On Thursday, an assailant tried to shoot Cristina Kirchner, the vice president of Argentina, close to her residence in Buenos Aires. This horrifying occurrence has sparked a wave of support 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.
Kirchner, who presided over the nation from 2007 to 2015 and is currently charged with corruption, was shown on video of the event being pointed at with a revolver at close range. The incident happened in the affluent Recoleta district of Buenos Aires.
“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 newsmen.
Anibal Fernandez, the security minister, stated that although a suspect had been detained on Thursday evening, the crime scene and the circumstances surrounding the incident still needed to be investigated.
A 35-year-old Brazilian national was the suspect, according to the local media. In order to allow people to “express themselves in support of the life of democracy and in solidarity with our vice president,” President Fernandez proclaimed Friday a national holiday.
After the foiled attack, a number of prominent figures from Latin America expressed their support for Kirchner, 69.
Kirchner’s staunch supporter Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela tweeted his support on 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!”