Colombia Highway Bombing Kills at Least 20 Ahead of Presidential Election

Apr 27, 2026

A bomb-laden bus exploded on Colombia's Pan-American Highway in Cauca department on April 25, 2026, killing 19 people and injuring 38 others, with the blast flipping cars and creating a large crater. President Gustavo Petro blamed Ivan Mordisco, Colombia's most-wanted criminal, for the attack, which followed 26 recorded attacks over two days in the region. The violence occurs just weeks before Colombia's May 31, 2026 presidential election, where security has become a central issue after conservative frontrunner Miguel Uribe Turbay was assassinated in June 2025. Leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda, architect of Petro's negotiation policy with armed groups, leads in polls against right-wing candidates Abelardo de la Espriella and Paloma Valencia, who pledge hardline approaches against rebels.

Highway bombing attack in Cauca department

▪The National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences began examination of 19 bodies on Sunday morning following the highway bombing.
▪A highway bomb attack in southwestern Colombia's Cauca department killed 19 people on Saturday, April 25, 2026.
▪President Gustavo Petro blamed the highway bombing on Ivan Mordisco, Colombia's most-wanted criminal.
▪The highway bomb attack in Colombia's Cauca department injured at least 38 people.

Surge in violence across southwestern Colombia

▪Military chief Hugo Lopez reported that 26 attacks were recorded in Valle del Cauca and Cauca departments over two days.
▪A bomb attack on a military base in Cali, Colombia's third-largest city, injured two people on Friday, April 24, 2026.

Security concerns ahead of presidential election

▪Leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda is ahead in polls for Colombia's May 31, 2026 presidential election.
▪Colombian voters will pick a successor to President Gustavo Petro in the May 31, 2026 election.
▪Colombia's presidential election is scheduled for May 31, 2026.
▪Conservative presidential frontrunner Miguel Uribe Turbay was shot in broad daylight while campaigning in Bogota in June 2025.
▪Security is one of the central issues of Colombia's May 31, 2026 presidential election.
▪Miguel Uribe Turbay died from wounds sustained in the June 2025 shooting in Bogota.