Former advisor Sofía Pacchi testified today as a witness in the case of gender violence against the former president of the Nation, Alberto Fernández, and said that she never saw blows nor that the former first lady Fabiola Yañez told her about those types of episodes, although He did comment that the two had a “complicated/toxic” relationship.
”While we were friends, which was more or less since her relationship with Alberto began, she never spoke to me about beatings. They did have a complicated/toxic relationship. “I never witnessed physical attacks.”Pacchi said in his statement, which was accessed by Infobae, and which lasted about two and a half hours before federal prosecutor Ramiro González in the courts of Commodore Py.
The woman told how she met Yañez and Fernández, why the then first lady fired her, about the party in Olivos during the pandemic and clarified that she never had a romantic relationship with the former president. “I was never a lover of Alberto Fernandez. Having that said hurts me and my family. “I am a victim of that being said, like the leak of the photo from the Olivos party,” he declared.
That was the reason for his summons. Yañez, when he testified as a witness, said that he found a message on Fernández’s cell phone in which he tried to conquer Pacchi. The woman was summoned by prosecutor González.
Pacchi’s statement was in doubt. She was scheduled for 10:00 in Comodoro Py, but she did not show up or report any inconvenience. From the Prosecutor’s Office they called his lawyer, Fernando Burlandoto tell her that the testimonial had been suspended twice at her request due to health problems, and that if she did not appear they were going to close the event and summon her to a new date by the public force, that is, detained.
The defense informed her that they were already coming, and at 11:00 the woman arrived at the judicial building wearing a white suit, black pants and stiletto shoes. She was accompanied by Burlando—who was not at the statement—and waited for her until the end of the statement, which included Fernández’s lawyer, Silvina Carreiraand the representative of Yañez, Mariana Gallego.
The first question was how he met Yañez and Fernández. Pacchi said that in 2011 she met Yañez at a theater school, and that since then they became friends. “I know their relationship when Fabiola was doing her thesis, approximately in 2014. I met Alberto through Fabiola,” he added. She then reported that in 2019 she began working on Fernández’s presidential campaign and, after her victory, she was appointed to work with Yañez. “She was my boss.”
The work and personal relationship with the then first lady lasted until March 2021. “She kicked me out by message,” she said. “He disengaged me for two reasons. The first was an argument because she mentioned to Alberto that she was at my house, but in reality she was at some friends’ place, a friend and a friend of Fabiola’s. I didn’t know that he had said that to Alberto. Alberto asked me if he was with me, and I told him no. That’s why he fought with Alberto in 2020, I don’t remember when. Alberto kicked her out and Fabiola came to stay at my house despite having fought with me. The other reason was because I was hospitalized with a kidney infection for about seven days. “I told Fabiola that I could work from the clinic, but because of the fever I couldn’t, and she kicked me out.”he related. He then went on to work in the Presidency, in the area of communication and protocol, until the end of 2021.
Pacchi said that he had a very close relationship with Yañez, to the point of defining her as “my former best friend.”and that for that reason they talked about all topics, even very intimate issues.
Regarding acts of violence, Pacchi stated that he never witnessed physical attacks. “I did not observe physical violence, I never witnessed it nor did Fabiola tell me about it. “I did not witness acts of violence or arguments,” he declared. When asked, he also said that Yañez never expressed fears about Fernández.
“I saw bruises on her, but for other reasons,” Pacchi said in another section. When asked what those issues were, he mentioned alcohol. “They had to do with blows resulting from this health problem with alcohol, health problems that are publicly known,” he said. The issue of alcohol was also mentioned by other witnesses proposed by Fernández’s defense, who were excluded by the Prosecutor’s Office. Yañez even made reference to that in his testimony.
Pacchi was shown photos of Fabiola with a black right eye and another bruise on one arm. ““I never saw those blows”he declared. Those bruises would correspond to July 2021, and the relationship between the two had ended in March.
The woman did talk about a toxic relationship. “When I say toxic, I mean the way they handled themselves. Lots of fights, disagreements, getting stuck on the phone. Separate, leave home. “It was a pretty normal dynamic in their entire relationship,” he recalled. The Prosecutor’s Office made him listen to an audio in which Fernández insults Yañez. “I know the participants in the audio, Fabiola and Alberto. That was the deal they had in their complex relationship. Sometimes she spoke to him like that, sometimes he. Fabi saved chats or recorded discussions to view them later,” Pacchi stated.
The woman was also asked about Fernández’s attempted conquest. “In 2020, if I remember correctly, I received something of a compliment from Alberto. Something like ‘how pretty you are’. I mentioned it to Fabiola because she was my friend, but she didn’t give it any importance because she knew he was a womanizer. She always knew he was a womanizer. She knew that he flattered all women, including his friends. He even did it in front of her. He also said it in the presence of Fabiola. It was only that time that he wrote to me. She always knew he was like that. Each one always had their life, both parties had their ties outside of the relationship. I don’t have that message saved. “I don’t even remember if it was a message or if he said it to my face,” he said.
And he said again that he did not have a relationship with Fernández that was not work-related: “I never had a romantic relationship with Alberto Fernández. “He was my ex-best friend’s partner.”
In his statement, Pacchi also talked about the Olivos party. It was June 14, 2020, when in the Presidential Fifth Yañez’s birthday celebration was held in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, when social gatherings were prohibited. “Fabiola, who organized her birthday, invited me,” said Pacchi, one of the guests. Yañez said that the birthday was organized by Fernández.
The woman reported that when the birthday photo was made public, they no longer had a relationship, and that Yañez cut all ties with her friends. For this dissemination she was cited by Alberto Fernández. “The last time I entered Olivos was for a meeting with Alberto Fernández in the presence of Daniel Rodriguez (NdA: mayor of the Fifth and who already testified in the case). That meeting was because Fabiola, since the photo of her birthday in Olivos came out, never spoke to the people in her circle again. The meeting was for me to try to become friends with Fabiola to help her with her health problems, at least that’s what she told me. The meeting was in 2023, when Fabiola was traveling, I think in Missions”.
After the statement, Pacchi left without speaking to the media. The next witness will be Noelia del Valle Gómeza former domestic worker who worked in the department of Puerto Madero where Fernández lives. It will be next Tuesday at 10:00.