The Minister of Defense, General (r) Pedro Sánchez, confirmed that the investigations into the attack that ended the life of the senator and pre-candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay, on June 7 in Bogotá, include the hypothesis that the National Liberation Army (ELN) could have some kind of relationship with the crime.
“Organizations that make a living from drug trafficking could very likely be related to the murder of our senator Miguel Uribe,” said the senior official, who specified that the lines of investigation include the ‘Segunda Marquetalia’, the ELN and the front led by alias 'Iván Mordisco'. “These are hypotheses and when the Prosecutor's Office confirms them, we will know who was behind it,” he stressed.
(You can read: Political assassinations, a long-standing issue in Colombia: how many have there been?).
The death of Uribe Turbay, which occurred after more than two months in an Intensive Care Unit, not only reshapes the political landscape, but, according to security experts, poses a major judicial challenge: determining whether unprecedented criminal alliances between armed groups are behind the homicide.
ELN
What do the Second Marquetalia and the ELN have to do with each other?
Just in the last few hours, the head of the Defense portfolio had revealed that José Aldinever Sierra Sabogal, alias 'Zarco Aldinever', leader of the Second Marquetalia, was killed by the ELN near the Colombian-Venezuelan border, in the middle of a dispute over control of a cocaine shipment. (You can read: 'Hard blow': Former government negotiators with the FARC, after the death of Miguel Uribe)."The ELN assassinated 'Zarco' Aldinever of the Second Marquetalia very close to the Colombian-Venezuelan border due to the fight over drug trafficking. Apparently, they stole a shipment of cocaine among themselves and a criminal fight developed between cartels," said the minister.
He added that the authenticity of the statement with which the armed group claimed responsibility for the death was validated “through our intelligence agencies” and corroborated with other technical and human sources. (You may be interested in: Amid diplomatic tensions, US congressmen will travel to Colombia). For Sánchez, this fact shows a deep fracture within the dissidence, which “has no political objective” and whose motivation is strictly criminal, which could reinforce the hypotheses about the motive for the attack against Uribe Turbay. Regarding judicial progress, the minister highlighted that the alleged perpetrator was captured on the same day of the attack and, in less than a month, five other people involved, which, in his opinion, allows us to “have almost all the aggressive, at least of those who planned this assassination at the lowest level, and it already gives us some important connections”.
Security risks in elections
The case has also had immediate repercussions on political security. Following the attack, the Ministry of Defense, in coordination with the National Police, the Ministry of the Interior, and the National Protection Unit, reviewed the protection protocols for presidential candidates and leaders at risk."The threat is latent. The important thing here is to assess the risk, identify it clearly, and take measures to mitigate it. The measures depend not only on the person, but also on the place," Sánchez emphasized. (More: ).
Criminal law and security experts warn that the judicial challenge is not limited to clarifying the authorship of the attack, but also to dismantling the networks that made it possible. The probable participation of more than one organized armed group implies, according to analysts, a criminal coordination that the State will have to confront with intelligence, international cooperation, and extraordinary resources.
The case, moreover, could become a reference for how the country investigates and punishes crimes against public figures in an electoral context. If links between organizations such as the ELN and the 'Segunda Marquetalia' are confirmed, the judicial file could open the door to charges of conspiracy to commit crimes for terrorist purposes, drug trafficking, and aggravated homicide.
