Sister of Miguel Uribe Turbay urges flag-raising on first anniversary of assassination
María Carolina Hoyos called on Colombians to hang the national flag on 7 June, the first anniversary of the murder of senator and former presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay.
One year after Uribe Turbay's assassination: his sister convenes a tribute with Colombia's flag
María Carolina Hoyos asked Colombians to place the national flag in windows, balconies, buildings and homes on Sunday 7 June 2026, on the first anniversary of the assassination of senator and former presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay. The call was released on Saturday 6 June through a video published on her Instagram profile, according to infobae.com.
"I would like to propose a simple act for this Sunday: that Colombians place our flag in windows, balconies, buildings, offices and homes," Hoyos said in the recording.
The sister of the murdered senator clarified that the gesture transcends the memory of her family member. "One year has passed since the attack on my brother Miguel, but this is not just an act for him, it is also a tribute to all victims of violence, to families who have had to learn to live with an absence," she said.
Hoyos closed the video with a direct invitation to citizens: "Let this Sunday Colombia's flag remind us that we can think differently, but continue sharing the same country. For Miguel, for the victims of Colombia, let violence not have the final word."
Judicial proceedings one day before the commemoration
Hoyos's call coincided with a formal request from the Office of the Attorney General: a day earlier, the investigating body asked a judge to declare seven leaders of the Second Marquetalia as absent in order to charge them with the crime. Those named are alias Iván Márquez, John 40, Zarco Aldinever, Rusbel, Enrique Marulanda, alias Gonzalo and "Yako". Interpol red notices remain active to facilitate their capture through mechanisms of international cooperation.
The judicial office must determine whether to approve the measure so that the Office of the Attorney General can proceed to the imputation hearing without the physical presence of those being prosecuted.
To date, the prosecuting body has formally charged nine people for their alleged participation in the homicide committed on 7 June 2025 in Bogotá.
Chain of command according to the Office of the Attorney General
One of the central elements of the case file is the testimony of Simeón Pérez, alias El Viejo, who reached a plea agreement that includes a sentence of 22 years imprisonment. His statement has been used by investigators to reconstruct the alleged chain of command behind the homicide.
According to that investigative line, the order to murder Uribe Turbay would have been issued directly by alias Zarco Aldinever, identified by the Office of the Attorney General as one of the main heads of the organisation. The case file also places alias Yako as a relevant figure in the coordination of the plan: he would have contacted "El Viejo" months earlier and then put him in communication with Zarco Aldinever at a meeting held at the Venezuelan border. Following that approach, the operational coordination of the attack would have fallen under the responsibility of "El Viejo", who from that position established contacts with the urban criminal structure that carried out the crime.
Convicted through plea agreements
Three other defendants have already accepted sentences of 21 years imprisonment after acknowledging their involvement in the facts. Among them is Katherine Andrea Martínez Martínez, accused of having provided the weapon used in the attack; Carlos Eduardo Mora, driver of one of the vehicles involved; and Harold Barragán, accused of having contacted the minor hit man—aged 15—known as alias Tianz, to whom the Office of the Attorney General attributes the execution of the murder.
In the coming days, a judge must determine whether to approve the plea agreement signed with José Arteaga, alias Chipi, identified by the Office of the Attorney General as one of the operational heads and planners of the attack. If given judicial approval, Chipi would be sentenced to 26 years imprisonment.
Source: Google News CO — Crime