Silvia Martinez and Patrick Gillespie - Yesterday
(Bloomberg) -- Argentine Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, making her first public appearance since suffering a failed assassination attempt two weeks ago, said the incident broke a social agreement reached when the country returned to democracy in 1983.
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner waves to supporters as she leaves her residence in Buenos Aires following the failed attack.© Getty Images
“Recovering democracy wasn’t just being able to vote, it was also a return to life and rationality, to be able to discuss politics without violence,” she said at a small event with social religious organizations at the senate. “What happened the other day ruptured that, and we have to rebuild it urgently.”
The failed Sept. 1 attack outside Kirchner’s apartment building in Buenos Aires stunned the nation. While politicians across the spectrum condemned the violence and wished Kirchner well, that night President Alberto Fernandez declared a national holiday, and lashed out at opposition leaders and the media in a televised address. Violence against political figures has been rare in Argentina since the return to a democratic system.
Read More: Argentina Vice President Survives Gunman’s Assassination Attempt
The attacker, a 35-year-old identified as Fernando Andres Sabag Montiel, pointed a gun at point blank range toward Kirchner’s face but it failed to fire and fell out of his hand. After the attack, her political rival, former President Mauricio Macri, also suffered threats. Fernandez condemned the threats against Macri, who left office in 2019.
In her address, Kirchner cited a conversation held with Pope Francis following the attack, in which he had told her that “acts of violence and hate are preceded by words and verbs of hate.” She stopped short of directly blaming any opposition groups or the media for the tensions.
“We need to deal with this through the institutions and with civic respect,” she said, praising her supporters for turning in the gunman to the police rather than attempting to take matters into their own hands.
The attack has added tension to a country already suffering through inflation expected to reach 100% by the end of this year. In her address, Kirchner said that the country’s inflation problem has to do with the lack of a reliable currency.
“That’s what I believe and what I’ve been saying, and that’s what we at a minimum need to agree on,” she said.
Read More: Why 70% Inflation Is Just One of Argentina’s Problems: QuickTake
Kirchner is in the middle of a corruption trial in which a federal prosecutor has called on a court to sentence her to 12 years in prison and a lifetime ban on public service. Kirchner denies any wrongdoing. As sitting vice president, Kirchner holds a high level of immunity and is unlikely to go to jail soon if the court agrees with the prosecutor.
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