“Painful and pathetic”: Carlos Bianco crossed Mayra Mendoza and exposed intern K after his operation in Barcelona

Unlike that tone, the former mayor of Quilmes released a phrase full of irony and political content: “Everything is going to be fine. This is the same operation that Cristina Fernández de Kirchner had in December. Different contexts: it was your turn in Barcelona and she was imprisoned”. And he redoubled his criticism, pointing directly at Kicillof: “I understand Axel's concern. I insist that it would have been HUMAN to exist also because of the woman who gave him the possibility of being governor.”

From the Mendoza environment, they recognized the authenticity of the message, although they reported an intentional leak: “Someone from that WhatsApp group shot that capture”. And they clarified: “It wasn't us.”

The background of the episode reveals a deeper intern within Kirchnerism. Mendoza's reference points to Kicillof's absence when Cristina Fernández de Kirchner underwent surgery for appendicitis last December at the Otamendi Sanatorium. On that occasion, the Buenos Aires Minister of Health, Nicolás Kreplak, who was also his doctor, was present

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Beyond the one-off crossing, the link between the governor and the Kirchner hard core has been deteriorating for some time.

Tensions intensified after Kicillof's decision not to openly support Cristina Kirchner's candidacy for the presidency of the national PJ, as well as because of her position in the face of the former president's judicial cases.

In fact, Cristina Kirchner and Axel Kicillof have not maintained direct communication since October 1, 2025, when the governor visited the former president at her home in San José 1111, where she is serving house arrest.

Since then, contacts have been reduced to intermediaries, consolidating a political and personal distance that has been going on for seven months.

Thus, between medical operations abroad, cross-reproaches and internal leaks, the Buenos Aires government once again exhibits an image of fragmentation that weakens its public discourse and exposes the tensions of power within Kirchnerism.

In the midst of a new episode that reveals the internal divisions of Kirchnerism, the Buenos Aires government minister, Carlos Bianco, responded harshly to the ironic message that provincial deputy Mayra Mendoza sent to a private group, after the official underwent emergency surgery by a cadre of appendicitis in Barcelona, during an official tour with Governor Axel Kicillof

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Back in the country after the medical intervention, Bianco described the whole situation as “painful and pathetic”, referring both to the content of the message and to its subsequent leak. “It's an internal message in a WhatsApp group that we have with the mayors. In fact, it was an outdated group, because in that group there are still some colleagues who stopped being mayors and who were still in the group. I don't want to talk much about it because I found the whole event, the whole situation, quite painful and pathetic. And much more so that later it was leaked to the press,” he said in a dialogue with the media.

The official, considered one of Kicillof's most trusted men, tried to tone down the conflict by appealing to a directive from the governor himself: “The governor asked us not to get involved in any interns. And that's what I have to do as an instruction. But as a general rule of my behavior, I take things as if they come from because often what is said speaks more about the person who says it than about the situation to which it refers.”

However, his statements gave a glimpse of the level of internal wear and tear within the Buenos Aires government. Bianco even remarked that he received gestures of support from opposition sectors, in contrast to criticism coming from the political space itself: “I only argue with arguments and with respect. When there are neither arguments nor respect, nor do I start arguing. I prefer to stay with hundreds and hundreds of people who really surprised me because they wrote to my networks, to WhatsApp, really worried. People you don't know... besides the fact that it wasn't a serious issue, it's appendicitis and it's not nice or comfortable to be 12 thousand kilometers away from your home and have a medical problem

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Along the same lines, he ironized the versions surrounding his trip: “You break down and get sick. It's not that I planned and said: 'I'm going to go to Barcelona to this congress to accompany the governor and by the way I'm having cosmetic surgery'”. He added: “I had appendicitis and the doctors told me: 'you can't get on the plane, you have to have surgery here. ' And the truth is that it's not nice or comfortable. It's not serious either, because it's a minor operation, but it wasn't comfortable. I even stick with the opposition leaders who showed more personal talent than some of their colleagues.”

Among those who contacted him, he mentioned opposition leaders such as Néstor Grindetti and Sebastián Pareja, as well as radical mayors, whom he thanked “far beyond his colleagues and fellow mayors

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The conflict originated from a message from Mayra Mendoza in a WhatsApp group shared with mayors, where several community chiefs—such as Nicolás Mantegazza (San Vicente), Miguel Gesualdi (San Andrés de Giles) and Maximiliano Wesner (Olavarría) —had sent wishes for a speedy recovery to Bianco.