Activists blame Argentina's government after three gay women killed in arson attack

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Activists blame Argentina’s government after three gay women killed in arson attack

Four women were set on fire in Buenos Aires in alleged hate crime as demonstrators accuse Milei of promoting intolerance

Harriet Barber in Buenos Aires
Wed 15 May 2024 18.44 BST
Last modified on Thu 16 May 2024 08.13 BST

Activists in Argentina have accused the country’s far-right government of stoking homophobia after an alleged hate crime in which four gay women were set on fire, killing three and seriously injuring the fourth.

A man in his 60s is alleged to have thrown burning rags into the women’s shared bedroom of a boarding house in Buenos Aires early on 6 May.

Neighbors say they were woken by the women’s screams as an inferno ripped through the building. The suspect, Justo Fernando Barrientos, is alleged to have fought with the women in an attempt to stop them escaping the flames, before fleeing to the roof where he attempted suicide, and was later arrested.

Pamela Fabiana Cobas, 52, died almost immediately. Her partner, Mercedes Roxana Figueroa, also 52, suffered burns on more than 90% of her body and died of organ failure two days later. Andrea Amarante, 42, suffered burns on more than 75% of her body and died on 12 May.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/article/2024/may/15/argentina-boarding-house-arson-attack

[LostOne4Ever]

1. That is horrible

I hope this wakes their country up to what hate creates.

[peppertree]

5. The problem is with the country's (notoriously fascist-leaning) right-wingers

These people are like something out of a bad Polish joke.

They're so dense and obtuse, they'll gladly endorse that Chucky doll's "Mileise" depression because "it'll hurt the damned browns and lefties more than us" (!).

And when tragedies like this one happen (the work of a Milei voter in his 60s) - especially since the administration seems to tacitly endorse it - it reinforces their impression that "Milei is finally putting those dirty d*kes in their place."

They seem to hate lesbians with a special passion - don't ask me why.

[70sEraVet]

2. I can't fathom this level of hatred.

I have no doubt that that hatred has been fanned by listening to priests and politicians. We have those same cheerleaders here in the US.
Pity their victims.

[peppertree]

4. Well said. The assailant, a man in his 60s, was in fact a Macri/Milei supporter

i.e. a right-winger.

It's hard to overstate how much Argentine right-wingers, in general, hate LGBT people - especially lesbians.

And with the fascist kook in office right now - the drug-addled Milei - they feel emboldened.

Even with the deep depression he's been inflicting - which many right-wingers tacitly endorse because "it'll hurt the damned leftists more than us" (!).

Qué será.

[Chi67]

3. Ugh

It’s not just in Argentina. The Pulse massacre is just one example.