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Reuters
Reuters
Politics
By Nicolás Misculin

Argentina's VP Kirchner unharmed in point-blank attempted shooting

A man points a gun at Argentina's Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, with no shots fired, at the entrance of Fernandez de Kirchner's home in Buenos Aires, Argentina, September 1, 2022 in this still image taken from video. TV PUBLICA ARGENTINA/via Reuters TV/Handout via REUTERS

Argentina's Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner escaped unharmed on Thursday after a man fired a loaded gun at her that failed to go off inches from her head.

The attack, which the economy minister called an assassination attempt, comes at a time of acute political and social frictions inside Argentina.

A man points a gun at Argentina's Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, with no shots fired, at the entrance of Fernandez de Kirchner's home in Buenos Aires, Argentina, September 1, 2022 in this still image taken from video. TV PUBLICA ARGENTINA/via Reuters TV/Handout via REUTERS

It happened as Fernandez de Kirchner stepped out of a car outside her Buenos Aires home, where hundreds of supporters had gathered. Video footage showed a man holding a pistol next to her head.

President Alberto Fernandez said the gun had been loaded with five bullets.

"This is the most serious event we have gone through since Argentina returned to democracy," he said in a televised address, referring to the 1983 end of military rule.

Argentina's Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner is escorted away after a man pointed a gun at her, with no shots fired, at the entrance of her home in Buenos Aires, Argentina, September 1, 2022 in this still image taken from video. TV PUBLICA ARGENTINA/via Reuters TV/Handout via REUTERS

"A man pointed a firearm at her head and pulled the trigger. Cristina is still alive because, for some reason yet to be confirmed, the gun ... did not fire."

Her suspected assailant, whom authorities identified as a 35-year-old man of Brazilian origin, was quickly arrested by police and the weapon seized.

A divisive figure inside Argentina who was president between 2007 and 2015, Fernandez de Kirchner is on trial for corruption linked to public contracts awarded in the early 2000s.

FILE PHOTO: Argentina's Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner speaks to supporters as they gather outside her house, days after Fernandez was accused in a corruption case, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, August 27, 2022. REUTERS/Mariana Nedelcu

She could face a 12-year sentence and possible disqualification from public office if convicted on the charges, which she denies. She has been widely expected to run for the Senate and possibly the presidency again next year.

Argentina is also mired in a deep economic crisis driven by spiralling debt levels and inflation that has triggered street protests.

"When hate and violence prevail over debate, societies are destroyed and situations like these arise," tweeted Economy Minister Sergio Massa, who was recently appointed to tackle the national crisis.

A supporter of Argentina's Vice-President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner checks her phone in front of the house of Fernandez de Kirchner, after the Vice-President was attacked by an unidentified assailant with a gun late on Thursday, according to local television footage, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, September 1, 2022. REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian

Heads of state and political allies around the region, including Chilean President Gabriel Boric, Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro, Peru's Pedro Castillo and Brazilian presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, also denounced the attack.

They expressed solidarity with Fernandez de Kirchner and voiced relief that she had not been hurt.

(Reporting by Nicolas Misculin and Kylie Madry; Additional reporting by Adam Jourdan, Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Carolina Pulice; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by Robert Birsel, Clarence Fernandez and John Stonestreet)

Forensics work near the house of Argentina's Vice-President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner after she was attacked by an unidentified assailant with a gun late on Thursday, according to local television footage, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, September 1, 2022. REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian
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