Argentina, pending trial for Maradona's death: did he die of inevitable causes or could it have been avoided?

In the midst of the highest inflation in the world and the recurring controversies of President Javier Milei, Argentina is immersed in another uncomfortable matter, the return to one of its saddest days: Diego Armando Maradona, the greatest soccer player of the late 20th century—and for many in history—did he die of inevitable causes or could his death have been avoided?

The question also raises a second doubt: was the idol the victim of a homicide with possible intent, that is, by people who knew that their actions could cause his death and did nothing to prevent it, or by the medical board that cared for him in his last years? days at most, can it be investigated for malpractice and negligence?

These are questions raised by the Argentine Justice, which this week took a key initial step towards clarification.

In the San Isidro Courts, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, the first hearing was held prior to the trial for the death of the idol, which occurred on November 25, 2020 in the house where Maradona lived under home medical care.

In the Court that will decide the case, Maradona's relatives - sons and sisters of the idol, who usually cross paths over financial claims but who in this case agreed in their presentation as private victims - met for the first time this Wednesday, the three prosecutors who are investigating the case. death and classified the case as a “crime of simple homicide with possible intent” and the eight defendants, all health professionals who had to deal with the delicate recovery of the former soccer player.

A neurosurgeon -Leopoldo Luque-, a psychiatrist -Agustina Cosachov-, a psychologist -Carlos Díaz, a home care coordinator -Nancy Forlini-, two nurses -Gisella Madrid and Ricardo Almirón-, the coordinator of both -Mariano Perroni- and a clinical doctor -Pedro Di Spagna- are accused of a crime that carries penalties of 8 to 25 years in prison.

The start date of the trial, which will have 25 hearings, could be announced next week, although versions claim that it would begin at the end of this year or the beginning of 2025.

The death of Maradona, at the age of 60, also contains a paradox: how the most beloved person in the country – Lionel Messi had not yet won the 2022 World Cup in Qatar – died alone, barely accompanied by a handful of attendees who stumbled upon a difficult to treat patient, not very amenable to medical decisions and with a clinical history that included multiple and severe complications in his worn-out body: his old addiction to cocaine, a heart that worked at 30%, the obesity that had hit him at the beginning century, the gastric bypass he had undergone in 2005, severe problems with alcohol and the countless blows he received as a player.

On the morning of November 25, 2020, the nurse who was supposed to care for Maradona on the morning shift went to wake him up in the room of the house where the idol had moved after his last hospitalization, but discovered that he was not reacting.

The loss of vital signs would be confirmed a few hours later and, according to the medical report, it had occurred while he was sleeping due to heart failure that caused acute lung edema.

In truth, Maradona, who at that time was the coach of Gimnasia La Plata, a club in the Argentine First Division - although he was no longer fit to direct the games - had begun to fade for months: there are those who believe that, Beyond his volcanic life, the idol was also a victim of the isolation produced by the coronavirus: having only one body and being Maradona, a number 10 made into a country, was an unequal fight.

Since 2018, the health of the captain of the Argentine world champion team in Mexico 1986 had been in the hands of Luque, a 39-year-old neurosurgeon who decided on the last intervention to which Maradona was subjected, a cerebral edema, on November 3, 2022. The dramatic hero had hit his head on the floor of his house and had to undergo surgery.

After the surgery, part of the family and the doctors in charge of his health resolved that Maradona would continue his recovery at home, under the care of nurses and doctors, in a house that they rented to him as of November 11 in Tigre, in the north. from Buenos Aires, but where he would die just 14 days after arriving.

Now Justice, at the request of the family itself, is studying whether Luque and the other seven professionals committed the crime of simple homicide with possible intent.

According to prosecutors, the death could have been avoided and those sitting in the dock participated and committed irregularities in the home confinement that preceded the death.

However, according to judicial sources, it will be very difficult – or impossible – to prove that the accused conspired to set up an organization that intended that outcome.

No traces of alcohol or drugs were found in the autopsy.

Convictions for malpractice can be released from prison.

In this Wednesday's hearing, in which Dalma and Giannina, the two daughters that Maradona had with his ex-wife, Claudia Villafañe, participated, the prosecution requested that in the coming days a visual inspection be carried out at the house where the incident occurred. death and that a model of the house be used for the trial.

The accusers, who have 130,000 audio messages for their investigation, also asked that 90 witnesses speak during the trial, all related to medical issues from their last hours.

Another of Maradona's former partners, Verónica Ojeda - mother of Diego Fernando, one of the idol's five children - cried when leaving the Court.

“It was very strong to see everyone together.

It is horrible to see the people you want to say a thousand things in front of you and not be able to do it,” she said, in just a preview of a trial that when it begins will keep the country in suspense, like when Maradona played and was a joy maker.

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