helicopter and blow it out of the sky with extreme agility and precision. Acting in a point defense role, defending key areas where helicopters may approach, can now be done by a couple of guys and their FPV drones. They can also react fast and don’t have to expose themselves to engage an airborne target, unlike a MANPADS or ATGM fire team. The drones can also be reused if they do not find a target, meaning they can actively patrol for incoming helicopters, if need be.

This is creating a whole new set of problems for helicopter crews. The launch of the drones cannot be detected by onboard missile approach warning systems and the drones are very small, making them hard to identify and evade. Electronic warfare systems are perhaps the best possible defense against these threats, but there has been slow movement when it comes to adapting such systems for helicopters. There is also the reality that fiber optic wire-controlled FPV drones give off no radio frequency emissions and are not jammable. They are also well-suited for providing point defense against helicopters, as their wires have a far lower chance of getting hung up when going after an aircraft in the air.

Obviously, these issues are especially vexing for the special operations rotary-wing community, which goes after targets in contested areas against groups that can easily access this technology.

Once again, the FPV threat is in addition to the growing threats to helicopters from advanced integrated air defense systems, next-generation MANPADS, advanced look-down radars on fighters and AEW&C aircraft, as well as drone interceptors and more advanced loitering munitions. All of this is putting the helicopter’s future efficacy in many mission sets in question. AI will fuse with lower-end drones in the near future making them capable of autonomous air defense operations, as well. This will allow persistent air patrols in areas where enemy helicopter traffic is most likely to occur, including behind enemy lines.

The attack in Colombia comes months after we reported that rebels fighting Myanmar’s junta say they used an FPV drone to down an Mi-17 Hip transport helicopter attempting to land with supplies. 

Footage emerged on social media showing the video feed of what purported to be an FPV drone operated by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) careening toward the helicopter, which was hovering just a few feet off the ground at the time. The video cuts off as the FPV drone gets right next to the helicopter’s rotor blades. The video then shows a different angle of what appears to be a small explosion amongst the Mi-17’s rotors. The helicopter reportedly later crashed a short distance away, killing everyone on board.

Rekaman Video Amatir dan dari Drone FPV milik kelompok Pemberontak Etnis Kachin Myanmar ( Kachin Independence Army ) saat menghantam satu dari 3 Helikopter Mil-17 Angkatan Udara Myanmar yang tengah mendrop Pasukan di kawasan Bhamo pada tanggal 20 Mei lalu. pic.twitter.com/rY8zhOSzMo

— 🦅 Golden Eagle 🦅 (@Y_D_Y_P) May 22, 2025

Myanmar’s military government, however, chalked the crash up to mechanical failure. The War Zone cannot independently verify either claim, although it is generally understood a drone took it down.

Another troubling aspect of this crash is how drug organizations in the Western Hemisphere are increasing the use of drones to execute attacks.

We have reported frequently about how Mexican cartels have been using drones as weapons against rivals and government targets. These groups even reportedly sent members to fight for the Russians against Ukraine to learn how to use FPV drones.

In an investigation by Intelligence Online alleges that Mexico’s Centro Nacional de Inteligencia/CNI sent a report to Ukrainian intelligence w/ concerns that cartel affiliated Mexicans are joining the Ukrainian Foreign Legion to receive drone training.https://t.co/SdlXYF4r6w

— Pernicious Propaganda (@natsecboogie) July 30, 2025

Colombian rebels began using weaponized drones in April 2024, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Since then, “the military here says there have been 301 strikes with unmanned aerial vehicles, more than two-thirds of them in Cauca and Norte de Santander provinces,” the Journal noted. “Both regions are covered in coca, the plant used to make cocaine, with heavily armed militias fighting each other over drug routes. At least 22 soldiers and police officers have died in the attacks.”

Beyond those concerns are reports that Russians are training the Colombian groups how to fight with drones, another sign of how lessons learned in the war in Ukraine are being spread globally.

“Russian contractors and former military personnel are also training FARC dissidents and ELN groups in the use and modification of explosive drones,” the Colombian El Tiempo news outlet reported back in June. “They are doing so from Venezuelan territory, with the knowledge and support of that country’s government, highlighting the growing foreign interference in the Colombian conflict.”

