Police in the city of Buenos Aires on Tuesday arrested the man who threw a bottle at Argentina’s new president, Javier Milei, as he headed to the Casa Rosada (Government Palace) in a convertible after taking office, authorities said . the capital.
“The city police have just arrested the alleged attacker of President Javier Milei and are now at the disposal of the Ministry of Justice,” municipal security chief Waldo Wolf said in a statement.
The person, identified as Gastón Ariel Mercanzini, was accused of throwing a bottle at the ultra-liberal president, who was sitting in a convertible with his sister, Karina Milei, on Sunday.
The government delegation left Congress, where Milei had recently come to power, heading to the presidential headquarters of Casa Rosada during the official parade through the streets.
The local press released footage from a security video showing Mercanzini throwing a bottle, which passed inches from Milei and hit one of his guards.
Federal courts have ordered the arrest of the 51-year-old man, who has been linked by the press to opposition groups.
“I didn’t want to hurt anyone,” the alleged attacker stated as police led him handcuffed to a police car.
Milei, a 53-year-old self-described libertarian, came to power promising to save Argentina from its dire economic crisis and announced the implementation of a rigid austerity program that polarized the South American country.
In 2022, while still vice president, Cristina Kirchner suffered a botched attack outside her home in Buenos Aires. A man who was passing by as a supporter and waiting to greet her pointed a gun at her head, but the device did not fire.
Source: DN
