Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner: Argentina vice president survives assassination attempt as attacker’s gun jams
Argentina‘s vice president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner survived an assassination attempt late on Thursday as a man with a loaded gun tried and failed to shoot her.
In a televised address, president Alberto Fernandez said: “A man pointed a firearm at her head and pulled the trigger. Cristina is still alive because, for some reason yet to be confirmed, the gun… did not fire.”
Mr Fernandez said the gun had been loaded with five bullets.
The vice president and former president is on trial on corruption charges which could see her face a 12-year sentence and possible disqualification from public office over public contracts awarded in the early 2000s.
Hundreds of supporters had gathered outside her Buenos Aires home when the attempted attack took place.
Video footage of the incident showed a man holding a pistol inches away from her head as she greeted supporters.
A suspect has been arrested and authorities have identified him as a 35-year-old man of Brazilian origin.
The attack comes amid rising political tension in the country and the region that has put politicians on edge from Colombia to Brazil.
“This is the most serious event we have gone through since Argentina returned to democracy,” the president said.
Widely seen as a divisive figure in the country, Ms Fernandez de Kirchner had earlier served as president for two terms between 2007 and 2015.
She is eying a run for the Senate and possibly the presidency in next year’s general elections.
