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Americas|Prosecutors Accuse Argentina’s Former President of Beating First Lady
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/15/world/americas/argentina-president-fernandez-abuse.html
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A domestic violence scandal has rocked Argentina since Alberto Fernández, the country’s former president, was accused of abusing his partner, Fabiola Yáñez. He has denied the allegations.
By Jack Nicas and Daniel Politi
Jack Nicas reported from Montevideo, Uruguay, and Daniel Politi from Buenos Aires.
Aug. 15, 2024, 1:17 p.m. ET
Argentine prosecutors on Wednesday accused Alberto Fernández, Argentina’s former president who left office in December, of domestic violence after images showed his partner at the time, the former first lady, with a black eye.
In court documents filed on Wednesday, prosecutors accused Mr. Fernández of carrying out “grievous bodily harm” and “coercive threats” against Fabiola Yáñez, his partner, while he was president. A federal judge will decide whether to indict Mr. Fernández on those two charges, which could carry a prison sentence.
Mr. Fernández, 65, who was president from 2019 to 2023, has denied the accusations. “I’ve never hit a woman,” he told the media outlet El País.
What happened?
Prosecutors said Mr. Fernández repeatedly struck Ms. Yáñez, 43, and subjected her to psychological abuse while the couple lived in Argentina’s presidential residence outside Buenos Aires. They said it was common for Mr. Fernández to slap Ms. Yáñez so hard that it left her cheek “burning.” In one instance, prosecutors said, he punched Ms. Yáñez in the eye, leaving her with a black eye. Prosecutors accused Mr. Fernández of kicking Ms. Yáñez in the stomach in August 2021, knowing she could be pregnant.
Ms. Yáñez has said that Mr. Fernández also controlled her movements and forced her to have an abortion in 2016, when abortion was still illegal in Argentina. The couple never married, but they were together for more than a decade before splitting recently. They have a child together.
The accusations came to light when investigators found photos of Ms. Yáñez with a black eye and a bruised arm on the phone of Mr. Fernández’s former secretary. Investigators were searching the phone as part of a separate investigation into an alleged embezzlement scheme, in which prosecutors are also seeking charges against Mr. Fernández.
