Argentina police arrests man in assassination attempt on Vice President Cristina Kirchner

Buenos Aires [Argentina], September 2 (ANI): Argentina Police on Thursday night arrested a man for pointing a gun at the country’s Vice President and former president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner in front of the house in Buenos Aires, local media reported.
According to the police report, the alleged attacker is a 35-year-old Brazilian national, identified as Fernando Andres Sabag Montiel, Sputnik reported.
The viral footage of the incident revealed that the accused allegedly approached the vice president aiming a gun inches away from her head and appeared to attempt a shot, but the gun did not fire. The vice president’s life is not believed to be in danger.
The weapon used by the perpetrator was found “a few meters from the place”, as per the police report.
In addition, police confirmed that the Judicial Interventions brigade had moved to the area. The attacker’s motives and the details of the incident are not clear at the moment, as the police are investigating.
Montiel reportedly has a history of carrying non-legal weapons, and the police supposedly arrested him in 2021 for having a knife, Sputnik reported.
Argentina president Alberto Fernandez is expected to make a television address to the nation shortly.
On Monday, the Argentinian security minister stated that they would extend Kirchner’s security to her home as well after a clash broke out in front of her house as a prosecutor requested a sentence of 12 years in prison for Kirchner who was charged with a corruption case.
On one side, people hoisted banners that accused her of being a “thief” and banged pots and pans, while on the other, her backers sang political chants and jumped up and down in boisterous support.
Police used tear gas and batons to disperse the Fernandez de Kirchner supporters, in what her allies denounced as a show of excessive violence. A legislator for the ruling Frente de Todos coalition was briefly arrested.
This comes after a lead prosecutor in the case asked a federal court in Buenos Aires to sentence Fernandez de Kirchner to 12 years in jail and ban her from holding public office for the rest of her life.
Fernandez de Kirchner is one of 13 people charged in the so-called “Causa Vialidad”, which centres on the awarding of public works contracts in the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz, where she and her late husband, former President Nestor Kirchner, cemented their political careers.
The case focuses on a 12-year time period, starting in the early 2000s, during which 51 contracts were awarded to companies owned by Lazaro Baez, a businessman who was a friend and associate of the Kirchners.
Baez, who was convicted last year of money laundering, went from being a bank employee to founding a construction company in the days before Nestor Kirchner took office in 2003.
Kirchner is charged with “illicit association aggravated by her quality as leader” and “aggravated fraudulent administration”.
However, she has denied the charges and said she is a victim of judicial and political persecution, Al Jazeera reported.
Her legal team said that the premise of the accusations against Kirchner was absurd, noting in particular that public works contracts go through Congress, so any allegation of illicit association, they argued, would have to then extend to that legislative body, Al Jazeera reported. (ANI)