Attack raises doubts about Argentine VP's security protocols

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Every day for the past two weeks, the routine was the same: Argentina’s powerful Vice President Cristina Fernández was met by a crowd of feverish supporters who wanted to touch their leader. And every day she obliged and approached them.

But on Thursday the routine pressing of the flesh took a sinister turn when a man in the sea of supporters pointed a handgun inches from the vice president's face and pulled the trigger with a distinct click.

The loaded .38-caliber semiautomatic weapon evidently jammed, and the suspect was arrested. Now the apparent assassination attempt is raising questions about whether the most influential woman in Argentine politics for the past two decades should change her relationship with the many loyal followers who constantly seek a handshake or autograph.

“Cristina was cornered,” said Silvana Venegas, a 43-year-old woman who witnessed the event. “She was easy prey, very easy.”

For a few minutes afterward, Fernández continued signing autographs and waving. Her security detail seized the gunman but did not remove her from the area.

Argentina media have reported that Fernández told the investigating judge she was unaware a gun had been pointed at her until she got inside her apartment. She also confirmed speculation that when she appeared to duck, she was actually crouching to pick up a book that had fallen to the ground.

Jorge Vidal, a public security expert who used to work for the Buenos Aires city government, said the security response to the incident was “far from being a professional performance.”

While security teams must do as they are told by those they guard, he said, “politicians must understand that not all the hands that are stretched out to touch or greet them are to caress or shake.”

No politician...