Assassination Politics

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Argentina VP Survives Point-Blank Assassination Attempt

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-62762421
https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/inline_images/Argentina.pdf
https://twitter.com/LautaroMaislin/status/1565506730661904384
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/argentina-vp-unharmed-after-assailant-threatens-her-with-gun-2022-09-02/
https://apnews.com/article/caribbean-buenos-aires-argentina-3583b98f34338e703061010fbbf72065

Argentinian vice president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner survived an
astonishingly close encounter with death on Thursday night, as a
would-be assassin pointed a loaded pistol at her head and seemingly
pulled the trigger with no effect.

The gun was loaded with five rounds, according to President Alberto
Fernández. "Cristina remains alive because, for a reason not yet
technically confirmed, the gun, which contained five bullets, did not
fire," he said in a nationwide television broadcast, describing the
attack as "the most serious incident since we recovered democracy” in
1983.

Amidst a throng of supporters outside her home, Vice President
Fernández was exiting her vehicle when a pistol emerged from the crowd
-- the muzzle just inches from her face.

A video captured the astounding incident -- and, it seems, even the
click of the would-be assassin's trigger pull:

    El video del arma contra @CFKArgentina pic.twitter.com/8j1xpMnPoe
    — Lautaro Maislin (@LautaroMaislin) September 2, 2022

Fernández de Kirchner blinked and ducked down as first the crowd and
then her security detail reacted. The assailant was quickly
apprehended as he stood amongst her backers. Though his name has not
yet been released, authorities say he is a 35-year old of Brazilian
origin.

Fernández de Kirchner is embroiled in controversy:

    "The attack came as the vice president is facing a trial for
alleged acts of corruption during her 2007-2015 presidency — charges
that she vehemently denies and that have led her supporters to
surround her home in the upscale Recoleta neighborhood of Argentina’s
capital," reports the Associated Press.

She stands accused of defrauding the government and corruptly awarding
public works projects to her political base in Patagonia. Prosecutors
are seeking a 12-year sentence and a lifetime ban from politics. As
Senate president, however, she enjoys immunity, which could end with
her losing a late-2023 election or if the Supreme Court ratifies her
sentence.
Mere inches separated Cristina Fernández de Kirchner from near-certain
death (Television Publica Argentina via AP)

"We can disagree, we can have deep disagreements, but hate speech
cannot take place because it breeds violence and there is no chance of
violence coexisting with democracy," President Fernández said.
Another angle shows the pistol extended as Fernández de Kirchner exits
her vehicle (Reuters via BBC)

In what might be a seen as an exploitation of the event, Fernández
declared Friday a national holiday so that Argentines could "express
themselves in defense of life, democracy and in solidarity with our
vice president."
Witnesses of the assassination attempt console each other in the
aftermath (AP photo/Natacha Pisarenko)