While the UIF identified Néstor and Cristina as the leaders of the criminal organization, Abal Medina was walking around half-naked
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The oral trial for the Cuadernos case experienced an episode as unusual as it was revealing of the improvisation or degeneration that characterizes much of the Kirchnerist leadership. During the seventh virtual hearing, Juan Manuel Abal Medina—former Chief of Staff of Cristina Kirchner—appeared on camera with his torso completely bare walking through his office, at a time when the formal proceedings of the court required the presence of all defendants.
The images, in which his face is not visible but his bare torso is seen in front of a bookshelf, quickly circulated among the participants of the hearing and caused discomfort in the court. The episode occurred while key interventions from the prosecution and the Financial Information Unit (UIF) were taking place, which deepened the accusation regarding the illegal fundraising structure attributed to Kirchnerism.
Abal Medina has been charged since 2018, when two flash drives belonging to his private secretary were seized, containing information considered "detailed" about the financing of the 2013 campaign. That documentation placed him within the scheme investigating whether high-ranking officials from Cristina Kirchner's second presidency raised illegal funds from public works contractors. Juan Manuel Abal Medina y la condenada Cristina Kirchner.
The hearing proceeded with a forceful statement: according to the secretary of Federal Oral Court No. 7, Ernesto Javier Ruiz, between 2003 and 2015 "an illicit association was formed, structured, and led by those who served as the highest authorities of the Executive Branch." The list of defendants includes Cristina Kirchner, Julio de Vido, Roberto Baratta, and Oscar Centeno, who recorded the alleged circuit of delivering bags of money.
The UIF was even more direct. In its presentation, it stated that Néstor and Cristina Kirchner "organized a fundraising system to receive illegal money in order to enrich themselves and finance other crimes", taking advantage of the state structure. The agency described the mechanism as a stable, hierarchical circuit that served the interests of the political power of that period. Juan Manuel Abal Medina pulgar arriba.
In parallel with the technical progress of the accusations, the former Kirchnerist official was exposed by a lack of order or an attitude difficult to justify in a trial of such relevance. In contrast to the professionalism with which President Javier Milei's administration is undertaking institutional reforms and the modernization of the State, Abal Medina's blunder once again showed how the old politics operated with a lightness unbefitting public service.
While experts, prosecutors, and plaintiffs presented arguments regarding one of the largest corruption cases in Argentine history, the former Chief of Staff seems unaware of the seriousness of the proceedings and stands out for his total lack of decorum.
