Brazilian Fernando Sabag Montiel, 35, and his girlfriend Branda Uliarte, 23, have been formally charged with attempted murder on September 1 in the attack on Argentine Vice President Cristina. The court also formalized the preventive detention of the already detained couple and ordered bail of 100 million Argentine pesos (about R$3.5 million).
Through a 95page resolution, Judge María Eugenia Capuchetti classified the couple as coauthors of the attempted murder.
“Sabag Montiel and Uliarte acted with the firm intention of causing the death of Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, according to the previous plan of the two, the result of which was not achieved, and remained at the level of the attempt,” the magistrate considered in the resolution.
“The weapon was aimed at a vital part of the victim, within a few centimetres. There is no doubt as to its ability to cause the victim’s death,” he says.
Regarding the situation of the other two prisoners, a friend of Brenda Uliarte, Agustina Díaz, and a member of the group who sold cotton candy, Nicolás Carrizo, the judge is still awaiting further evidence to confirm the role of the coverup.
Reenactment of an attempted crime
The reconstruction of the assassination plan was possible via the cell phones of those involved, with the exception of Sabag Montiel’s phone, the contents of which the federal police erased when trying to unlock the device. These were identified as the most important pieces of information.
Five months ago, on April 22, Brenda Uliarte bought a .32 caliber semiautomatic pistol, the numbering of which was partially erased. Speaking to a friend via the WhatsApp application, Brenda said the item was bought to “scare” an exboyfriend who was harassing her.
On July 4, in a conversation with her friend Agustina Díaz, Brenda says that she “goes with the gun and shoots Cristina,” emphasizing the decision to kill the vice president, but without defining how the attack will be carried out. . “The question is how, because the old lady is safe,” Brenda marvels at the vice president.
“Cotton Candy Aisle”
The form, later found, allegedly sold cotton candy, an industry the couple had entered with a group of other vendors. It is possible to see the cotton in pictures of the demonstrations outside Cristina Kirchner’s home that began on August 22 when the judiciary asked for the vice president to be jailed for 12 years on corruption charges.
The disguise as a cotton candy seller enabled intelligence work on Cristina Kirchner’s movements to go unnoticed. At the same time, thanks to the image of the cotton candy that stands out in the crowd, it is now possible to know when the couple was or was not present at the demonstrations. Curiously, the unusual latenight sale of cotton candy amidst adult protesters did not catch the attention of the more than 100 security guards protecting Cristina Kirchner.
“In the days before [ao atentado], more precisely on August 27, Sabag Montiel is seen near the Vice President’s house and observes their movements with the intention of committing the crime, but on this occasion he decided not to execute him because he understood that he himself could not approach them, if enough of the sacrifice. At that moment, he sent a message to his consort, telling her that it was her [Cristina Kirchner] had already entered his house and that [Brenda] brought him nothing, in an alleged reference to the pistol that the two kept to commit the crime,” the judge describes her decision.
After the failed attempt, Brenda Uliarte introduced herself to the television cameras as Ámbar and said that she had not seen her boyfriend Fernando Sabag Montiel for two days. Fernando himself said in his statement that “she had nothing to do with the attack” and that “he acted alone”.
However, in footage captured by protesters’ cellphones, Brenda can be seen discreetly exiting the scene as Sabag Montiel walks past her as he is taken to police after being handed over by militants. “Brenda Elizabeth Uliarte was only a few feet away when those present separated Fernando André Sabag Montiel from the human conglomerate near the Vice President’s residence,” says the judge.
“I didn’t think Fernando had the gun at that moment. I didn’t see the action either. I only found out after I left,” testified Brenda Uliarte, who was disproved by the evidence.
“I want to make it clear that I have no hatred or resentment towards anyone. I could never do such a thing. I think that’s abnormal,” Brenda defended. However, while Brenda gave her version, the contents of her phone hinted at a different reality.
“There is no doubt that the two had in their possession the firearm they would use to commit the murder, fully aware of their proper function and ability to shoot, which they advocated.” [a arma] loaded with ammunition of the same caliber near the victim’s residence, where they already knew from the intelligence duties the two were performing on the ground that “Mrs. Vice President has spent a long time greeting the public,” the judge concludes.
approach strategy
On July 5, Brenda wrote to Fernando that “to clean Argentina, blood must flow.”
“It is possible to do it. You just have to find the way. I know how to use an ‘iron’.” [pistola]. I’m not a sniper, but I can get by. You have to wait for a vacuum, be a strategist,” Brenda wrote, revealing that she was the mastermind behind the plan.
