A man on Thursday, 1 September, tried to kill Argentina’s Vice President, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, outside her home home in Buenos Aires, from a point-blank range but the pistol misfired.
A video of the incident has also surfaced online, in which a man is seen pointing a gun at Kirchner.
President Alberto Fernández said the pistol, which was loaded with five bullets, did not discharge when the man tried to fire it.
“A man pointed a firearm at her head and pulled the trigger,” the president said. “Cristina is still alive because, for some reason yet to be confirmed, the gun did not fire," as quoted by The Guardian.
As per local media reports, the suspect was a Brazilian national.
Furthermore, Security Minister Anibal Fernandez confirmed that the man has been arrested over the incident.
“A person who was identified by those who were close to him was detained by (the vice-president’s) security personnel. They set him aside, found the weapon, and now it must be analysed,” he said, as quoted by the report.
President Announces National Holiday
Describing the incident as 'extremely grave,' President Fernández declared a national holiday on Friday, to give people time to “express themselves in defence of life, democracy and in solidarity with our vice-president”, the report added.
Kirchner has been facing charges of corruption which has led to the increase in verbal violence among opposition politicians in Argentina this year. Moreover, some extreme opposition politicians have also called for the death sentence to be reintroduced for the vice-president, the report added.
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