Francisco de Narváez Steuer (born 22 September 1953 in
Bogotá
Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...
), known as El Colorado or Pancho, is a
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
n-born naturalized
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 ...
businessman, politician who ran for governor of
Buenos Aires Province
Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...
on the
Unión PRO ballot in the
2007 elections
The following elections occurred in the year 2007.
* Electoral calendar 2007
* Elections in 2007
* 2007 United Nations Security Council election
Africa
* 52nd National Conference of the African National Congress
* 2007 Algerian legislative el ...
in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
. He was a member of the
Argentine Chamber of Deputies
The Chamber of Deputies ( es, Cámara de Diputados de la Nación), officially the Honorable Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Nation, is the lower house of the Argentine National Congress ( es, Congreso de la Nación). It is made up of 257 ...
until late 2015.
Business life
De Narváez arrived in Argentina at the age of three. His father was a Colombian coffee merchant. His mother's family owned the
Almacenes Tía chain of supermarkets, started by his grandfather, Karel Steuer, in
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...
as 'Te-Ta'. Upon relocating to South America, it became a major chain. De Narváez began work there at the age of 17 years and was appointed Chief Executive in 1989, a position which he held for ten years. De Narváez eventually sold the Argentinean division of the company in 2002
for $638 million.
In 2002, his group bought 50% of
La Rural
La Rural: Agricultural and Livestock Exhibition of Argentina
''La Exposición Rural'' (in English: The Rural Exhibition), is an annual agricultural and livestock show held in the Palermo section of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The event is organ ...
, a major and historic exhibitions centre, and the additional 50% in 2005. In 2007 he bought one of Argentina's most important TV stations,
América TV
América TV (call sign LS 86 TV) is an Argentine television station broadcasting on channel 2 in La Plata, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, and one of Argentina's five national television networks. It is owned by Grupo América.
América T ...
. He owns 20% of the ''
El Cronista Comercial
''El Cronista'' (''Spanish: The Reporter'') is a daily business newspaper published in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
It was founded by Martin Giménez Antonio and first published as ''El Cronista Comercial'' on November 1, 1908. In 1989 the name wa ...
''. In 1983, de Narváez took Argentine citizenship to vote for
Raúl Alfonsín
Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín (12 March 1927 – 31 March 2009) was an Argentine lawyer and statesman who served as President of Argentina from 10 December 1983 to 8 July 1989. He was the first democratically elected president after more than ...
. His nickname in business and politics is "El Colorado", and his personal fortune has been estimated to be in excess of $500 million.
Political life
Following the
2001 crisis, he decided to enter politics and joined 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 ...
. He aided the presidential campaign of
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 ...
in
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
as a candidate for the position of
Minister of Social Development.
De Narváez ran from the political left, commenting that in office he would be a staunch welfarist.
In July 2004 he then self-financed major commemorations around Argentina to celebrate the 30th anniversary of
Peron's death.
As a
centre-right
Centre-right politics lean to the Right-wing politics, right of the Left–right politics, political spectrum, but are closer to the Centrism, centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure a ...
pro business
Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional".
Pro, PRO or variants thereof may also refer to:
People
* Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest
* Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter
* Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retired ...
politician, he supported the senatorial bid of
Hilda de Duhalde
Hilda is one of several female given names derived from the name ''Hild'', formed from Old Norse , meaning 'battle'. Hild, a Nordic-German Bellona, was a Valkyrie who conveyed fallen warriors to Valhalla. Warfare was often called Hild's Game. The ...
and sits with dissident
Peronist
Peronism, also called justicialism,. The Justicialist Party is the main Peronist party in Argentina, it derives its name from the concept of social justice., name=, group= is an Argentine political movement based on the ideas and legacy of Ar ...
s in
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
, opposed to the government of the
Kirchners. Then, he was elected as
National Deputy for
Buenos Aires Province
Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...
in 2005, the first foreigner to be elected to the Chamber.
He stood to be Governor of the Province in 2007, gaining over a million votes. Jorge Macri, cousin of
Mauricio Macri
Mauricio Macri (; born 8 February 1959) is an Argentine businessman and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 2015 to 2019. He has been the leader of the Republican Proposal (PRO) party since its founding in 2005. He previou ...
, was his running mate and their campaign was supported by Macri's party
Commitment to Change
Commitment to Change ( es, Compromiso para el Cambio) was a centre-right political party in Argentina, principally active in the City of Buenos Aires.
History
The party was led by Mauricio Macri, businessman and chairman of Boca Juniors football ...
and the
PRO
Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional".
