BOGOTA (Reuters) -Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe, a potential presidential contender, was shot in Bogota on Saturday, according to the government and his party, as his wife said he was fighting for his life in hospital.

A Colombian presidential candidate has been shot and seriously injured at a campaign event in the capital, Bogota. Miguel Uribe Turbay, 39, was hit three times - reportedly twice in the head - by a gunman while he was addressing a small crowd in a park on Saturday.

The attack against a conservative senator, Miguel Uribe Turbay, has shaken a nation that has struggled to move past its long history of political violence.