“We know that Russia and Iran support Venezuela with technical capabilities, and from there, Colombian combatants are being trained,” the publication added, citing an anonymous military source.

The attack on the CNP helicopter is the latest iteration of the guerrillas’ drone war.

“Dissidents already employ swarm tactics, microdrones, and some modified devices with thermal cameras and alternating frequencies to evade jammers,” El Tiempo noted. “These drone attacks have left four soldiers dead and more than 50 uniformed personnel injured, as well as one civilian killed and seven injured.”

We believe that it is worth pointing out, as there are claims that a drone was used in this attack, that both FARC & ELN groups are being trained by Russian contractors & former military members on how to utilize drones in conflict within Venezuela as reported in June this year. https://t.co/y6N5XPyHkx

— Pernicious Propaganda (@natsecboogie) August 22, 2025

The claim that the Colombian rebels trained in Venezuela raises the specter that these efforts were conducted with the approval or knowledge of that country’s leader, Nicolas Maduro. As we wrote earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered several warships and thousands of troops deployed toward Venezuela. At least part of that movement is directly aimed at Maduro, a source familiar with the operations told us. His administration considers Maduro a “narco-terrorist.”

No es casual que apenas días después de que Trump se reuniera con Putin, suceda esto. Venezuela es un punto estratégico para el kremlin. Si no hay acuerdo de paz, Maduro tiene sus días contados. pic.twitter.com/E662kAFfCQ

— Fabrizio Mercado Soria (@fabriziosoria) August 20, 2025

Meanwhile, the overall use of drones by drug and insurgent groups is raising alarm bells in Washington.

As we have written in the past, there are increasing concerns that Mexican cartels could expand their use of drones across the border as the Trump administration ramps up its pressure on these groups. That has led the general in charge of the border security and drone interdiction efforts to seek greater permission to shoot down drones.

Air Force Gen. Gregory M. Guillot testified to the House Armed Services Committee in April that since Trump took office, he “proposed … a change to the rule of force.” It would “allow us to shoot down or bring down drones that are surveilling over our deployed and mobile troops … not just that are in self-defense, but anything that’s surveilling and planning the next attack on us within five miles of the border.” 

“Because they’re mobile,” U.S. troops on the border are not allowed to take down drones under current law, Guillot, the commander of U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) and the joint U.S.-Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), added. You can read more about the various limitations on the military’s use of force against drones in the United States in our deep dive here.

As the evolution of the weaponized low-end drone continues to accelerate, the threat to helicopters from them will only increase. As it sits now, there is not much being done at scale to combat it, so more of these incidents are likely to hit headlines in the coming months and years.

Contact the author: [email protected]

BOGOTA, Colombia — A Colombian senator and presidential hopeful whose shooting at a political rally in June recalled some of the darkest chapters of the country’s drug-fueled violence died Monday.

The family of Miguel Uribe Turbay said the politician died at a hospital in the capital, Bogota. Uribe, 39, was shot three times, twice in the head, while giving a campaign speech in a park and had since remained in an intensive care unit in serious condition with episodes of slight improvement.

“Rest in peace, love of my life. I will take care of our children,” his wife, María Claudia Tarazona, wrote in a social media post confirming his death. “I ask God to show me the way to learn to live without you.”

A teenage suspect was arrested at the scene of the June 7 attack in a working-class Bogota neighborhood. Authorities later detained several other people, but they have not determined who ordered the hit or why.

The shooting, which was caught on multiple videos, alarmed Colombians who have not seen this kind of political violence against presidential candidates since Medellin drug lord Pablo Escobar declared war on the state in the 1990s.

Uribe’s own mother, well-known journalist Diana Turbay, was among the victims of that period. She died during a police rescue after being kidnapped by a group of drug traffickers led by Escobar seeking to block their extradition to the United States.

“If my mother was willing to give her life for a cause, how could I not do the same in life and in politics?” Uribe, who was just 5 when his mother was killed, said in an interview last year with a Colombian news outlet.

