Man, 35, arrested for attempted shooting of Argentine VP Kirchner
BUETNOODS AIRES—A man attempted to shoot Argentine Vice President Cristina Kirchner near her home in Buenos Aires on Thursday, a shocking incident that prompted a wave of sympathy from Latin American leaders.
“Cristina remains alive, because for a reason that has not yet been technically confirmed, the gun which contained five bullets did not fire despite the trigger having been pulled,” Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez said in an address to the nation.
“This is the most serious event that has happened since we restored democracy” in 1983, Fernandez said.
Footage of the incident showed the man pointing a handgun at close range at Kirchner, who was the country’s leader from 2007 to 2015 and is now facing corruption charges.
The incident took place in Buenos Aires’ upscale Recoleta neighborhood.
“I saw this arm come up over my shoulder behind me with a gun, and with people around me, he was subdued,” a supporter of Kirchner, who did not give his name, told AFP.
Security Minister Anibal Fernandez said a suspect had been arrested on Thursday night but investigators still needed to examine the crime scene and circumstances surrounding the incident.
Local media reported that the suspect was a 35-year-old Brazilian national.
President Fernandez declared Friday a public holiday to allow people to “express themselves in defense of the life of democracy and in solidarity with our vice president.”
‘Solidarity’
Several well-known Latin American politicians voiced support for Kirchner, 69, after the failed attack.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a strong Kirchner ally, tweeted his support Thursday night.
“We send our solidarity to Vice President Cristina Kirchner in the face of the attack against her life,” he wrote.
“We strenuously reject this act that sought to destabilize the peace of the brotherly Argentine people. The great homeland is with you, comrade!”