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The motorcade of a Colombian senator, Alexander López, came under fire on Tuesday by rebels from a dissident faction of the now-defunct FARC guerrilla group, President Gustavo Petro announced.
Ruling party senator López was travelling under heightened security on a highway in Cauca when his convoy was targeted.
El carro blindado del senador Alexander López fue rafageado por fusiles disparados por el grupo armado del narcotráfico dirigido por Iván Mordisco y Marlon.
El senador por seguridad cambio de carro desde el comienzo de su trayecto y se movilizaba un poco más adelante. El carro…
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) May 20, 2026
Fortunately, López was riding in a vehicle ahead of his usual transport; his standard armoured car was subsequently raked with gunfire.
President Gustavo Petro revealed that the vehicle of a local mayor was also struck in the assault, which occurred just one kilometre from the site where a devastating guerrilla bomb killed 21 civilians in late April.
Speaking to a crowd at a public event in the capital city of Bogotá, President Petro stated that the assailants were actively attempting to kidnap the senator.
The leftist leader utilised X to blame the attack on a notorious drug-trafficking armed group operating under the command of Iván Mordisco.
At this stage, it remains unconfirmed whether anyone sustained injuries during the ambush or if state security forces managed to engage the guerrillas in a firefight.
The Cauca region, heavily saturated with illicit drug cultivation, remains a primary stronghold for Mordisco—Colombia’s most wanted criminal—and his followers, who have explicitly rejected the nation’s historic peace process.
This assassination and kidnapping attempt unfolds as Colombia grapples with its most severe wave of violence since the signing of the 2016 peace accord.
The current presidential campaign, leading up to the election scheduled for May 31, has been profoundly disrupted by a series of high-profile assaults, political murders, and abductions.
The incident also highlights the collapse of Petro’s flagship initiative to negotiate peace with various armed factions, which have instead succeeded in expanding their ranks over recent years.
Consequently, leading right-wing presidential candidates Abelardo de la Espriella and Paloma Valencia have aggressively criticised Petro’s lenient security policies, pledging a significantly tougher, militarised approach against illicit organisations if elected.
