A man has been detained after he aimed a handgun at point-blank range toward Argentina's politically powerful Vice President Cristina Fernández, and President Alberto Fernández said the assassination attempt failed because the gun did not fire.
“A man (Thursday night) pointed a firearm at her head and pulled the trigger,” the president said in a national broadcast.
He called it “the most serious incident since we recovered democracy” in 1983 and urged political leaders, and society at large, to repudiate the incident.
Supporters of the vice president have been gathering in the streets surrounding her home since last week, when a prosecutor called for a 12-year sentence for Fernández as well as a life-long prohibition in holding public office as part of a case involving alleged corruption in public works during her 2007-2015 presidency.
Fernández, who is not related to the current president, has denied all charges.
The president spoke shortly after video from the scene broadcast on local television channels showed Fernández exiting her vehicle surrounded by supporters outside her home when a man could be seen extending his hand with what looked like a pistol.
The vice president ducked as supporters surrounding the person appeared shocked at what was happening amid the commotion in the Recoleta neighbourhood of Argentina's capital.