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News updated on 8/5

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina. Late this afternoon, the death of one of the four victims of the lesbian-hating attack at a hotel in the Barracas neighborhood of Buenos Aires was confirmed. She was identified as 52-year-old Mercedes Roxana Figueroa, who had been hospitalized since early Monday morning.

Hours after the attack, 52-year-old Pamela Cobas died from her burns. Andrea Amarante, a survivor of the Cromañón tragedy, remains in critical condition.

According to residents of the building, the man caused a fire by throwing a homemade bomb into the room where two lesbian couples lived.

The fire started last night in a first-floor room of a family-run hotel at 1600 Olavarría Street, according to the Buenos Aires City Police report. As a result, six people with severe burns were taken to Argerich, Burn, and Penna hospitals in the City of Buenos Aires. 

Both lesbian couples were the people most affected by the fire. 

The death of Pamela Cobas on Monday was reported to Presentes by María Rachid, a member of the board of directors of the Argentine LGBT Federation (FALGBT) and the LGBT Ombudsman's Office, which are supporting the case. Pamela had been transferred to the Burn Hospital along with Mercedes Figueroa, both suffering burns over 90 percent of their bodies. Mercedes ultimately died on Wednesday night.

One version that circulated claimed that one of them was pregnant, but this was ruled out.

The other two victims are hospitalized at Penna Hospital: Andrea Amarante with “75% of her body burned” and Sofía Castroriglos with burns to her hand and face. 

She also suffers from a mental health disorder. Her statement is expected, as Mercedes and Andrea remain in critical condition.

The legal case

The National Criminal and Correctional Court No. 14, presided over by Judge Edmundo Rabbione, is investigating the incident. When contacted by this media outlet, it was reported that, by order of the judge, no information would be released. 

So far, one man, Jorge Fernández Barrientos, 62 years old, has been arrested and taken to Argerich Hospital.

City police seized a sharp saw from him, which he allegedly used to injure his neck after the fire, according to police sources. According to witnesses near the hotel, the incident began with an attack by this man.

“He set fire to another room where four girls live. He threw a Molotov cocktail,” one of the neighbors told Crónica TV this morning. He added that after the attack, the detainee injured himself. “I had problems with him, several people had problems with him,” he said. Several people had to be evacuated due to the fire that affected the hotel.

Another neighbor, Miguel Ángel, told C5N that when he opened the door he found "the two women on fire". 

How hate speech impacts

“Hate speech incites violence against groups that have historically been stigmatized and violated. Today, it is multiplying uncontrollably,” said Esteban Paulón, a national deputy for Santa Fe, on his social media accounts upon learning of the news. The deputy, one of the few openly gay legislators, added: “No society can develop based on hate. Combating it must be a collective commitment.”

It was recently revealed that in 2023, Argentina saw 133 hate crimes in which the sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or gender expression of all the victims were used as a pretext for the attacks. This is according to the annual report of the National Observatory of LGBT+ Hate Crimes, managed by the LGBT Ombudsman's Office of the City of Buenos Aires and the National Ombudsman's Office, in conjunction with the Argentine LGBT Federation.

The figure represents an increase compared to 2022, when there were 129 hate crimes , and the previous year, in which 120 were recorded. The most affected people are trans women and transvestites (88%). They are followed by cisgender gay men (7 cases), trans men (3), non-binary people (3), and lesbians (2).

The Milei Factor

This incident occurs within a context of increased attacks against LGBT+ people since Javier Milei's victory in the elections that made him president of Argentina. The president and various officials from the La Libertad Avanza party promote hostile and misleading rhetoric about sexual diversity.

Just last week, Nicolás Márquez, a lawyer, friend, and political mentor of Javier Milei, stated in an interview with Radio Con Vos that “when the State promotes, encourages, and finances homosexuality—as it has done until Javier Milei came onto the scene—it is encouraging self-destructive behavior.” In this way, he justified, using false data, why there should be no public policies in favor of the LGBT+ community.

The list of speeches goes on . Last year, Foreign Minister Diana Mondino, when asked about her opinion on same-sex marriage, compared homosexuality to lice. “As a liberal, I agree with everyone's life project. It's much broader than same-sex marriage. Let me exaggerate: if you prefer not to bathe and be full of lice, and that's your choice, fine, then don't complain later if someone doesn't like that you have lice ,” she said.

“Endorsing violence and discrimination from the state generates more violence and discrimination in society. Hate crimes like this are related to the increasingly frequent hate speech in our country,” activist María Rachid told this agency.

Furthermore, she expressed her concern about the attempt "to destroy the organizations we turn to in cases of discrimination and violence, such as INADI." "Without INADI, we are left only with a justice system that rarely functions as it should in these cases and an anti-discrimination law from 1988 that offers no tools to prevent or respond to the situations of discrimination and violence we are experiencing," she concluded.