Argentina says man who tried to assassinate Cristina Kirchner detained

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Argentina detained a man who tried to shoot Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner on Thursday evening, President Alberto Fernández said, in what he called the “most serious incident to happen since we recovered democracy” four decades ago.

Video footage from multiple angles captured a man pointing a firearm at the vice president’s head outside her home in Buenos Aires, the capital. The gun was loaded with five bullets and the man pulled the trigger, Fernández said, but the weapon did not fire. Kirchner, 69, was unharmed and was being guarded by federal law enforcement.

A 35-year-old Brazilian man, Fernando Andres Sabag Montiel, was taken into custody, Argentina’s security minister said. In footage of the incident shared on social media, a click is heard as the firearm is brandished just inches from the vice president’s face.

“We are facing an event that has an extreme institutional and human seriousness,” Fernández said in a midnight address to the nation. “Our vice president has been attacked.”

Kirchner, a leftist leader of Argentina’s populist Peronista movement, was the country’s president from 2007 to 2015 and first lady from 2003 to 2007, during the presidency of her late husband, Nestor Kirchner. She is facing trial on corruption charges. The incident occurred Thursday outside her home in the Recoleta neighborhood of Buenos Aires, where dozens had gathered to show their support for her.

“This was an assassination attempt,” Kirchner’s lawyer, Gregorio Dalbón, wrote on Twitter, urging the Argentine justice system to respond swiftly. “Hate and violence end badly.”

“This grave incident demands immediate and profound clarification by the justice system and security forces,” tweeted the conservative former president Mauricio Macri, whom Fernández and Kirchner defeated in 2019. Kirchner, although Fernández’s running mate, was the more prominent of two in that election.

It was not immediately clear whether Sabag Montiel, the man taken into custody, had legal representation.

Argentina’s legislature, which is controlled by Kirchner allies, planned to create a special committee to investigate the incident.

Kirchner, a divisive figure in Argentine politics, could be sentenced to up to 12 years in prison if convicted in a corruption scheme involving public contracts. She has denied involvement; she has called the prosecution “political persecution.”

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Axel Kicillof, the governor of Buenos Aires province and a Kirchner ally, called the attack “one of the worst episodes in our history.”

“Those who insist on persecuting, inciting violence, and even calling for the death penalty must stop now. You cannot continue to promote hatred and violence,” he wrote.

Former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva “All my solidarity to my friend Cristina Kirchner, a victim of a fascist criminal who did not know how to respect differences and diversity.” Lula, a fellow leftist, led Brazil when Kirchner became president of Argentina.

“Cristina is a woman who deserves the respect of any democrat in the world,” he tweeted. “Thank God she escaped unharmed.”

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Relations between Brazil and Argentina have chilled during Fernández’s presidency. Brazil’s right-wing president, Jair Bolsonaro, has called Kirchner and Fernández “leftist bandits,” and his son, Eduardo, has echoed calls by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R- Tex.) to impose sanctions against Kirchner for alleged corruption. Da Silva is running against Bolsonaro in this year’s presidential election.

There was no immediate evidence that the attempted shooting was politically motivated. Fernández, the president, asked the judge investigating the case to ensure the safety of the alleged attacker while in custody.

Argentina is facing one of the world’s most severe inflation crises, with interest rates of around 70 percent. The country has cycled through three economy ministers since July.

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A rift on how to deal with the economic crisis has divided Kirchner and the president. Kirchner has championed a universal basic income, while Fernández has appointed economic policymakers who lean toward austerity.

Kirchner’s husband helped navigate Argentina out of economic collapse. Together they built an economic movement defined by heavy-handed economic intervention and growth, but her legacy has been marred by accusations of graft.



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