Updated at 3.40 p.m.

Two pictures showing the battery former First Lady Fabiola Yañez allegedly suffered at the hands of ex-President Alberto Fernández surfaced on Thursday, setting off a firestorm in Argentina. A series of chats between the two in which Fernández appeared to confirm that he was responsible for the beatings was also leaked. 

The pictures and chats were published by media outlet Infobae. As of writing, there is no indication that Yañez has authorized the publication. Because of this, the Herald will not show any of this material, as it believes that it violates a victim’s right to privacy.

The images that circulated on social and legacy media show Yañez with a visible black eye as well as bruising on one of her arms. They are allegedly snapshots of different incidents, as Yañez does not appear to have a damaged eye in the picture in which she is showing the swelling underneath her arm.

In the chats, she complains about the violence and says that the situation can’t continue, at one point stating that Fernández has been beating her for three days straight. The former president does not dispute the allegations and only requests that the arguments end. He also pleads with her to stop because he is feeling ill. 

Yáñez filed a legal complaint against Fernández for domestic violence on Tuesday. Her lawyer at the time, Juan Pablo Fioribello, said she had told him that she suffered “physical blows from the former president and that she couldn’t stand it anymore.” Yañez has since changed lawyers and is now being represented by attorney Mariana Gallego. 

Federal Judge Julián Ercolini placed a restraining order on Fernández, banning him from leaving Argentina and from getting within 500 meters of Yáñez and her home in Madrid. Ercolini also ordered the former president to “cease acts of disruption or intimidation, directly or indirectly, against [Yañez] both in person and online.” 

On Friday, the Security Ministry confirmed to the Herald that Yañez’s security detail in Madrid will be upgraded. There is currently one federal police officer on duty, who will be replaced by two officers set to travel to the Spanish capital on Friday.  

According to Judge Ercolini’s six-page ruling, the chats and pictures were found on the cellphone of Fernández’s former secretary after she was involved in a federal investigation regarding accusations that the ex-president improperly handled state insurance contacts during his presidency. Yáñez had sent them to Fernández’s former secretary as evidence of the physical assault she suffered while the couple lived in the Quinta de Olivos presidential residence.

Fernández denied the accusations, first to the La Nación online publication and later via a short communiqué published on X on Tuesday evening. Although he said that he would not make any more public statements and focus on his legal defense, on Friday, several Argentine media outlets reported that he would address the accusations in an interview with a Spanish newspaper. At the time of writing, there is no confirmation that he will speak.    

Fernández in the spotlight

The former president is also at the center of another scandal, as footage showing him with a female comedian and TV personality also surfaced on Thursday. 

In the video, which appears to have been filmed by Fernández, the woman can be seen drinking a glass of beer and talking to him flirtatiously. He is heard off-camera making remarks and laughing. It is unclear when the video, which contains nothing illegal and appears to have been filmed in Casa Rosada, was taken. 

The blowback against Fernández has been fierce. Former BA Province Governor María Eugenia Vidal (PRO) said “monsters belong behind bars,” while BA City legislator Ramiro Marra, from ruling coalition La Libertad Avanza (LLA), called him “a piece of shit.” Presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni took to X to say that “Kirchnerism has been an infinite shame.”

On Friday, current Buenos Aires province governor Axel Kicillof reacted to the news, saying that he was in “shock” and calling it a “very serious situation.” “We hope that the judiciary can act swiftly and resolve this issue,” he told the Medios Provincia radio station in La Rioja. Former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who was vice president during the Alberto Fernández administration, called the circulation of the images a “true revictimization” of the victim. 

“The pictures of Mrs. Fabiola Yañez with hematomas on her face and arms, together with the chats, not only show the beatings she took but also reveal the most sordid and dark aspects of the human condition,” she wrote in a post on X.

“Mysogony, male chauvism, and hypocrisy are the pillars of physical and verbal violence against women and have no political affiliation, criscrossing across the entire society.”  

A foundation called Fundación Apolo has filed a petition with social security institution ANSES requesting that Alberto Fernández be stripped of the lifetime pension he receives as a former president on the grounds that he does not meet the required “merit and honor” the benefit calls for.