Pro, PRO or variants thereof may also refer to:
People
* Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest
* Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter
* Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retired f ...
coalition. De Narváez mentioned to the press in November 2012 that he would be interested in forming a similar coalition in the upcoming 2013 election season as well.
In 2008 de Narváez took the side of agriculture workers against the
Argentinian government over efforts to either ban certain meat exports. He has also spoken out about the
nationalization
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
of private industry in many other areas of governance.
During his campaigns, de Narváez is known for self-financing his campaigns, using his own money to pursue his political interests.
On June 28, 2009, de Narváez defeated former president
Nestor Kirchner
Nestor may refer to:
* Nestor (mythology), King of Pylos in Greek mythology
Arts and entertainment
* "Nestor" (''Ulysses'' episode) an episode in James Joyce's novel ''Ulysses''
* Nestor Studios, first-ever motion picture studio in Hollywood, ...
in the
legislative midterm elections in the province of Buenos Aires. During the electoral campaign he took part of the humoristic TV show
Gran Cuñado
Gran Cuñado (in Spanish, "Big Brother-in-law") was a segment of the Argentine TV programs ''Videomatch'' and ''Showmatch'', hosted by Marcelo Tinelli. It consisted of a series of comedians characterized as Argentina's Politics of Argentina, most ...
, which included parodies of the most important politicians of Argentina (including De Narváez himself), and engaged with his parody in stage jokes. This act generated controversy in the media about the effects on his actual electoral performance: columnists like
Joaquín Morales Solá
Joaquín Morales Solá (born 1950) is an Argentine political journalist. Since 2003 he started working for news television channel Todo Noticias and since 1993 he became a political columnist for the conservative newspaper ''La Nación''.
Biograp ...
claim he was benefited from it, while other think that such influence was relative. Francisco de Narváez says that Gran Cuñado helped him, and that it helped to humanize the image of politicians. He also ran the campaign in Buenos Aires as part of a political alliance between himself,
Chief of Government of the City of Buenos Aires
, image = R larreta.jpg
, alt = Mayor of Buenos Aires
, incumbent = Horacio Rodríguez Larreta
, incumbentsince = 10 December 2015
, style = No courtesy, title or style
, residence = Buenos Aires ...
Mauricio Macri
Mauricio Macri (; born 8 February 1959) is an Argentine businessman and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 2015 to 2019. He has been the leader of the Republican Proposal (PRO) party since its founding in 2005. He previou ...
and former
Governor of Buenos Aires
The Governor of Buenos Aires Province ( es, Gobernador de la Provincia de Buenos Aires) is a citizen of the Buenos Aires Province of Argentina, holding the office of governor for the corresponding period. The governor is elected alongside a vic ...
Felipe Solá
Felipe Solá (born 23 July 1950) is an Argentine agricultural engineer and politician. He previously served as Governor of Buenos Aires Province, from 2002 to 2007, and as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship under President Alberto Fernánd ...
.
In 2010 de Narváez introduced a bill to the Argentinian legislature to increase the universal child allowance from 180 pesos to 250. The bill was targeted at alleviating child poverty, and to correlate the allowance with wage inflation. In 2011 de Narváez ran for office with the
UDESO as a gubernatorial candidate in the Buenos Aires province.
In October 2012 de Narváez began national calls for the formation of a new coalition to remove the majority coalition from power in Argentina, naming
Peronist dissidents, the PRO, and others as potential members of a new ruling coalition. He has been particularly critical of the national government in its handling of
civil security
Civil may refer to:
*Civic virtue, or civility
*Civil action, or lawsuit
* Civil affairs
*Civil and political rights
*Civil disobedience
*Civil engineering
*Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism
*Civilian, someone not a membe ...
and the country's problem with
crime
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...
.
Personal life
His second wife is former model Agustina Ayllón, friend of
Juliana Awada
María Juliana Awada (born 3 April 1974) is an Argentine businesswoman who served as the First Lady of Argentina from 2015 to 2019. She is the first woman in this role to have received the distinction of the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of I ...
, with whom he has three children.
Francisco de Narváez: el millonario que saltó del PJ a candidato de Macri
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Narvaez, Francisco De
1953 births
Living people
Politicians from Bogotá
Naturalized citizens of Argentina
Justicialist Party politicians
Republican Proposal politicians
Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Buenos Aires Province
Argentine businesspeople
Colombian emigrants to Argentina
Argentine people of Spanish descent
Argentine people of Czech descent
People educated at Colegio Cardenal Newman
People from Luján, Buenos Aires