Uribe, a lawyer with a masters degree in public administration from Harvard University, entered politics as a councilman for Bogota when he was 26. In 2022, he was the biggest vote-getter in the conservative Democratic Center party led by former President Álvaro Uribe.

“Evil destroys everything,” the ex-president, who is not related to the senator, said on social media. “They have killed hope. May Miguel’s struggle be a light that illuminates Colombia’s path.”

The senator was among the strongest critics of Colombia’s current government. In October, he joined the list of politicians seeking to replace Gustavo Petro, the first leftist to govern Colombia, in the May 2026 elections.

Authorities have floated several hypotheses about what led to the attack, while allies of the candidate have complained that the government ignored repeated requests to reinforce his state-provided security detail.

In the immediate aftermath of the attack, tens of thousands poured into the streets dressed in white and waving the Colombian flag to reject the violence.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was among the politicians who lamented the senator’s death.

“The United States stands in solidarity with his family, the Colombian people, both in mourning and demanding justice for those responsible,” he posted on X.

Suárez writes for the Associated Press.

July 28 (UPI) — Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez was convicted Monday of bribing a witness and procedural fraud, following several hours of sentencing in a case that spanned more than a decade.

He is the first former head of state in Colombia to face a criminal conviction.

“It can be concluded, based on the prosecution’s findings, that the criminal offense of bribery was sufficiently proven,” Judge Sandra Liliana Heredia said as she read the verdict.

During his presidency, Uribe implemented a policy known as “Democratic Security,” which reduced kidnapping and homicide rates and supported the demobilization of paramilitary and guerrilla forces.

However, Uribe also faced sharp criticism over alleged human rights violations and the demobilization of paramilitary groups with impunity. His presidency was further overshadowed by the “false positives” scandal, in which thousands of civilians were killed by the military and falsely labeled as guerrilla fighters killed in combat.

According to the investigation, between 2012 and 2018, imprisoned paramilitaries were paid and pressured to change their testimony linking Uribe to illegal armed groups.

Sergio Escobar, executive director of the Medellín Global Center for Strategic International Studies, said the ruling is “the result of a series of legal missteps by the former president himself and comes amid an increasingly politicized climate. Now that he’s been convicted, an appeal will follow, which takes us into October — when the statute of limitations on this case expires. Regardless, he will no longer be able to claim he is innocent.”

The case began in 2012, when then-Sen. Álvaro Uribe filed a complaint against Sen. Iván Cepeda Castro, accusing him of witness tampering in an effort to link Uribe to illegal armed groups. But the investigation soon took an unexpected turn.

The Supreme Court of Justice, which initially investigated Cepeda, found evidence that individuals close to Uribe had offered financial, legal and administrative benefits to former paramilitaries and guerrilla fighters in exchange for testimony against Cepeda.

In that context, Uribe was charged with manipulating evidence and misleading the justice system to influence judges and secure rulings favorable to his interests — in the very investigation he had initiated against Cepeda.

“This conviction is a blow to his political career. At the same time, it sends a strong message about equality before the law — even for the most powerful figures in the country,” said José Francisco Salvo, an attorney and member of the NGO Derechos Ciudadanos.

He added that political polarization continues to shape the national response. “Some see the conviction as a victory for justice, while Uribe’s supporters view it as political persecution and an attack by the left,” Salvo said.

On Monday afternoon in a post on Twitter, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio decried the conviction.

“Former Colombian President Uribe’s only crime has been to tirelessly fight and defend his homeland,” Rubio tweeted. “The weaponization of Colombia’s judicial branch by radical judges has now set a worrisome precedent.”

Police believe the 15-year-old arrested for the attempted murder of Senator Miguel Uribe was a hitman working for money.

A 15-year-old boy accused of trying to assassinate Colombian Senator and presidential candidate Miguel Uribe has pleaded “not guilty”, the prosecutor’s office said.

The teen was formally charged on Tuesday with the attempted murder of 39-year-old conservative presidential candidate Uribe, who was shot in the head on Saturday and is fighting for his life in critical condition in hospital.

