Gloria Rudi Rodríguez Santo (born 26 October 1960) is a

Uruguayan Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

journalist, civil servant, activist and politician of the National Party (PN), serving as

Senator of the Republic A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

since 15 February 2020. The first Afro-Uruguayan woman to hold a senatorial seat, she is fourth in the line of presidential succession.

Biography

Gloria Rodríguez was born in 1960 in Melo, Cerro Largo Department. Her father, was a policeman, and her mother, a domestic worker. Her parents knew Jorge Silveira Zabala, a leader of the National Party in Cerro Largo, who was the one who transmitted the ideology to her. In 1991, after divorcing, she moved to

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

with her children and great-grandmother. She settled in the ''

barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city, usually delimited by functional (e.g. residenti ...

Malvín Norte Malvín Norte is a ''barrio'' (neighbourhood or district) located in north eastern part of Montevideo, Uruguay. Location This barrio shares borders with Unión to the west, Maroñas to the north, Las Canteras to the east, Malvín and Buceo to the ...

. She worked as a secretary at the Colegio María Auxiliadora, as a shop assistant and as an official of the Ministry of Transport and Public Works, and the

Ministry of Education and Culture The Ministry of Education and Culture is a Cabinet position in the governments of several nations. In some nations the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Culture are separate departments; in others, the Ministry of Education and Culture als ...

. She studied journalism at the Professional Institute of Journalism Teaching (IPEP).

Political career and activism

Rodríguez began her militancy in the 90s, distributing ballots from List 71, of the Herrerism faction of the National Party in Malvín Norte. During the

2002 Uruguay banking crisis The Uruguay banking crisis was a major banking crisis that hit Uruguay in July 2002. In this, a massive run on banks by depositors (most of them from neighboring Argentina) caused the government to freeze banking operations. The crisis was caused b ...

, she set up a community soup kitchen, which fed 70 children in the area. Since then she has been dedicated to community work in slums. She participated in the 2014 general election as a member of ''Todos'', a faction led by

Luis Lacalle Pou Luis Alberto Aparicio Alejandro Lacalle Pou (; ''Luis Lacalle'' locally or ; born 10 August 1973) is a Uruguayan politician and lawyer serving as President of Uruguay since 1 March 2020. Son of former president Luis Alberto Lacalle, Lacalle ...

. She ran for a seat in 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 ...

, being elected National Representative for the 48th Legislature. She took office on February 15, 2015, becoming the first

Afro-Uruguayan Afro-Uruguayans are Uruguayans of predominantly African descent. The majority of Afro-Uruguayans are in Montevideo. History For most of the colonial period, the port of Buenos Aires (see Afro-Argentines) served as the exclusive entry point for e ...

woman to hold a seat in the lower house of the

General Assembly of Uruguay The General Assembly of Uruguay ( es, Asamblea General de Uruguay) is the legislative branch of the government of Uruguay, and consists of two chambers: the Chamber of Senators and the Chamber of Representatives. General Assembly has 130 voting ...

. In the 2019 election, she was elected Senator for the 49th Legislature. Thus she became the first Afro-Uruguayan woman to hold a senatorial seat in Uruguay. She stated "we have to work a lot so that the fact that a black woman reaches Parliament does not surprise anyone".

References

External links

Gloria Rodríguez's virtual office
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez Santo, Gloria Living people 1960 births Uruguayan journalists Uruguayan women journalists Members of the Chamber of Representatives of Uruguay Members of the Senate of Uruguay National Party (Uruguay) politicians Uruguayan activists Uruguayan women activists Uruguayan civil servants Uruguayan women civil servants People from Melo, Uruguay 21st-century Uruguayan women politicians 21st-century Uruguayan politicians