Wife of Carlos Soria being questioned by police after Rio Negro governor found in bedroom with gunshots to the head
The governor of a western Argentinian province has died from gunshots to the head. His wife was being questioned by police.
Rio Negro governor Carlos Soria and his wife, Susana Freydoz, were in their bedroom early on Sunday after spending New Year's Eve at their home in General Roca, authorities said, when a .38-calibre revolver was fired. Emergency personnel found him bleeding in bed and took him to hospital, where he was declared dead just before 5am, local media reported.
The governor's spokesman, Julian Goinhex, confirmed his death but gave no further details about what happened to the 62-year-old.
Soria led the province's Peronist Justicialist party and was elected by a wide margin in October. He was inaugurated on 10 December as part of the country's ruling Front for Victory, displacing the Radical party which had long controlled the province.
Soria will be succeeded by his vice-governor, Alberto Weretilneck. In a radio interview, Weretilneck called it a domestic accident and said Soria and his wife were alone at the time.
Freydoz was being questioned by police on Sunday to determine whether the shots were fired by accident or intentionally, local media reported.
Soria's son Martin, who replaced him as mayor of General Roca, the provincial capital, made no immediate statement about his father's death.
Just before midnight, Soria had given an interview to a radio station, expressing confidence that 2012 would be a great year and that he was looking forward to the challenge of bringing a new administration to Rio Negro, which is quickly developing its mineral and oil wealth through foreign investments. Its land, too, is in huge demand, from developments around Andean ski resorts to farmland.
Chinese companies have reactivated a large iron ore mine and are investing more than $1bn to irrigate land to provide grains and dairy products for Chinese consumers. The province has 1,400 operations that manage hundreds of thousands of sheep, cows and goats.
"I'm not afraid of any challenge. This isn't very difficult, although it is complex. The province belongs to everyone, and we need to take care of it and not seek personal gain from it," Soria said.