At 1:05 a.m. (local time) on 29 March 2000, unidentified gunmen shot at the home of Bernardo GarcÃa Hamilton, a Justicialista political party leader and member of the editorial board of the newspaper, “La Gaceta de Tucumán”. The three 9 millimetre calibre shots hit one of his children’s bedroom walls and the front doorway, where […]
At 1:05 a.m. (local time) on 29 March 2000, unidentified gunmen shot at the home of Bernardo GarcÃa Hamilton, a Justicialista political party leader and member of the editorial board of the newspaper, “La Gaceta de Tucumán”.
The three 9 millimetre calibre shots hit one of his children’s bedroom walls and the front doorway, where they made holes almost two centimetres wide. GarcÃa Hamilton, his wife and his six children, aged between five months and fifteen years old, were sleeping in the house located in Yerba Buena, near San Miguel de Tucumán.
“I have no idea what the motive was, or who carried out the attack. One can speculate on a number of things, but I do not believe that it has anything to do with my political activity, because at the moment it is almost non-existent,” he commented. However, he recollected that two years ago, when he was more actively politically, he was the victim of an identical attack shortly after renouncing irregularities in the administration of Justicialista Governor Ramon Ortega.
“The two attacks were carried out ‘with carbonic’, although that time it had been more violent as a total of twenty-nine shots were fired,” GarcÃa Hamilton informed Periodistas. The police have began ballistic tests to determine if the shots fired in the two attacks came from the same weapons. The businessman is inclined to believe that the attack is related to corruption cases that “La Gaceta” has reported on.
“The proliferation of game-playing, the lack of leadership and irregularities in the provincial police are some of the cases that we are investigating. In the last few days a prosecutor and a member of congress were attacked because of their concern over these corruption cases. It looks like now it is âLa Gacetaââs turn”, GarcÃa Hamilton reckoned.
