Thank you for reading LatinNews' chosen article from the LatinNews Daily - 14 August 2024
On 13 August Argentina’s former first lady, Fabiola Yáñez (2019-2023), testified in the gender violence case she has brought against her ex-partner, former president Alberto Fernández (2019-2023).
The gender violence scandal engulfing Fernández has escalated quickly. After allegations first emerged in the local press on 4 August, Yáñez pressed formal charges on 6 August and has now given her first detailed testimony. The domestic abuse accusations against Fernández have triggered a crisis within Argentina’s centre-left opposition Peronist movement. The government led by right-wing President Javier Milei, meanwhile, has capitalised on the situation to justify its dismantling of the previous government’s gender policies, including the shuttering of the women’s ministry, which it claims were only used for political purposes. However, the spotlight that the case is shining on the issue of gender violence is creating rising pressure on Milei’s government to demonstrate how it intends to address the problem.
- Yáñez gave her testimony to the lead prosecutor for the case, Ramiro González, via a videoconference from Argentina’s consulate in Madrid, where she currently resides. According to judicial sources consulted by the local press, the call lasted around four hours.
- Yáñez has accused Fernández of physical violence, “psychological terrorism” including threats and telephone harassment, and forcing her to have an abortion. On 9 August the local media published photos of Yáñez with bruises allegedly due to beatings she received from Fernández, whom she has also accused of repeated infidelity.
- In an interview with news portal Infobae on 9 August, Yáñez also stated she had notified the women’s minister (2022-2023), Ayelén Mazzina, of the situation at the time but received no help. Mazzina has denied knowing anything about the violence denounced by Yáñez.
- Fernández continues to deny the accusations. In an interview he gave to Spanish newspaper El País on 9 August that was published yesterday, Fernández admits he and Yáñez argued frequently but denies any physical violence. He states that someone must have encouraged Yáñez to file the complaint “for ulterior motives”. El País notes that denying accusations and suggesting the complainant was not the one who decided to take legal action are common responses from those accused of gender violence.
- Milei has used the case to accuse Fernández’s government of “hypocrisy”, given it purported to advocate for women’s rights. In a press conference yesterday, the presidential spokesperson, Manuel Adorni, said that the previous administration’s gender policies were not used to help women or prevent violence, but “for political ends”, adding that “the many millions that were used to finance these policies evidently have not served for anything”.
- Adorni has stressed that line 144, a hotline providing information, guidance, and support for women in situations of violence across Argentina, remains open 24/7 stating yesterday that 84 people work permanently on the line. In a social media post on 9 August, the local branch of international human rights NGO Amnesty International (AI) stated that the line only had two workers, according to information it had obtained from the public sector employees’ union Asociación Trabajadores del Estado (ATE).
- The Milei administration has also come under criticism for cutting funding to programmes and shuttering institutions such as the women’s ministry and deputy ministry for violence that serve victims of gender violence. According to AI Argentina it is the first time in 37 years that policies for attention and prevention of gender violence lack institutionalisation in the country.
Looking Ahead: Pressure is likely to rise on the Milei administration to introduce new policies for tackling gender violence, rather than just dismantling old ones, as the case progresses.
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