The teenager – who police believe was a “sicario” or hitman working for money – was also charged with carrying a firearm.

“No family in Colombia should be going through this,” Uribe’s wife, Maria Claudia Tarazona, told reporters outside the hospital where her husband is being treated.

“There is no name for this – it’s not pain, it’s not horror, it’s not sadness,” she said.

The senator’s father, Miguel Uribe Londono, thanked the “millions of Colombians and people around the world for their prayers”.

“Miguel, amidst the pain and dismay that overwhelms us, has managed to unite this country in a single voice that rejects violence,” his father added.

It is not known why Senator Uribe, who was vying for the candidacy of his party, was attacked. He was polling well behind other party candidates at the time of the shooting.

Footage from the scene of the shooting showed Uribe addressing supporters in the west of the capital Bogota when a youth rushed towards him firing at least eight shots. Uribe was hit twice in the head and once in the leg.

The alleged attacker was apprehended by security guards and a Glock 9mm pistol was recovered.

In a video of the teen’s capture, independently verified by the Reuters news agency, the suspect can be heard shouting that he had been hired by a local drug dealer.

An earlier video showed that as the suspect, who was wounded, attempted to escape the scene, a voice could be heard shouting, “I did it for the money, for my family.”

But in court, the teenager rejected charges of attempted murder and illegal possession of a firearm, the attorney general’s office said. If convicted, he faces up to eight years in a rehabilitation centre, not prison, as he is a minor.

Also on Tuesday, Colombia was rocked by bomb and gun attacks in the country’s southwest where at least seven people were killed in a wave of violence that echoed earlier decades when attacks by armed fighters, paramilitary groups and drug traffickers were common.

The bomb and gun attacks were likely caused by an armed group that splintered from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels, according to the army and police.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro, meanwhile, has broadly pointed the finger at an international crime ring as being behind the attack on Uribe, without providing details or evidence.

Colombian Interior Minister Armando Benedetti suggested there may be a link with the assassination attempt as rebels have increasingly turned to drug trafficking to finance their activities, though he did not provide evidence.

President Petro has ordered beefed-up security for government officials and opposition leaders in response to the attacks.

Uribe had been a staunch critic of Petro’s security strategy, aimed at ending six decades of armed conflict, arguing that Petro’s approach of pausing offensives on armed groups despite the failure of peace talks only backfired.

The senator had two government-provided bodyguards protecting him at the time of the shooting, the head of the National Protection Unit said.

Uribe’s lawyer, Víctor Mosquera, said his client had repeatedly asked for more bodyguards.

June 8 (UPI) — Colombian police have arrested a teenage boy in connection with Saturday’s shooting of far-right presidential candidate Miguel Uribe.

Uribe, a 39-year-old senator, was shot while he addressed his supporters during a campaign event in a park in Bogotá, the Colombian Attorney General’s Office said in a statement Sunday. He was hit twice and remains in intensive care.

Two other people were also injured, and police arrested a 15-year-old who was carrying a 9mm Glock pistol. Footage shared on social media appears to show when Uribe was shot, causing his followers to flee in panic.

Fundación Santa Fe Bogotá, the hospital where Uribe was airlifted Saturday, said in a statement Sunday that he was admitted to the emergency room in critical condition.

“After all the evaluations by various specialties, he was immediately taken to surgery to perform the initial damage control,” the hospital said. “Once the neurosurgical and left thigh procedures were completed, he was transferred to intensive care for postoperative stabilization. His condition is of the utmost seriousness and the prognosis is reserved.”

The government of left-wing President Gustavo Petro, who is term-limited and cannot run for reelection, condemned the attack in a statement and expressed solidarity with Uribe.

“The National Government categorically and forcefully rejects the attack that Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay was the victim of in the last few hours,” the statement said.

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

Petro’s government called peace, coexistence and respect for differences the “fundamental pillars” of a democratic society.

Prosecutors said they were considering the shooting an attack on the “democratic participation” in the country, and Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo Garzón expressed her alarm at the seriousness of the attack and urged for political unity in the country “to shield the electoral process.”

She said her office would investigate the shooting with the National Police.