Mayra Mendoza He was once again at the center of the political scene after the leak of a WhatsApp message sent to a group of Peronist community leaders, in which he harshly questioned the position of the Buenos Aires governor. Axel Kicillof facing the judicial situation of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. In that private exchange, which later became public through different journalistic sources, Mendoza reproached what he considered a lack of explicit political support from the provincial president towards the former president, in a context that Kirchnerism interprets as judicial persecution.
The background of the conflict is linked to the judicial cases that Kirchner faces, particularly those in which he received sentences in the first instance, such as the one linked to public works, which led to complaints of “lawfare” by its political space. From that framework, Mendoza raised in the chat the need for a more forceful and coordinated defense by all Buenos Aires Peronism. “You cannot look the other way,” he said, according to journalistic reconstructions, and pointed directly to the attitude of Kicillof, from whom he demanded greater political commitment in the defense of the former president.
“CFK is declaring, Axel at least hides the lack of interest and respect you have for the woman who (this prisoner being innocent and with her outlawed Peronism) gave you the possibility of being governor,” was the message attributed to the camper that the media spread. The questioning was not only conceptual but also personal. Mendoza, one of the leaders closest to Cristina Kirchner, would have questioned the governor’s strategy of maintaining a more moderate profile in the face of judicial escalation, in contrast to the confrontational tone of hard Kirchnerism.
“Comrades, what is happening with Cristina is very serious and we cannot look the other way. It is not a personal issue, it is an attack on Peronism and everything we represent,” said the leader, and then the message would have escalated to a direct interpellation to Governor Axel Kicillof: “We need Axel to be clear and firm. Silence or lukewarm statements are not enough. There are moments where you have to define yourself.” This part is one of the most cited by different chronicles, in which the reproach for an alleged lack of forceful positioning stands out.
The episode is part of a series of previous crossings between Mendoza and the provincial leader. On different occasions, the mayor had marked differences regarding the political leadership in the province and the electoral structure. There were also tensions over the distribution of resources and the role of mayors in making strategic decisions. These frictions reflect a broader internal conflict within Buenos Aires Peronism, where sectors with different degrees of alignment with the former president coexist.
The deeper background is the progressive political distancing between the former Head of State and who was her Minister of Economy in her second term, despite the historical link that unites them. Although the governor was one of the main cadres to emerge from Kirchnerism, in recent times he has sought to build greater autonomy in his management and political projection.
This search generated discomfort in the core closest to the former president, who views any attempt at differentiation with suspicion. Mendoza’s message, in that sense, not only pointed to a specific judicial situation, but also exposed the latent tensions in the conduct of the space and the dispute over the political direction of Peronism in the province of Buenos Aires.
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