Argentina’s vice-president has narrowly escaped death after a gunman’s weapon jammed as he aimed to assassinate her.
Footage shows the moment Cristina Fernández de Kirchner found herself face-to-face with the loaded weapon which failed to go off. The former president is facing charges of corruption and this happened as she was returning from court. Kirchner denies all charges against her.
Police have identified the suspect – a 35-year-old Brazilian man who has been taken into custody.
Law enforcement authorities are trying to establish a motive for the attack on the left-leaning populist. Kirchner was Argentina’s president from 2007 to 2015. She was also the country’s first lady for four years before that.
President Alberto Fernández revealed the gun was loaded with five bullets, but failed to fire when triggered.
British media giant BBC reported that a video circulating on social media shows the gun emerging from the crowd as Ms Fernández de Kirchner approaches. She initially appears confused by what is going on, ducking down to retrieve an object dropped on the floor.
Another video doing the rounds shows people trying to block Ms Fernández de Kirchner from the suspected gunman as he comes within inches of her. As the Vice President faces charges of defrauding the state and being involved in a scheme to divert public funds when she was president, crowds gathered outside her home for the past few days to show their support.
A police spokesperson earlier informed Reuters news agency that a weapon was found a few metres from the scene after the man had been arrested.
Addressing the country late on Thursday night, President Fernández said: “Cristina remains alive because, for a reason not yet technically confirmed, the gun, which contained five bullets, did not fire.”
“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, declaring a national holiday on Friday to allow Argentines time to “express themselves in defence of life, democracy and in solidarity with our vice president”.
Fernández was chief-of-staff to both Ms Fernández de Kirchner and her husband during their tenures as heads of state. Argentina’s economy minister, Sergio Massa, called the attempted shooting an “attempted assassination”.
