Argentina's Vice President Unharmed After Failed Assassination Attempt

An assassination attempt on Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of Argentina on Thursday night failed as a man pointed a pistol at her head and tried to pull the trigger, but the gun did not go off, according to video footage and a statement from Argentina’s president.

Fernández was unharmed.

“Cristina is still alive because, for reasons that have not been confirmed technically, the weapon, which was loaded with five bullets, did not fire,” President Alberto Fernández said in an address to the nation late Thursday. “This is the most serious event since we recovered our democracy.”

Federal police arrested Fernando Andres Sabag Montiel, 35, a Brazilian man living in Argentina, in connection with the attack, according to Buenos Aires police.

Cristina Fernández, a leftist former president who is the most prominent leader in Argentina with three decades in the public eye, is a deeply polarizing figure in the country and is on trial on corruption charges. Her supporters have rallied outside her home in Buenos Aires since last week, sometimes clashing with police.

Just after 9 p.m., as Fernández was exiting her vehicle into a large crowd outside her home, a man quickly approached and pointed a gun inches from her face, according to video footage and authorities. A clicking sound heard in videos suggested that the man might have then tried to pull the trigger. Fernández crouched down, and the man was pulled away.

Five people chased a man away from the scene and said he had tried to kill Fernández, according to Buenos Aires police. Federal police then arrested Montiel and found a pistol near the scene, Buenos Aires police said.

Alberto Fernández declared Friday a national holiday in Argentina so Argentines could “defend life and democracy in solidarity with our vice president,” he said. “The outcry, horror and repudiation that this event generates in us should become a permanent commitment to eradicate hate and violence from our democratic lives.”

Members of Argentina’s Congress said they had formed a commission to investigate the assassination attempt.

Cristina Fernández, 69, was Argentina’s president from 2007-15 and first lady from 2003-07, when her late husband, Néstor Kirchner, was president. Their political power was so strong in Argentina that it gave rise to Kirchnerism, a left-wing movement that remains one of the most powerful political forces in the country.

In 2019, she returned to the Casa Rosada, Argentina’s presidential offices, after masterminding a political ticket in which she would run for vice president and Alberto Fernández would seek the presidency. Alberto Fernández is not expected to run for reelection next year because of dismal approval ratings amid the spiraling Argentine economy.

Cristina Fernández, despite being reviled by the right in Argentina, is still adored by a large portion of the country. Many political analysts in Argentina have been speculating that she could try to return to the presidency next year.

But she is also grappling with a corruption trial that is in its final stages and could conclude in December. She faces accusations that she helped direct state funds for public roadwork projects to a company owned by a family friend. Prosecutors are seeking a 12-year prison sentence for her and a ban on holding public office. However, even if convicted, she would likely avoid those punishments for years as appeals played out. This article originally appeared in The New York Times.