Eduardo Bauzá (16 November 1939 – 17 February 2019) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as Minister of Health and

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

during

Carlos Menem Carlos Saúl Menem (2 July 1930 – 14 February 2021) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. Ideologically, he identified as a Peronist and supported economically liberal policies. H ...

's presidency and was later the first

Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers The Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Argentine Nation ( es, Jefe de Gabinete de Ministros de la Nación Argentina; JGM), more commonly known simply as the Cabinet Chief ( es, Jefe de Gabinete) is a ministerial office within the governmen ...

. He was member of the

Argentine Senate The Honorable Senate of the Argentine Nation ( es, Honorable Senado de la Nación Argentina) is the upper house of the National Congress of Argentina. Overview The National Senate was established by the Argentine Confederation on July 29, 185 ...

from 5 June 1996 to 10 December 1999.

Education and career

Eduardo Bauzá, a lawyer, graduated from the

Universidad de Mendoza The University of Mendoza (Spanish: ''Universidad de Mendoza'', UM) is an Argentine non-profit private university in the city of Mendoza with a branch in the city of San Rafael. History The University of Mendoza was established on December 22, 19 ...

. He started his political career in Mendoza Province. He was appointed to his first political office in 1973 in La Rioja Province as the secretary of development, under Governor

. Menem and Bauzá were deposed during the

1976 Argentine coup d'état The 1976 Argentine coup d'état was a right-wing coup d'état, coup that overthrew Isabel Perón as President of Argentina on 24 March 1976. A military junta was installed to replace her; this was headed by Lieutenant General Jorge Rafael Videl ...

, and he was detained by the

National Reorganization Process The National Reorganization Process (Spanish: ''Proceso de Reorganización Nacional'', often simply ''el Proceso'', "the Process") was the military dictatorship that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983, in which it was supported by the United Sta ...

a few months later. He was under arrest from May 1976 to April 1977. He resumed his political career in 1982 and helped establish the "Federalismo y liberación" ( es, "Federalism and liberation") faction within the

Justicialist Party The Justicialist Party ( es, Partido Justicialista, ; abbr. PJ) is a major political party in Argentina, and the largest branch within Peronism. Current president Alberto Fernández belongs to the Justicialist Party (and has, since 2021, served ...

(PJ), led by Menem. They ran for the primary elections to the

1983 Argentine general election The Argentine general election of 1983 was held on 30 October and marked the return of constitutional rule following the self-styled National Reorganization Process dictatorship installed in 1976. Voters fully chose the president, governors, mayo ...

, and lost to

Ítalo Argentino Lúder Ítalo Argentino Lúder (31 December 1916 – 25 May 2008) was an Argentine Justicialist Party politician. As provisional president of the Argentine Senate, Lúder served as the acting President of Argentina from 13 September 1975 until 16 ...

. Bauzá also ran in the PJ primary election for governor elections and lost to Carlos Motta. He was elected as a deputy for Mendoza in 1987. He resigned to organize the political campaign of Menem for the

1989 Argentine general election The Argentine general election of 1989 was held on 14 May 1989. Voters chose both the President of Argentina, President and their legislators and with a turnout of 85.3%, Carlos Menem won the presidency, and the peronist Justicialist Party won t ...

, which Menem won. He was appointed as ministry of interior. He served for six months, and then moved to the

Ministry of Health Ministry of Health may refer to: Note: Italics indicate now-defunct ministries. * Ministry of Health (Argentina) * Ministry of Health (Armenia) * Australia: ** Ministry of Health (New South Wales) * Ministry of Health (The Bahamas) * Ministry of ...

. There was a national scandal during his tenure, the "Smock scandal" ( es, Escándalo de los guardapolvos"). The state had bought 500,000 school smocks at a much higher price than usual and only delivered a tenth part, despite the payments in advance. Eduardo Bauzá was acquitted in 2005 by judge María Romilda Servini de Cubría.

Later career and retirement

After several months, Bauzá served as general secretary of the presidency. The

1994 amendment of the Constitution of Argentina The 1994 amendment to the Constitution of Argentina was approved on 22 August 1994 by a Constitutional Assembly that met in the twin cities of Santa Fe and Paraná. The calling for elections for the Constitutional Convention and the main issues t ...

created the office of the

; Bauzá was the inaugural holder in 1995. He resigned in 1996, suffering

Hepatitis C Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) that primarily affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. During the initial infection people often have mild or no symptoms. Occasionally a fever, dark urine, a ...

. He was elected senator, and ended his term in 1999. He retired from politics and returned to the province of Mendoza. He organized the political campaign of Menem for the

2003 Argentine general election Argentina held a presidential election on Sunday, 27 April 2003. Turnout was 78.2%. No one presidential candidate gained enough votes to win outright, but the scheduled runoff was cancelled when former president and first-round winner Carlos Mene ...

, Menem won the elections but refused to run in a

ballotage The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resul ...

election (two-round system) against Santa Cruz governor Néstor Kirchner. At that point, Bauzá retired from internal party politics as well. From then on, he focused on the family business; his great grandfather had established the brand of Bauzá noodles, and the company remains in business.

Illness and death

In 2004 Bauzá was diagnosed with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

. His son reported that, although he was severely incapacitated by the disease, he remained lucid during his later years. He died on 17 February 2019, of undisclosed reasons. His family, which includes five sons and seven grandsons, refused to hold a public funeral, and arranged only a private ceremony. He was buried at the Parque de Descanso de Guaymallén cemetery, outside of the city of Mendoza.

References

External links

Fideos Bauzá
(family business) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bauza, Eduardo 1939 births 2019 deaths Chiefs of Cabinet of Ministers of Argentina Ministers of Internal Affairs of Argentina Argentine ministers of health Justicialist Party politicians Members of the Argentine Senate for Mendoza Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Mendoza People with Alzheimer's disease Prisoners and detainees of Argentina People from Mendoza, Argentina University of Mendoza alumni