Eduardo Félix Valdés (born 16 February 1956) is an

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

politician, currently serving as National Deputy elected in the

Federal Capital A federal capital is a political entity, often a municipality or capital city, that serves as the seat of the federal government. A federal capital is typically a city that physically encompasses the offices and meeting places of its respective gov ...

. A member of 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 ...

, Valdés served as the Argentine ambassador to the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

during the presidency of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. In addition, Valdés also served as a member of the Mercosur

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

from 2015 to 2019, as a member of the

Buenos Aires City Legislature The Buenos Aires City Legislature ( es, Legislatura de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, links=no, commonly known as the ) is a central part of the Government of the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is housed in the Legislature Palace ( es ...

from 2000 to 2003, and as a member of the 1994 Constitutional Convention.

Early and personal life

Eduardo Félix Valdés was born on 16 February 1956 in Córdoba, though he was raised in Neuquén. He went to school at the Colegio Don Bosco of Neuquén. Later on, he studied law at the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires ( es, Universidad de Buenos Aires, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Established in 1821, it is the premier institution of higher learning in the country and one o ...

. Valdés counts with master's degrees on international relations from the Murcia and

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

. Valdés is married and has two sons. One of his sons, Juan Manuel, is active in politics and currently serves as a member of the

. Valdés is a devout

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, and various sources describe him as being a friend to

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

, whom Valdés met when Francis was Archbishop of Buenos Aires.

Career

Valdés's political career began in 1989, as secretary general of the Buenos Aires City Government during the mayorship of Carlos Grosso. In 1991, Valdés was appointed city councillor. Later, in 1994, he was elected as one of the representatives of the Federal Capital in the

Constitutional Convention Constitutional convention may refer to: * Constitutional convention (political custom), an informal and uncodified procedural agreement *Constitutional convention (political meeting), a meeting of delegates to adopt a new constitution or revise an e ...

tasked with rewriting the Constitution of Argentina. In 1995, he founded the National School of Governance of the National Institute of Public Administration; he served as the school's director until 1998. In 2000, Valdés was elected to the

, where he presided the Justicialist Front parliamentary bloc. In 2003, he was appointed chief of staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship, during the administration of Rafael Bielsa. He stepped down from that post upon then-president Néstor Kirchner's request, following a diplomatic spat with Cuba over Hilda Molina, the mother of a Cuban-born Argentine resident who was denied the right to leave the island. Following his resignation from the Foreign Ministry, Valdés turned to the private sector and worked as an independent lawyer. As an attorney, Valdés represented one of the victims of former priest

Julio César Grassi Julio César Grassi (born 14 August 1956) is an Argentine Roman Catholic priest and convicted sex offender, child molester and fraudster. Early life and priesthood Julio César Grassi was born on 14 August 1956 in Lomas de Zamora, Buenos Aires. G ...

Ambassador to the Holy See

In 2014, Valdés was appointed as Argentina's ambassador to the

by President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, replacing

Juan Pablo Cafiero Juan Pablo Cafiero (born 9 July 1953, San Isidro, Buenos Aires Province) is an Argentine politician and the Argentine Ambassador to the Vatican since 2008. He has served as a National Deputy and government minister, and is the son of Peronist A ...

. He was granted agrément on 15 October 2014 and confirmed by 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 ...

days later. As ambassador, Valdés organized the five meetings held between Fernández de Kirchner and

in 2015. He also organized the Pope's meetings with

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FI ...

and members of La Cámpora. He resigned from the post in December 2015 to take office as member of the

Mercosur Parliament The Mercosur Parliament ( es, link=no, Parlamento del Mercosur, pt, Parlamento do Mercosul), known also as Parlasur, or Parlasul, is the parliamentary institution of the Mercosur trade bloc. It is composed of 81 MPs, 18 from each member states ...

. His last official act as ambassador was the inauguration of a new building for the Argentine embassy in the Vatican, near St. Peter's Square.

National Deputy

At the 2019 general election, Valdés was the 5th candidate in the

Frente de Todos The Frente de Todos (translated as "Everyone's Front") is a coalition of Peronist and Kirchnerist political parties in Argentina formed to support President Alberto Fernández and Vice President Cristina Kirchner. Fernández won the 2019 gene ...

list to the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

in the City of Buenos Aires. Despite not being elected, Valdés took office on 10 December 2019 in place of

Fernando Solanas Fernando Ezequiel "Pino" Solanas (16 February 1936 – 6 November 2020) was an Argentine film director, screenwriter, and politician. His films include; '' La hora de los hornos (The Hour of the Furnaces)'' (1968), '' Tangos: el exilio de Gardel'' ...

, who never took his seat and instead became Argentina's representative before

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

. As a deputy, Valdés's position on the

legalization of abortion Abortion-rights movements, also referred to as pro-choice movements, advocate for the right to have legal access to induced abortion services including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their pre ...

was subject of much speculation by Argentine media ahead of the Chamber of Deputies vote on the Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy Bill on 11 December 2020. Despite the bill counting with support from President Alberto Fernández, Valdés's faith and his closeness to the Vatican and to Pope Francis were highlighted as potential reasons for his opposition. In an open letter, Valdés was personally asked by his son, Juan Manuel, to vote in favor of the bill. In the end, Valdés voted against the bill, becoming one of the 32 deputies out of 119 in the Frente de Todos to vote against. In 2021, Valdés caused controversy when it was revealed he had been vaccinated against

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

under improper conditions, suggesting favoritism by then-

Health Minister A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Count ...

Ginés González García Ginés González García (born 31 August 1945) is an Argentine medical doctor who served twice as the country's Ministry of Health (Argentina), Minister of Health under President Alberto Fernández, from 2019 to 2021, and under the successive pres ...

References

External links

Profile on the official website of the Chamber of Deputies
(in Spanish) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Valdés, Eduardo Living people 1959 births People from Córdoba, Argentina People from Neuquén Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Buenos Aires Members of the Buenos Aires City Legislature Ambassadors of Argentina to the Holy See Argentine Roman Catholics Justicialist Party politicians 21st-century Argentine politicians