The alleged mastermind behind the capturing of conservative Colombian senator and presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay was taken into custody Saturday, almost a month after the assault, legislation enforcement authorities mentioned.
Elder José Arteaga Hernández, who makes use of the aliases “Chipi” or “Costeño,” was arrested in a neighborhood within the northwestern a part of the capital, Bogota, Nationwide Police Director Maj. Gen. Carlos Fernando Triana instructed reporters.
Authorities had beforehand accused Arteaga and different suspects of being close to the Bogota park the place Uribe was shot in broad daylight on June 7. Three different individuals have been arrested for taking part within the logistics and execution of the crime.
Expenses towards Arteaga embrace tried aggravated murder; manufacturing, trafficking and carrying firearms or ammunition; and utilizing minors to commit crimes. Interpol issued a pink discover towards him on Friday.
It was not instantly clear Saturday if Arteaga had an lawyer who may touch upon his behalf. Authorities mentioned he would make his first courtroom look over the weekend.
Triana final month mentioned Arteaga “has been concerned in a lifetime of crime for greater than 20 years, performing hit jobs in all sorts of crimes in Bogotá.”
Gabriel Aponte/Getty Photographs for Concordia Summit
Uribe was giving a political speech within the park when he was attacked from behind, allegedly by a minor who was captured as he fled. He was shot twice within the head and as soon as within the knee, CBS Information reported. He underwent a “neurosurgical” and “peripheral vascular process” on the Santa Fe Clinic in Bogota to deal with the accidents, and has undergone extra surgical procedures since. He stays in intensive care.
Two different individuals – a person and a girl – have been additionally injured.
The motive for the capturing remains to be being investigated. In October, Uribe introduced his intention to run in Colombia’s 2026 presidential election. From his Senate seat, he had grow to be certainly one of President Gustavo Petro’s most vocal critics.
The assault has been broadly condemned in a rustic with a darkish previous through which drug cartels and rebel teams murdered and kidnapped politicians. Uribe is the son of a journalist who was kidnapped and killed throughout one of many nation’s most violent durations, in 1991. Shortly after the capturing, Secretary of State Marco Rubio mentioned the U.S. “condemns within the strongest attainable phrases the tried assassination” and referred to as the assault “a direct menace to democracy.” He blamed “violent leftist rhetoric coming from the best ranges of the Colombian authorities” for the capturing.
“Having seen firsthand Colombia’s progress over the previous few many years to consolidate safety and democracy, it could actually’t afford to return to darkish days of political violence,” Rubio mentioned. “President Petro must dial again the inflammatory rhetoric and shield Colombian officers.”
