The nationality of the author of the assassination attempt, national turmoil, and the holiday that President Alberto Fernández had decided to give time for demonstrations of solidarity for Cristina Kirchner caused the Brazilian embassy in Argentina to cancel the bicentennial commemoration of Brazilian Independence.
Marcio ResendeRFI correspondent in Buenos Aires
The celebration was scheduled for this Friday (2) night in Palácio Pereda and was to host hundreds of prominent guests from Argentine high society and Brazilian residing in the country.
The policy explores whether the Brazilian author of the assassination attempt had accomplices or if he was a “lone wolf”. Fernando André Sapag Montiel, 35, the son of an Argentine mother who has lived in Buenos Aires since childhood, pointed his gun a few centimeters from Cristina Kirchner’s face. Fernando pulled the trigger of the loaded gun, but the shot missed.
The court is trying to determine whether Fernando acted alone or had connections in Argentina or abroad. Police searched the 15-square-metre kitchen that Fernando had rented in the back of a house for eight months. Two boxes contained 100 bullets, littered litter, and items of sexual fetishism such as lingerie, vibrators, and leather whips. The caliber of the ammunition does not match the pistol used for the attempted crime.
Nazi symbols
The owner of the house, Sergio Paroldi, says the Brazilian looks like a “normal and kind” person and has three cars where he works as a practice driver. Two cars were rented to third parties for the same purpose.
The three tattoos on Fernando Montiel’s body refer to Adolf Hitler’s neo-Nazi markings, such as the “black sun” on his right elbow, in reference to an arm of German Nazism.
“If he had pointed to Fernando Cristina, he could have pointed at me, too. I’m afraid now his neo-Nazi friends will come after me for calling the police,” said Paroldi.
Mario, a friend of Fernando’s since adolescence, revealed that the attacker told him 10 months ago that he was going to buy a gun. “I believe his real intention was to kill him, yes. But unfortunately he didn’t rehearse beforehand,” Mario told Argentine media.
“He always said he had guns, but because he has a reputation as a mythomaniac, we let him talk,” she added.
Demonstrations against hate
Since morning, thousands of protesters across Argentina have marched in solidarity with Cristina Kirchner and against hate speech. Members of the government’s political, social and trade union organizations all over the country held protests under the slogans of “solidarity with Cristina Kirchner” and “in favor of democracy”.
Protesters are chanting slogans against the press, the opposition and Justice, which is prosecuting the former president for corruption. For the government, these three groups are persecuting the current vice-president and former president and distilling a hate speech that has resulted in attempts of aggression, as Brazilian Fernando Montiel did Thursday night, according to a memo released this afternoon (1).
President Alberto Fernández chaired a ministerial meeting on Friday to “analyze the state of societal turmoil resulting from the assassination attempt on Cristina Kirchner”, the government said in a statement.
“The ministerial cabinet participates in the citizens’ mobilization in Plaza de Mayo and invites all Argentines to express themselves with Argentine flags in defense of democracy and in solidarity with the vice president,” Casa Rosada said. The official memo states that the president “urges the union, social, commercial and religious sectors to build broad consensus against hate speech and violence.”
Protesters responded with drums, flags and slogans to the government’s request, which declared a national holiday to facilitate social mobilization and was accepted by all public institutions in the country. Even football matches have been cancelled. The Argentine Football Federation (AFA) condemned the failed attack on Cristina Kirchner.
The main Catholic, Jewish and Islamic organizations jointly denied an attack and expressed “pain and concern”. Business organizations and the political opposition also denied the assassination attempt, but did not speak in favor of the political demonstrations.
Reactions from the Pope and the USA
Pope Francis, who was close to Cristina Kirchner, sent a telegram of solidarity and then called the vice president. The Pope said he prayed that “dear Argentina, social cohesion and respect for democratic values will always prevail against all forms of violence and aggression.”
The United States “strongly” condemned the attack. “We stand with the government and the people of Argentina in rejecting violence and hatred,” Foreign Minister Antony Blinken said via social media.
source: Noticias
