Colombia churches push for dialogue in the wake of renewed political violence

Bogota’s Santa Fe hospital has become a gathering place for Colombians shocked by the attack on Miguel Uribe, a presidential candidate who was shot in the head on June 7 as he spoke to a small crowd in the capital.

The hospital, where the candidate is being treated for severe wounds, has also become a place of worship. 

“What has happened is very painful,” said Andres Saldarriaga, a 24-year-old business student, who showed up at the hospital. He was leading a group of Catholics who prayed for Uribe’s recovery next to a makeshift altar where supporters of the candidate placed candles, photos and statues of saints.

“It hurts to see violence get the last word,” Saldarriaga said. “But we have to pray so that our country can change.”

The attack on the conservative presidential candidate has been widely condemned in Colombia, where many voters fear that security is backsliding, as criminal groups take on increasingly bigger targets.  

But it has also led to finger-pointing and bitterness as politicians from the nation’s left-wing government and the conservative opposition blame each other for the country’s violence. 

Religious leaders in Colombia have been urging both sides to dial down their rhetoric, as violence intensifies in the country.

“We need our leaders to be more sensible,” said Fernando Ramos, a pastor at the International Charismatic Mission, an evangelical church whose members have been showing up at the hospital.

“The politicians need to stop blaming and condemning each other, because that’s where violence begins,” he said.

Colombia’s government last week arrested a teenage shooter and charged him with attempted murder for the attack on Uribe.

But prosecutors say they are still investigating who may have paid the 15-year-old gunman to carry out the high-profile hit.

For many Colombians, the assassination attempt on Uribe brings back painful memories of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, a period in which it was common for rebel groups and drug cartels to murder judges, journalists and presidential candidates, as they used violence to increase their influence in Colombian politics.

The attack on Uribe also comes as animosity grows between the government and the senate over reforms to Colombia’s labor laws.

Uribe is against the changes proposed by President Gustavo Petro.

In a post on X this week, Petro suggested that the attack on Uribe may have been perpetrated by a group that wanted to distract Colombians from his social and economic policies. The statement angered opposition leaders, like Mauricio Cardenas, another presidential candidate.

“Your job should not be to provoke and incite people,” he told the president in a social media video.

Colombian opposition leaders have also asked for greater security following the attack against Uribe so that they can campaign freely for next year’s elections. They say the president needs to tone down his rhetoric in order to prevent more violence.

Daniel Briceño, a city council member for the Democratic Center — the same party that Uribe represents — said that in his speeches and social media posts, Petro often refers to opposition leaders as Nazis, fascists or enemies of the people.

“That generates hatred against us,” Briceño said outside his office. Briceño has stopped walking to work and going for hikes in the mountains that surround the city, due to the current security climate, he said.

Petro said the opposition is trying to censor him, and has added that his social and economic reforms could make Colombia a less violent place.

This month, the president pressed ahead with plans to organize a referendum on the nation’s labor laws even though the senate had voted against it.

“I am just trying to fulfill my campaign promises,” Petro said in a speech in the city of Cali, where he blamed the opposition for trying to block his every move.

Bogota’s Archbishop Luis Jose Rueda recently hosted a meeting between the president, judges and congressional leaders, in which he said he hoped they could reach some basic compromises.

“It’s time to deescalate,” the bishop said in a statement. “To take insults and threats away from politics, so that we can build up this country while taking diverse views into account.”

In the meantime, many continue to pray for Uribe’s recovery.

The senator is currently in an induced coma, as doctors try to reduce swelling in his brain.

Uribe isn’t the first person in his family to come under violent attacks. His mother, a well-known journalist, was kidnapped by the Medellin cartel in 1991 and killed by gunfire in a botched rescue attempt.

“What has happened is very sad for our country,” said Pastor Fernando Ramos. “I hope it serves as a catalyst to unite us.”