Images showing the moment when a gunman tried to assassinate Argentinian Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner outside her home in Buenos Aires, on September 1, 2022. File photo.
Politicians and social organizations in Argentina demanded justice and comprehensive investigations into the assassination attempt on Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, which took place one year ago.
On September 1, 2022, Fernando Sabag, 35, pointed a gun at Fernández’s head as she was greeting people who had gathered outside her home in the Recoleta neighborhood of Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina.
Although Sabag pulled the trigger, the gun did not go off, and he was caught by the people and handed over to the Federal Police.
Sabag’s partner Brenda Uliarte, and another associate named Gabriel Carrizo were also arrested for their role in the planning and execution of the assassination attempt.
Cristina Fernández Condemns Cover-Up of Her Attempted Assassination
On several occasions, Vice President Cristina Fernández denounced the participation of extremist and political groups in the organization and financing of the attack, and accused Judge María Eugenia Capuchetti of hindering and delaying the investigations when evidence pointing to members of extreme-right parties Revolución Federal and Propuesta Republicana surfaced.
“It was one of the most serious acts of political violence since the return to democracy,” said the governor of the province of Buenos Aires, Axel Kicillof, on September 1, the first anniversary of the assassination attempt. “It has been a year of impunity with a judicial party dedicated to cover up and not to investigate. There are many indications and elements to understand what was the motivation behind the attempt.”
“We want an Argentina where justice rules for all and where hate speech is not promoted and encouraged,” Kicillof added. “As we said at the time: it was not an attack against a person, but against democracy.”
Argentinian Minister of Justice and Human Rights Martín Soria condemned the judiciary for not investigating in depth an assassination attempt on a popular politican even as Argentina completes 40 years since the end of the last military dictatorship (1976-1983).
Argentina: Peronists Denounce Judicial Persecution Against Cristina Fernández
The Center for Legal and Social Studies published a statement, pointing out that “the assassination attempt expressed a political violence that was circulating in social and political circles. It shook the idea that consensus protected us from this type of actions and that Argentina was immune to a global movement of the extreme right.”
The statement added that the attempt was a part of the aggression against progressive leaders of the national and popular camp, human rights and feminist organizations, and social movements in general.
“The fact that a year after the attack there is no clarity about the masterminds behind the assassination attempt and that the judiciary is not effective in providing answers to society, sends a signal about the lack of consequences of political violence,” the text asserted. “This is dangerous for democracy.”
“The groups that supported such actions in the public space and constructed their identity out of an escalation of political violence have transformed into an electoral option with the candidacy of Javier Milei and Victoria Villarruel [of the libertarian right La Libertad Avanza party],” the statement alerted.
The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo Association reiterated its support for Cristina Fernández and stressed the need for strengthening the struggle in the streets to defend democracy.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
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