(18 Mar 2024)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Buenos Aires, Argentina - 18 March 2024
1. President Javier Milei and his sister Karina Milei arriving
2. President Milei speaking with Israel's ambassador to Argentina Eyal Sela
3. President Javier Milei standing beside Vice President Victoria Villarruel and Interior Minister Guillermo Francos
4. Siren wailing at 2:50 p.m. local time to mark the bombing of the embassy of Israel in 1992
5. President Milei holding wreath with the relative of a victim
6. Attack survivor Alberto Kupersmid walks up to podium
7. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Alberto Kupersmid, survivor of the terrorist attack on the Israel embassy:
"Mr. President Javier Milei, I dare to quote your words when you say: 'I came here to awake lions.' Do you think you will be able to also awake justice, so that once and for all it stands up and acts accordingly?"
8. Crowd applauding
9. Poster with photo of Eliora Carmon, a victim of the attack
10. Wide of people walking beside posters of victims
11. Poster with photo of Mirta Saientz, a victim of the attack
12. Crowd shout UPSOUND (Spanish) "present", after the the names of the 22 victims of the attack are read out
13. Milei, Villarruel and Francos
14. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Eyal Sela, Israel's ambassador to Argentina:
"It has been 32 years since the terrorist organization Hezbollah destroyed this building and spread death and terror in this land. But the survivors and families of those whose lives were forever marked by March 17 are today present here."
15. Milei and Villarruel leaving the ceremony
STORYLINE:
Argentine President Javier Milei participated on Monday in a tribute to the 22 victims of the terrorist attack at the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992.
Milei was the first leader present at the commemoration of a new anniversary of the attack after 20 years. The last one had been Fernando De la Rúa, whose term lasted between 1999 and 2001.
After taking office on December 10, Milei turned the foreign policy of the South American country, until then more oriented towards center-left allies, to establish a strategic alliance with the United States and Israel.
Milei, a Catholic who converted to Judaism, traveled to Israel in early February.
During his stay there, he toured sacred sites such as the Western Wall and visited Kibbutz Nir Oz, one of the towns and villages ambushed in the attack launched by the armed group Hamas from the Gaza Strip on October 7.
As part of the tour, Milei announced his decision to move the Argentinian embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, advancing a clear position in the Arab-Israeli conflict.
However, the move has not happened yet.
To highlight the importance of Monday's event, Milei was accompanied by his vice president Victoria Villarruel and senior officials, such as the general secretary of the presidency and the Minister of Justice, among others.
The director of the Israeli Foreign Ministry for Latin America, Jonathan Peled, was present on behalf of Israel.
The president did not make any statements.
On March 17, 1992, the Israeli diplomatic headquarters in the Argentine capital was attacked by a van driven by a suicide bomber and loaded with explosives.
The attack destroyed the embassy and caused damage to a nearby Catholic church and school.
In the attack, 22 people were killed and 242 were injured.
There are no arrests or convictions for the attack.
The judicial investigation by the Supreme Court concluded that Hezbollah was responsible for the attack.
AP video shot by Cristian Kovadloff
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