Colombia’s attorney general, Luz Adriana Camargo, contradicted Gustavo Petro over the killing of Miguel Uribe Turbay. Since the attack on presidential pre-candidate Miguel Uribe on June 7, 2025, President Gustavo Petro has put forward several hypotheses and pointed to different actors as responsible for the assassination.
The president’s stance has raised eyebrows because, rather than helping clarify the crime, he has shared unproven information and sown confusion among the public. But this Tuesday, March 24, the attorney general appears to have drawn a line under that approach.
Initially, President Petro said that members of the ELN guerrilla group carried out the deadly attack against Uribe Turbay, allegedly for payment. He later denied having made that claim and asserted that “the evidence points toward a path leading to the Segunda Marquetalia, based in Venezuela and Colombia.”
He was referring to dissident factions of FARC led by Luciano Marin Arango, alias “Ivan Marquez,” whom Petro also accused of killing the Democratic Center’s presidential hopeful for money.
Third, President Petro has blamed what he calls the “Board of Directors of Drug Trafficking,” an organized crime structure he has repeatedly accused of orchestrating a plan to kill him from Dubai. However, after nine months of investigation, Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo ruled out the involvement of the structure identified by Petro in the killing of Uribe Turbay.
Arrest warrants issued for seven suspects
Attorney General Camargo reported that seven arrest warrants have been issued against leaders of the Segunda Marquetalia. Alongside General William Rincon, director of the National Police, she confirmed that “Ivan Marquez” and six other members of the group were the intellectual authors of the attack on Uribe Turbay. According to the Attorney General’s Office, the motive behind the crime was “a clear purpose of political destabilization, consistent with the profile of this residual organized armed group.”
The Attorney General’s Office also unveiled a reward scheme to help locate the suspects: up to 5 billion pesos (about US$1,3 million) for “Ivan Marquez”; and 4 billion pesos (US$1.1 million) each for Gener Garcia Molina, alias “Jhon 40,” and Jose Manuel Sierra, alias “El Zarco Aldinever,” two of Marquez’s most powerful and trusted associates.
Also on the list are Jhon Jairo Bedoya Arias, alias “Rumba;” Alberto Cruzlobo, alias “Enrique Marulanda;” Diogenes Medina Hernandez, alias “Gonzalo;” and Kendra Tellez Alvarez, alias “Yako,” each with a reward of up to 2 billion pesos (about US$540,000).
Petro insists on exonerating ‘Ivan Marquez’
Despite this, President Petro says that “Ivan Marquez” may not be exercising effective control over the Segunda Marquetalia due to a possible irreversible and degenerative condition. Moreover, in the president’s view, the Segunda Marquetalia, dissident factions led by “Ivan Mordisco,” and the Clan del Golfo all ultimately answer to the overarching structure he has consistently pointed to: the “Board of Directors of Drug Trafficking.”
According to Petro, this “board” would be a network made up of emerald traders with international passports and links to DEA. He has claimed that this group financed and ordered the assassination of Senator Uribe Turbay through the then-leader of the Segunda Marquetalia.
Colombia’s Attorney General Camargo explained that the investigation includes direct testimony, intercepted communications, and cellphone geolocation analysis, placing those involved at key locations and times, which contradicts Petro over the killing of Miguel Uribe Turbay. Authorities have also gathered encrypted conversations showing prior planning of the assassination, as well as photographs the group had taken of Uribe Turbay before killing him.