Argentina’s federal prosecutor, Ramiro González, has requested an investigation into whether the country’s former President Alberto Fernández engaged in gender-based violence against his former partner, Fabiola Yañez. Fernández could face a prison sentence ranging from three to eighteen years, Argentina’s Clarín media outlet reported.
Three months after the investigation began, and just hours after the newspaper reported alleged physical abuse, the prosecutor filed a request for a formal investigation.
The prosecutor’s office assigned the case to Judge Julián Ercolini, deeming there is sufficient evidence at this stage to summon Fernández for questioning.
The first charge lists nine acts of violence allegedly having occurred between 2016 and early this year. Based on these claims, Fernández could be charged with light or serious injury, both aggravated by the abuse of authority and coercive threats.
As the investigation has advanced with extensive evidence collection and testimony from over 20 witnesses, prosecutor González has concluded there is enough proof for Fernández to be called to address the charges against him.
“After a detailed analysis of the investigated facts and the evidence gathered throughout the case, I find that the actions of Alberto Ángel Fernández constitute the following offenses: serious injuries aggravated by having been committed within a context of gender violence against his partner,” the prosecutor’s report states.
Fernández is also accused of aggravated light injuries, repeated twice, for allegedly committing them “within a context of gender-based violence against his partner” and of coercive threats, primarily aimed at preventing Yañez from filing a criminal complaint with Judge Ercolini.
The Investigation and Evidence
The evidence in the criminal file includes photos and videos provided by both the complainant and the defense, as well as records of official activities of Fernández and Yañez during their time as president and first lady, attending events, conferences, and official trips.
“A media review was conducted, from which numerous images, videos, and public statements useful for the investigation were extracted, and numerous psychological and psychiatric reports resulting from interviews between professionals and Fabiola Yañez were added.”
The analysis of the evidence led the prosecutor to determine that Fernández allegedly had engaged in various types of violence against his partner almost from the start of their relationship. According to Law 26.485 governing the comprehensive protection of women, psychological, physical, and economic violence could be detected.
Ramírez argued that these successive acts of violence took place within a specific “asymmetric power relationship” with the aggressor, from at least 2016 until the complaint was formalized.
The prosecutor claims that Fernández “systematically inflicted psychological violence on Fabiola Yañez in the form of harassment, controlling behaviors, indifference, insults, accusations, silent treatments, disregard, and hostility.”
Injuries to the Eye and Arm
According to the case file, physical violence, reported by Yañez, became acute and later habitual during Fernández’s presidency.
The prosecutor noted that during the couple’s stay at the Quinta de Olivos, incidents of “shoves, slaps, and various blows that injured Fabiola Yañez” were reported. The opinion cites an injury prior to August 12, 2021, causing a bruise on Yañez’s arm allegedly resulting from Fernández grabbing or shaking her inside the presidential villa at Quinta de Olivos. Yañez reportedly sent a photograph of this injury to María Cantero, the president’s secretary, via WhatsApp on that date.
The second injury occurred on the night of June 21 into the early morning of June 22, 2021, when Fernández allegedly struck Yañez in the face, causing an injury to her right eye, which initially resulted in pain and redness before turning black and blue over the following days, according to prosecutor González.
Pattern of Violence
The evidence in the case and the criminal allegations against the former president suggest a pattern of recurring violence, which continued until the end of Fernández’s presidential term, even after Yañez moved from the main house at Quinta de Olivos to the guest house in 2023 before eventually leaving for Madrid.
According to the case, Fernández chose this destination “because he thought he could win the elections that year and be appointed ambassador to Spain.”
While Yañez was in Madrid, the prosecutor claims, Fernández pressured her not to report the incident to the judge, affecting the federal case due to his alleged threats.
The prosecution argued that Yañez faced financial coercion, with Fernández referencing “suicidal thoughts, reminders of her son Francisco’s needs, demands to conceal the physical assaults to avoid media coverage, and advice to speak as little as possible, with promises that her family would lack nothing.”
This behavior underpins the prosecutor’s charge of coercive threats.
Through analyzing all the evidence, the prosecutor determined “a consistent pattern of violence against Fabiola Yañez over at least eight years of systematic psychological and physical abuse.”
Psychologists from the prosecutor’s office have highlighted “the victim’s emotional toll, noting the impact on her emotional state, will, and vitality.”
Additionally, the reports describe “a depressive emotional background dominated by feelings of humiliation, shame, loneliness, fear, and distrust.”
The psychiatrist cited in the complaint concluded that Yañez had endured “multiple consequences of psychological harm, reactive to the chronic, systematic violence experienced during her eight-year relationship.”
All gathered evidence, weighed against other corroborative measures, was deemed sufficient for the prosecutor’s office to accuse Fernández of permanently weakening his former partner’s health through aggravated serious injuries.
Details of the Investigation
Explaining how corroboration was obtained for the charges, the prosecutor’s office stated that evidence was collected from the phone records of María Cantero and Fabiola Yañez, which provided the basis for the investigation.
The investigation included testimony from former First Lady Yañez, María Cantero, former Olivos mayor Daniel Rodríguez, Yáñez’ mother and sister, journalist Alicia Barrios, and presidential doctors Saavedra and Alem, as well as others, including aesthetician Florencia Aguirre, Sofia Pacchi, nanny Noelia del Valle Gómez, and housekeeper Cinta Tonietti.
“The income and expense records at Olivos for the entire presidential term were analyzed, as were call records between Alberto Fernández and Fabiola Yañez dating back to 2016,” the prosecutor’s office stated. Medical documentation from the Otamendi Sanatorium, the Fertilis clinic, the Madrid University Hospital, and the INECO Institute of Cognitive Neurology was also incorporated and reviewed by the prosecution.