The project progressed so far that on August 23, Sabag Montiel wrote to him about renting an apartment near Cristina Kirchner’s house. They wanted to stay at a property near the crime scene.
“The landlord answered me so we can see [o apartamento] on Saturday. I told him that we have money to give a signal,” said Fernando, confirming that it was about giving Cristina a “popcorn”.
“We are very close to the woman [Cristina]. Yes, you must go and give him some popcorn. Do you know what we need? From a sniper. She’s standing on the porch and bam, one shot in the head to finish her off,” Brenda urged.
Until Fernando Sabag Montiel warns Brenda Uliarte on August 27 that he couldn’t execute the shot. “She’s already in [no edifício]. She’s upstairs, but I don’t think she’s coming out. So it’s gone. leave it there I go there. Don’t bring anything,” said the Brazilian. “What a motherfucker… She understands,” Brenda rebels.
“No, it’s not like I notice it. Now there’s a TV camera and few people. People are leaving. That was the time. It must have been there. Now it’s too late,” Fernando laments.
Attack on Cristina Kirchner
Image: reproduction
escape strategy
Fernando comments on the militants who gathered outside Cristina Kirchner’s house every day to offer her support in the face of corruption cases. And imagine what the reaction to the gunshots would be.
“What am I doing with these ‘fags’ taking pictures, spectator apes, posing as Peronists. You show up there with a pistol shootout and you know how everyone walks? Panic, chaos. When I shoot, they’re after the shots I will know that I have the gun. I have to take the magazine and they have to take the pistol from me. But there will be no bullets. So they will beat me. Several can catch me. but others will run,” Fernando fantasizes about the crime scene . “Do you think they won’t catch you? It’s about you popping the popcorn and running away,” Brenda recommends.
That same day, August 27, Brenda had written to her friend Agustina Díaz, whom she described as “the love of my life”.
“I’m going to be Argentina’s liberator. I shot. I know how to use a gun. Today I’m going to be San Martín.” [libertador da Argentina]. I’ll have Cristina killed. I was fed up with them talking and doing nothing. I will do this. The spirit of San Martín entered my body. The motherfucker came in before I shot her,” Brenda tells her friend. “I let you kill Cristina. It didn’t happen because she came in. I am angry! I sent a guy to kill Cristi,” Brenda repeats, with the air of the plan’s author.
When asked by her friend how much the contractor charged for the murder, Brenda replies, “He didn’t charge me. He did it because he’s fed up too. I’m also tired of stealing (Cristina) and getting away with it.”
the hour
“After extensive preparation, we arrived on September 1 when they found an opportunity to approach the victim who was hiding among the people of Fernández de Kirchner’s security personnel,” the judge said.
Fernando Sabag Montiel, who was planted among the militants, aimed his pistol just inches from Cristina Kirchner’s face. He pulled the trigger, but the shot went wide. There was no projectile in the chamber, a necessary prior step to firing.
“But what happened that the shot missed? Didn’t he train before or did he fail because of the adrenaline of the moment? Where are you? “They’ll be looking for Brenda everywhere. Ask if they discover you’re an accomplice”.
“If that happens, I’ll go to another country and even change my identity. I have some money and acquaintances. I’m leaving, but first I want to do something for the country,” explains Brenda.
The judge justified the preventive detention with this risk of flight. In addition to the aggravated homicide, there was an offense of illegally carrying a weapon of illegitimate origin, illegal storage of ammunition and forgery of documents.
Fernando Sabag Montiel is the son of a Chilean father and an Argentine father. He was born in São Paulo but has lived in Buenos Aires since childhood.
Cristina thanks God and attack is viewed with skepticism
This Thursday (16th) Cristina Kirchner spoke for the first time. “I live thanks to God and Our Lady. I felt that I had to give thanks surrounded by priests, nuns and the poor,” the vicepresident explained to the priests who work in the favelas and whom she had appointed to the Senate.
The consulting company Reputação Digital measured the reaction of people on social networks. There were 801,000 recordings of conversations about the attack by 256,000 people. The result showed that 62.5% of the reactions were not believing in the attack.
Another consultant, Trespuntozero, came to similar conclusions: 53.6% believe the attack was invented by Cristina Kirchner to sacrifice herself, while 30.8% believe in the assassination. Another 8.1% interpret it as an isolated case of violence by an unbalanced person.
When asked if they would be willing to demonstrate on the street to support Cristina Kirchner and oppose the attack, 28.6% answered yes, while 71.4% answered no.