SANTIAGO – A Chilean senator was hospitalized after an unknown perpetrator stabbed him with a knife while working in a campaign office in Iquique, preparing for Sunday’s elections.
Senator Fulvio Rossi said his father remembered hearing his attacker say in a foreign accent, “We warned you”.
From the hospital’s management, it was assured that his condition is stable and his life is out of danger, according to 24 Horas television.
“The senator is in the hospital where they are doing all the respective examinations, he has an apparent superficial wound in the part of the abdomen and a blow to the head,” regional Chief Prosecutor Raul Arancibia said.
Police report the victim was in his office when two men entered the building and proceeded to attack the politician, striking him on the head with a blunt object and stabbing him in the stomach.
“He went to the office to review some campaign posters at 11:15 a.m. and that’s when they hit him on the head and stabbed him on his side,” the senator’s son, Franco Rossi, told reporters, adding that his father has received a number of threats against his life.
“The attack suffered by Senator Fulvio Rossi, to whom I wish a speedy recovery, is unacceptable,” President Michelle Bachelet wrote on her Twitter account.
Inaceptable el ataque sufrido por el senador Fulvio Rossi, a quien le deseo una pronta recuperación. Debemos, entre todos, asegurar que el debate político ocurra siempre desde el respeto. ¡Chile no merece esta violencia!
— Michelle Bachelet (@mbachelet) November 15, 2017
“We must, among all, ensure that the political debate always takes place with respect. Chile does not deserve this violence!”
Presidential candidates Sebastian Piñera and Alejandro Guillier also took to the social media to condemn the attack, showing solidarity with the senator.
Acabo de hablar con el Senador @FulvioRossiC, víctima de un cobarde y condenable atentado con cuchillo, del cual, gracias a Dios, salvó sin mayores consecuencias. Chile no merece una política violenta, alejada de las ideas, que vuelva a primar la sensatez y el respeto es urgente
— Sebastian Piñera (@sebastianpinera) November 15, 2017
Toda mi solidaridad con el senador @FulvioRossiC. Espero que la justicia actúe con celeridad para sancionar a los responsables de esta agresión. Condeno de modo absoluto todas las formas de violencia.
— Alejandro Guillier (@guillier) November 15, 2017
In October, Mr. Rossi published one of the many threatening letters he received which called for an end to illegal migrations and advising the candidate to watch himself in the street.
The senator answered saying the warnings would not sway him from his immigration proposals and he was not intimidated.
