Argentina was left in shock on Thursday night by an assassination attempt on Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

A man pointed a gun inches away at the former president's head and tried to shoot, while she was greeting her supporters outside her home, in the Recoleta neighborhood, Buenos Aires City.

The suspect was quickly apprehended and is now in custody. An old Bersa gun, fully loaded, was seized by the police. The man was identified as Fernando Montiel Sabag, a 35 year-old Brazilian national, who's been living in Argentina since 1995. Sources inform he has a criminal record: he had been arrested for carrying a knife.

The attack, unprecedented in this stage of Argentine democracy, was condemned by ministers, lawmakers, and political leaders from both the opposition and the ruling party, as well as trade unions and other figures, who called for the clarification of the case.

International leaders such as Brazil 's Lula Da Silva, Bolivia' s Evo Morales and Venezuela 's Nicolás Maduro, as well as the US Ambassador in Argentina, Mark Stanley, expressed their support to Ms Fernández de Kirchner.

During the course of the evening, president Alberto Fernandez gave a televised address and condemned the assassination attempt.
In his speech, he said the attack was the "most serious event that has happened since the restoration of democracy, in 1983".

"This calls for the most energetic rejection of all Argentines and of all political sectors because these are things that hurt democracy," said the President.
He also called on "all Argentines, politicians and the media to reject any form of violence".