Cristina Fernández: Is political polarization related to political assassination attempts?

Last week, a failed attack on Argentine Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner shocked all of Latin America. The assassination attempt on one of the most important women in Latin politics created political violence, which is not a new event in the region but seems to be becoming a daily occurrence again.

Read also: Petro and Boric: a Latin American left different from the Socialism of the 21st century

In recent years, attacks and attacks against candidates, presidents, or any type of politician with some influence have become almost daily. Four years ago, then-candidate Jair Bolsonaro was the victim of a knife attack; A year ago a group of paid soldiers assassinated President Jovenel Moise of Haiti in his own residence; this same year, presidential candidates in Colombia denounced or were notified of possible attacks; Less than 6 months ago, the assassination of the Minister of the Environment, Orlando Jorge Mera, in the Dominican Republic; now the case of Argentina and Cristina Fernández makes it clear that this is not an isolated case.

The underlying problem is that these facts are related. Not through a direct relationship, but to inspire or be a model so that political intolerance puts democracy at risk again.

In history

The attacks and attempts on heads of state come from the years of yore, from the Roman conspiracies that ended with the assassination of the consuls or emperors. It is true that these attacks must be differentiated in monarchical times, but since Roman democracy itself, there have been murders. But in modern history, there have also been serious cases of assassinations of presidents or candidates.

Perhaps the most prominent were those of Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy in the United States. In the region, the cases of Ramón Cáceres and Rafael Leónidas Trujillo in the Dominican Republic, Jovenel Moise and Jean Vilbrun Guillaume Sam in Haiti; Venustiano Carranza in Mexico; Luis Sánchez Cerro in Peru; Gualberto Villaroel in Bolivia; Carlos Delgado Chalbaud in Venezuela; José Antonio Remón Cantera in Panama; and Anastasio Somoza García in Nicaragua. But the recent cases in Brazil, Argentina, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic may correspond to a heated moment of political debate where polarization does not allow for the debate of ideas and is turning to hatred. An upsurge in political violence is evident.

Global picture

Contrary to what many may think, this recent phenomenon has not only happened in Latin America. Precisely, just a couple of months ago, it was Shinzo Abe, former Prime Minister of Japan, who was assassinated with a homemade weapon. Abe remained one of the most influential men in Japan's politics, but he had also been one of the most powerful men in the world in leading the Asian power.

Prior to the murder of Abe or Moise, during the 21st century, there have been 7 cases of assassination in the world. Like the murder of Laurent-Desire Kabila in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; King Birendra in Nepal; Zoran Dindic in Serbia; Rafic Hariri in Lebanon; João Bernard O Viera in Guinea Bissau; Muammar Gaddafi in Libya and Idriss Deby in Chad on April 20, 2021, the most recent. Although several of these were killed in combat (Deby or Gaddafi), many others were individual and specific murders.

Risk of democracy

The most relevant of these facts is to give them the importance they deserve. An assassination goes beyond an act of violence, it is an affront against democracy and the institutional stability of the countries. The assassination of a political leader will not resolve any political confrontation, but will disturb the peace and may escalate aggression until it gets out of hand. This is why it is important to lower the tension and the exacerbated polarization.