Argentine Vice President Cristina Fernandez escapes murder attempt
On the evening of Thursday, September 1, an assassination attempt was narrowly avoided on Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner in front of her residence in Buenos Aires.
Social media users witnessed the official leaving her vehicle just as a man walked up to her and pointed a gun at her head. The weapon, however, was obviously not properly loaded, as he was unable to fire it.
Although the vice president’s security detail would not have been able to stop an attack on the wife of former president Néstor Kirchner had the weapon functioned correctly and discharged, they reacted quickly and apprehended the accused aggressor.
From what we can gather so far, the assailant is a Brazilian national, and the weapon he attempted to use has five rounds.
President Alberto Fernandez sent a statement to the country in which he declared a holiday for this coming Friday, September 2, and voiced his “strong condemnation” of the recent events.
It was “extremely serious” he said, calling it “the most serious that has happened since we have recovered our democracy.”
He explained, “Cristina remains alive because, for a reason not yet technically confirmed, the weapon that had five bullets did not fire despite having been triggered,”
In addition, he said, “such a reality moves the entire Argentine people and in particular those of us who are her companions who embrace her in solidarity with all our love.”
Because “these events affect our democracy,” “this attack deserves the strongest condemnation from all of Argentine society,” said President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.
“We are obliged to recover the democratic coexistence that has been broken by the hate speech that has spread from different political, judicial and media spaces of Argentine society,” he said.
The Venezuelan government blasted the attempted attack as “nefarious.” few minutes after it was discovered.
Argentine Vice President Cristina Kirchner was the target of a failed shooting attempt, and Venezuelan Foreign Minister Carlos Faraa condemned the incident on Twitter by retweeting Dictator Nicolás Maduro.
The Venezuelan government condemned “this act of violence” and pledged support for “the brave Cristina.”
Former Bolivian president Evo Morales issued a similar Twitter statement condemning the events:
“We condemn the cowardly assassination attempt against our sister Cristina Fernández. All our solidarity with the vice president. The Great Homeland is with you, sister. The criminal right-wing and servile to imperialism will not pass. The free and dignified people of Argentina will defeat it.”