Lázaro Báez, the 75-year-old businessman currently serving a unified 15-year prison sentence, has been urgently hospitalized due to a case of pneumonia. The development marks a critical turn in the health of the former executive, who is detained at the Ezeiza penal facility.
A Complicated Health Profile
The current respiratory crisis is the latest in a series of medical complications for Báez. According to local media reports, the businessman is diabetic and has faced challenges including arterial hypertension and bronchitis. Further medical evaluations have reportedly detected a pathology in his colon, which has led to digestive hemorrhages.
These conditions have prompted repeated efforts by his legal team to secure a change in his detention status. Last year, his lawyers filed a request for house arrest, citing his advanced state of physical deterioration.
Disputes Over Detention Conditions
The businessman’s health struggles have been closely tied to the conditions of his confinement. His attorney, Yanina Nicoletti, previously raised alarms regarding the environment in which Báez was held prior to his transfer to Buenos Aires.
The situation in which he is is desperate, he shares a bathroom with ten other people, he is diabetic, asthmatic, he does not socialize, shortly after arriving he suffered a strong respiratory episode and had to be taken to the Hospital de Río Gallegos, two days ago he collapsed again. Yanina Nicoletti
The legal battle over his treatment reached the federal court in Río Gallegos. Judge Claudio Vázquez rejected a habeas corpus petition, ruling that the conditions of detention had not aggravated Báez’s health. However, the judge did acknowledge that the transitory housing area at Unit 15 in Río Gallegos—referred to by the defense as the “leonera”—was not suitable for long-term detention as it lacked minimum basic conditions.
As a result of the general health assessment, Judge Vázquez ordered that Báez undergo necessary cardiology studies at local hospitals and mandated his transfer to the Ezeiza prison.
Legal Context
Báez is currently serving his sentence in connection with the high-profile legal cases known as “Vialidad” and the “Ruta del Dinero K.”
