On Thursday night, Argentina’s President said a man attempted to assassinate Vice President Cristina Fernandez outside her home. However, security officers overpowered the man as his handgun misfired. The vice president did not incur any injuries as the man was overpowered by her crowd of supporters.
According to reports, a witness near the accident informed hearing the sound of the trigger pull but didn’t realise it was a handgun until security officers rushed the man. As Cristina Fernandez walked out of her home and shook hands with supporters outside her home, a man’s assassination attempt failed because the loaded gun jammed.
The police have identified the suspect as 35-year-old Fernando Andres Sabag Montiel. Furthermore, they seized two boxes from his apartment containing 100 bullets. No information has come to light regarding a possible motive. In addition, an unverified video of the incident is circulating across social media.
Alberto Fernandez, President of Argentina, condemned the assassination attempt and called it the “most serious” incident since the country became democratic in 1983. Further, he announced a national holiday on Friday for what he described as “the most serious incident since we recovered democracy.”
People gather on the streets outside Governor’s House to show support for the VP.
In the afternoon, tens of thousands of people filled the streets outside Governor’s House in Bueno Aires. They gathered to show support and solidarity with vice president Cristina Fernandez. Several supporters of Cristina chanted, “If you touch Cristina, what chaos we will make.”
Several supporters and politicians blame the opposition party for spewing hate speech against the vice president that motivated the attempted shooting.
President of the opposing Republican Proposal party, Patricia, criticized the President’s response to the attack. In addition, she said, “instead of seriously investigating a serious incident, he accuses the opposition and the press, decreeing a national holiday to mobilise activists.”
Argentina’s Vice President is facing trials relating to corruption.
The Vice President of Argentina is facing a trail of defrauding and corruption charges. The charges are from during her presidency tenure from 2007-2015. Cristina Fernandez has vehemently denied the allegations and called it political persecution.
