Miguel Uribe Londoño announced his return to the presidential race in Colombia. He did so with the endorsement of the Colombian Democratic Party and with a clear message: He did not withdraw of his own accord, but because of his differences with the internal management of his former party, the Democratic Center.
His return reopens tensions on the right and revives a painful chapter that shaped his decision to run for the presidency following the assassination of his son, Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay, in the middle of last year, in a crime that remains under investigation by the authorities.
In his announcement, Uribe Londoño openly questioned his former political group, spoke of unjustified exclusions, and made it clear that his project remains in place, now outside the party that for years was his political home.
He asserted that his candidacy is not only a personal aspiration but the continuation of a cause that, according to him, was cut short by his son’s death.
Miguel Uribe Londoño returns to the presidential race in Colombia
Miguel Uribe Londoño’s departure from the Democratic Center was tumultuous. The leader said that he was removed from the internal process without an explicit resignation and that the decision was made by the party’s leadership. Without mentioning administrative details, he did point to a political direction that, in his view, closed off spaces and limited internal competition.
These criticisms add to those made shortly afterward by Senator Maria Fernanda Cabal, who also denounced irregularities in the candidate selection process — which ended with the election designation of Paloma Valencia — and to the noisy departure of Cabal and her husband from the party led by former President Alvaro Uribe.
For his part, Uribe Londoño spoke of a lack of guarantees and of a structure that, he said, stopped listening to its grassroots base.
Although he avoided breaking completely with the ideology of Uribismo, he distanced himself from the party’s current leadership and raised the need for a renewed right, less focused on internal disputes and more centered on offering answers to insecurity, the economic crisis, and polarization.
The endorsement of the Colombian Democratic Party allows him to remain in the race without relying on inter-party primaries. The smaller party, with limited presence in Congress, offers him a legal and political platform to compete in the first round. The move also sends a message: Uribe Londoño did not withdraw; he changed electoral vehicles.
The announcement took shape in a post on his X social media account. “I reaffirm my commitment to all Colombians to build together one single Colombia. This is not about left or right. About white or Black. About rich or poor. It is about protecting life, restoring security, and guaranteeing real opportunities for everyone. Less division, more results. Colombia needs order, character, and unity,” he wrote this morning, following the controversial criticism directed squarely at Alvaro Uribe, president of his former party, the Democratic Center.
Reafirmo mi compromiso con todos los colombianos de construir juntos, una sola Colombia.
Esto no se trata de izquierda o derecha. De blancos o negros. De ricos o pobres.
Se trata de proteger la vida, recuperar la seguridad y garantizar oportunidades reales para todos.
Menos… pic.twitter.com/iBgJfonBsK
— Miguel Uribe (@migueluribel) February 11, 2026
The profile of a leader marked by tragedy
Miguel Uribe Londoño is a politician with a long trajectory in conservative and right-wing sectors. A lawyer by profession, he has held public office and has been closely involved in debates on security and justice. However, his figure took on a different dimension after the assassination of his son, Miguel Uribe Turbay.
Uribe Turbay, a senator and presidential pre-candidate, represented a new generation within the Democratic Center. With solid academic training and media visibility, he had managed to position himself as one of the party’s strongest options for 2026, despite having a background closer to liberalism and to former Bogota Mayor Enrique Peñalosa.
His assassination, in an attack that shook the country, reignited fears about political violence in Colombia and generated a wave of national solidarity.
The senator’s death not only impacted the political establishment but also altered his father’s personal and public path. A few months after the crime, Miguel Uribe Londoño announced that he would take on the challenge of running for the presidency.
He said at the time that it was not about revenge, but about a historic responsibility. In his narrative, the candidacy became a way to honor his son’s memory and to defend the banners he promoted.
In his new launch, Uribe Londoño returned to that point. He remembered his son as a leader committed to democratic security, institutional stability, and strengthening the state. He stated that Colombia cannot normalize violence or allow fear to condition political participation.
His speech combined firmness and emotion. He spoke of pain, but also of determination. He argued that the best response to crime is to deepen democracy and strengthen the state’s legitimate authority.
For his supporters, that stance makes him a candidate with a clear cause. For his critics, the risk is that the campaign could become excessively anchored in personal tragedy, without proposals very different from those of other right-wing candidates.
Challenges in a fragmented landscape
For his part, the veteran politician outlined proposals focused on comprehensive security, strengthening the security forces, and reforms to the justice system. He has also mentioned the need to restore investor confidence and stabilize the economy in a context of regional uncertainty.
Miguel Uribe Londoño’s return comes amid a fragmented electoral landscape. Several aspirants seek to represent different strands of the right, while the center and the left are also organizing their own primaries and alliances, not without their own difficulties. In that context, his challenge is twofold: To consolidate his own base and to differentiate himself without becoming isolated.
The break with the Democratic Center means losing the machinery and territorial structure of one of the strongest opposition parties. The backing of the Colombian Democratic Party guarantees him a formal presence in the race, but it does not automatically resolve the organizational and financial challenge of mounting a presidential campaign.
Even so, his name has national recognition, and his recent history gives him visibility, beyond the claim to the memory of his murdered son, a crime that remains present in broad sectors of public opinion. The question is whether that symbolic capital will translate into enough votes to compete with candidacies backed by more robust political machines.