A National Holiday in Argentina

 

"An Argentine court on Thursday dismissed a legal action against former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner charging she sought to cover up the alleged involvement of Iranian terrorists in a 1994 bombing that killed 85 people and injured hundreds at a Jewish center in Buenos Aires.

The court said in an oral order that it concluded an agreement signed by Argentina and Iran in 2013 for conducting an investigation into the terrorist attack at the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association 'did not constitute a crime'."

"The claim against Fernández de Kirchner was filed in January 2015 by federal prosecutor Alberto Nisman."

"That same month, Nisman was found dead in his Buenos Aires apartment, a day before he was due to testify to an Argentine congressional panel on the then-president’s role in covering up Iran’s responsibility for the attack."

The Times of Israel, 8 October 2021

The aftermath of the bombing at the Argentinian Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 18, 1994. (AFP)

"A man pointed a firearm at her head and pulled the trigger [of a firearm loaded with five bullets that] didn't fire even though the trigger was pulled."

"[There must be an end to the] rhetoric of hate. Today, more than ever, all Argentines have to work together for peace."

"[This is] the most serious incident since we recovered democracy [in 1983 following a military dictatorship]; we must repudiate the attempted assassination."

Argentinian President Alberto Rodriguez Laretta

A cowardly attack by a 35-year-old Brazilian man living in Argentina, against the country's prime minister. Confronting the 69-year-old former president in front of her home in Buenos Aires, he came within spitting distance of the legislator, pointing his pistol directly at her head and pressed the trigger. A mechanical dysfunction saved her life. Her bodyguards sprang into action and immobilized her would-be assassin.

 

 

 

The current president of Argentina spoke to address the nation, describing the event and he declared a national holiday for Friday, as a reflection of the event. As a result schools failed open Friday, many businesses adhered to the call for a holiday and the streets of Buenos Aires were silent, unlike most weekdays. A national holiday after a member of the government was almost killed by an assailant? Seems a strange reaction. A holiday or a day of mourning, that such an untoward event would take place? 

Fernandez de Kirchner is a controversial figure in her country. She was accused by a state prosecutor of

a secret agreement with Iran to provide the country with oil despite sanctions. When an obvious Iranian-proxy terrorist group bombed the Argentine-Jewish Center it represented one of the worst such terrorist events targeting Jews abroad suspected to have been a project of the IRGC's al Quds division. Suspicion immediately turned to Iran, yet as president, Fernande de Kirchner saw her way clear to giving Iran a free pass, denying any such suspicion.

 

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was president of Argentina from 2007 to 2015  Reuters

 

 More latterly she faces trial on corruption charges with links to an alleged scheme to divert public funds during her 2007 to 2015 presidency. Most recently, another prosecutor called for a 12-year prison sentence for her purported crimes. She denies having done anything illegal. Her supporters gather daily outside her residence. 

The entire Argentine public witnessed the attack, streamed live across the country, showing the gun pushed toward Fernandes de Kirchner's face before she crouched, covering her face with her hands while her would-be assailant was bundled off by her bodyguards. A senator with the ruling coalition spoke of her shock, and her recovery: "Luckily, she has her spirit, her temper intact."

Law enforcement is now investigating whether Brazilian Fernando Andres Sabag Montiel acted alone or whether he engaged the attack as a member of an organization. "There is no confirmed hypothesis", an official stated: "Everything is being investigated." It is known that Montiel has no criminal record. He used a .32-calibre Bersa that obviously was not in top operational shape.

 

Huge crowds of people gathered at Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires on Friday to protest against the attack   EPA