It was determined by the authorities of the country that the person suspected of pulling the trigger of the gun that did not shoot the Argentine Vice President is Fernando Sabag Montiel, a 35-year-old Brazilian.
The Brazilian, whose name is Fernando Andrés Sabag Montiel, is suspected of pointing a gun and pulling the trigger at Vice President Cristina Kirchner in Buenos Aires on Thursday night (1/9), according to Argentine police.
In the footage broadcast by television channels in the country, it is seen that the gun was aimed at Kirchner’s face and the shot failed despite the trigger. According to police, the gun would have been a few inches from Argentina’s former president.
Was Montiel, 35, carrying a 32-caliber Bersa 380 pistol? Was it made in Argentina? It was loaded with five bullets, according to the Federal Police’s press release.
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The act of the man wearing the black cap and face mask caught the attention of the supporters of the former president who captured him amid the crowd, as seen in footage from local broadcasters.
As she pulls the trigger on Cristina, she takes off her mask, leaving her face visible as shown on TV.
As soon as he was caught, he tried to escape, but was caught by his shirt amid the crowd gathered near the building where the former president lived in the Recoleta neighborhood.
The man was arrested and taken to a police station in the city of Buenos Aires, where he was detained late Thursday night. He is expected to make a statement on Friday.
According to police sources, he would have already been arrested by the City Police in March 2021 while carrying a knife.
Montiel would have arrived in Argentina in 1996 as a child. According to information from the police, Montiel has tattoos with Nazi symbols from his social networks. He identified himself on his social networks as Fernando ‘Salim’ Montiel and was a follower of groups such as ‘evil communism’, ‘linked to radicalism and hatred’ among others, as described on the portal of the Buenos Aires newspaper La Nación.
Photographs of Montiel appear on news portals and television channels in Argentina, which also reminds us of his last appearance in a news report by Crónica TV on the streets of Buenos Aires. He seems to think that social plans aren’t helping.
“Going to work works,” he says in front of the camera.
Senate President Cristina Kirchner had left Congress at home when the incident took place shortly after nine o’clock in the evening.
After the attack, described by Argentine politicians and analysts, experts questioned the vice president’s security plan. They pointed out the “vulnerability” that would allow the Brazilian to get close to his face.
Cristina Kirchner often speaks through her social networks and public speaking engagements. Until this Friday (2/9) morning, she had not yet spoken publicly about her attack.
After the incident, policing was strengthened in the neighborhood where Cristina lived.
‘Magnificent’ gravity
President Alberto Fernández gave a speech on national television shortly after the attack. For him, this is the “most serious” fact since the return of democracy in the country in 1983.
Fernández said in a statement that the vice president “was alive because for some reason the gun didn’t go off”.
The president described the case as “enormous gravity.”
“This fact is very heavy. The gun had five bullets but did not fire. This attack deserves wholesale denial from everyone. Violence cannot threaten democracy,” he said.
We may disagree, we may have deep differences of opinion, but speech that incites hatred in a democratic society has no place because it leads to violence, and violence cannot coexist with democracy.
The President also announced that he has decided to “declare this Friday as a national holiday so that the people of Argentina can live in peace and harmony, demonstrate democracy and demonstrate in solidarity with our vice president.”
Former Argentine President Mauricio Macri, a rival of Kirchner, wrote on Twitter:
“I absolutely reject the attack on Cristina Kirchner, which luckily had no consequences for the vice president. This very serious fact requires an immediate and profound explanation from the Justice and security forces.”
MPs and senators from the ruling base gathered in the Frente para a Vitória (FPV) coalition demonstrated against the attack at the National Congress.
“They didn’t kill him because God is great,” said pro-government senator José Mayans.
“We want an investigation and an explanation,” said Sergio Palacio, deputy government.
Opposition politicians also expressed their support for the vice president. However, Fernández’s decree declaring this Friday a national holiday has drawn criticism from the opposition. Peronist Miguel Ángel Pichetto, now linked to former President Macri, was among those who criticized the president’s speech on national television and the holiday announcement.
Pichetto shared on his social media account, “The president did not understand anything. The opposition showed solidarity with the vice president. But he blamed the opposition, justice and the media. And the national holiday, for what?” he wrote.
BBC News Brasil asked Itamaraty for a position from the Brazilian government on the incident in Argentina, but has yet to receive a response.
The former president’s residence recently became the meeting point for his supporters, who opposed the Public Ministry’s request that he be sentenced to 12 years in prison for alleged corruption during his term in office.
– This text was published in: https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/internacional-62762349
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source: Noticias
