Argentine VP Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Escapes Assassination Attempt As Gun Jams

Argentine Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner walked away with her life after a failed assassination attempt on her Thursday. A man had aimed a handgun right at her face but the weapon jammed as he pulled the trigger. President Alberto Fernández called the attempt a grievous incident urging leaders and society to denounce it.

The video of the attempt was posted on social media showing the vice president exiting her vehicle to greet a crowd of supporters outside her home when the suspect pulled out a handgun and aimed it at point-blank range at her face. The suspect pulled the trigger but the gun jammed and failed to fire. According to the president, the gun had five bullets. Reports said the vice president did not suffer any harm from the incident, however, her whereabouts are currently unknown. The gunman was identified by the crowd just seconds after and was shortly subdued by security personnel.

Police identified the suspect as Fernando Andrés Sabag Montiel, a Brazillian citizen who has lived in Argentina since 1993. Authorities searched his apartment where they found two boxes of live bullets, Meanwhile, pictures from the gunman's social media posts have been circulating in local newspapers which depicted him having associations with neo-Nazi groups, the BBC reported.

The suspect has been assigned a public defense lawyer but will be held in custody while waiting for his trial on charges of attempted murder.

Shortly after the incident, allies of the Argentine VP quickly blamed the opposition for the assassination attempt. They claimed that the opposition made speeches promoting hate and violence and that some key officials alleged that the opposition was looking for a fatality. In response to this, Patricia Bullrich, president of the opposition Republican Proposal party, slammed Fernandez for the allegations saying the president was “playing with fire”. Bullrich pointed out how Fernandez had focused on accusing the opposition and the press rather than pushing for an intensive investigation of such a serious incident.

Regional leaders have condemned the attack with Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro sending his solidarity to the Argentine VP while Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva, also sent his regards to the VP. Argentina-born Pope Francis expressed his "solidarity and closeness" with de Kirchner through a telegram having received the VP at the Vatican on several occasions.

Prior to the failed assassination attempt, supporters of the vice president flooded the streets surrounding her apartment last week, when a prosecutor demanded a 12-year sentence for the vice president, with a life-long prohibition in holding public office over charges of alleged corruption of public works during her previous presidency from 2007 to 2015. The vice president has denied all the charges.