Pope Francis expressed this Friday (2) his “solidarity and closeness” to the former president and current vice president of Argentina, Cristina Kirchner, after the assassination attempt she suffered on Thursday and made an appeal for her “to prevail” always social harmony” in the country and that “all types of violence and aggression” be rejected.
“Having received the worrying news of the attack that your Excellency suffered yesterday, I wish to express my solidarity and closeness at this delicate moment,” the pontiff said in a telegram sent to the Argentine vice president.
“I pray that in dear Argentina, social harmony and respect for democratic values will always prevail, against all types of violence and aggression,” added Francisco, who is Argentine, in the message.
The attack took place in front of Cristina’s house, in the Recoleta neighborhood of Buenos Aires. Amidst a crowd that greeted the vice president outside the residence, a man pointed a pistol at the Peronist’s face, but there was no firing – the weapon would have missed, according to police.
Argentine authorities identified this man, who was arrested, as 35-year-old Brazilian Fernando Andrés Sabag Montiel. Born in São Paulo, the son of an Argentine and a Chilean, he has lived in Argentina since the 1990s and already had a criminal record for carrying unconventional weapons.
Argentina is experiencing a period of high political tension, and Cristina Kirchner is the subject of an arrest warrant by the Public Ministry in the context of a trial in which she is accused of corruption in the concession of public works during her terms as president (2007- 2015).
Since then, groups for and against the former president have demonstrated in the streets of Buenos Aires.
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