Shinzo Abe dies, victim of assassination attempt

Japan's former prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has died after an individual shot him while Abe was attending a political rally in the Japanese city of Nara.

According to Japanese broadcaster NHK, witnesses in the area confirm that two shots were heard, one of which managed to hit the former Prime Minister's body, after which Abe collapsed to the ground. After this, the security forces arrested the alleged perpetrator, Japanese national Yamagami Tetsuya, aged about 40, a former member of the Japan Self-Defence Forces, who is accused of having shot the former Prime Minister with a shotgun, causing the bullet to hit his neck. 

Shinzo Abe served as Japan's Prime Minister from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2022, making him Japan's longest-serving leader.

After he resigned for health reasons in 2020, he was replaced by his close ally Yoshihide Suga, before being replaced by current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. 

During his years in office, Abe carried out important economic reforms in different areas in the midst of a severely damaged economic system that allowed the country's high inflation to be reduced, as well as improving the unemployment figures. His policy was also characterised by the improvement of the country's defence capabilities and by his commitment to increase defence spending, something unusual in the country as, since the end of the Second World War, Japan had been forced to adopt a pacifist Constitution in which it renounced having its own army.

Although Article 9 of Japan's Magna Carta states that the country can only defend itself in case of attack, the country has an armed corps, the so-called Self-Defence Forces, which are supervised by the United States. The US also maintains military bases throughout the country.

From the beginning of his second term in office, Abe pushed for reform of this article, although he failed to win sufficient support. However, he did manage to pass a law that expanded the country's military capabilities since, in addition to being able to act defensively in the event of an attack, it could now act under the principle of collective defence, which translates into defending its allies in the event that they are attacked and if it can be justified that such attacks also pose a threat to Japan's security. Similarly, the country can participate in international peace support missions, which allows Japan to increase its presence abroad. 

In addition, the former Prime Minister pursued a major diplomatic career with the aim of reshaping Japan's international diplomatic relations. In this vein, in 2017 he formed the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), a military alliance that brought together the forces of the United States, Japan, India and Australia in the face of growing threats from China.

He also improved Japan's diplomatic relations in Southeast Asia by investing nearly $400 billion in projects in Vietnam, Indonesia and Singapore. 

These measures enabled Abe to win three consecutive elections and leave behind an important political legacy. In this way, Abe managed to break through constitutional boundaries to reshape the country's defence strategy, paving the way for Japan to gain greater military and defensive clout. Alongside this, he was able to leverage an important policy of alliances and cooperation, attempting to be a commercial counterweight in the region.

Although his ambitious economic policies did not achieve Abe's goals, the former leader managed to curb public debt and almost achieve fiscal consolidation. All these measures made Abe an important politician who had a significant influence on the consolidation of a modern Japan.