Herminio Iglesias (20 October 1929 – 16 February 2007) was 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 and trade unionist. 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 ...

, he was

intendente An intendant (; pt, intendente ; es, intendente ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In ...

(mayor) of

Avellaneda Avellaneda (, ) is a port city in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the seat of the Avellaneda Partido, whose population was 342,677 as per the . Avellaneda is located within the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area, and is connected ...

from 1973 to 1976, and later served as a National Deputy and councilman in Avellaneda. He is perhaps most remembered for his unsuccessful gubernatorial run in

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 1983.

Youth

The son of Galician immigrants, at the age of 13, Iglesias began to work in a

factory A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. T ...

, where, at age 21, he was appointed as a union shop steward.

Political career

Henceforward a supporter of the

Peronist 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 ...

, Iglesias was elected as the

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

in the Province of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

upon

Juan Domingo Perón ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

's 1973 return from exile and subsequent

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

to his final turn at the Argentine Presidency. Aligning himself with Perón's most right-wing adviser,

José López Rega José López Rega (17 November 1916 – 9 June 1989) was an Argentine politician who served as Minister of Social Welfare from 1973 to 1975, first under Juan Perón and continuing under Isabel Perón, Juan Perón's third wife and presidential su ...

, during the internal strife that followed Perón's 1974 passing, he was dismissed from this post following the 1976

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such ...

headed by General

Jorge Videla Jorge Rafael Videla (; ; 2 August 1925 – 17 May 2013) was an Argentine military officer and dictator, Commander in Chief of the Army, member of the Military Junta, and ''de facto'' President of Argentina from 29 March 1976 to 29 March 1981. H ...

Cardboard coffin controversy

In 1983, Iglesias was the Peronist candidate for

Governor of Buenos Aires Province 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 ...

. At a "victory rally" towards the end of the election campaign, his followers approached him with a cardboard coffin with the inscription " UCR" (representing their main opposition), which he set on fire. This episode was broadcast by national TV channels. For many observers, this act was perceived by public opinion as a recall of the country's recent violent past, and was decisive in the victory of the UCR in the general elections and in his own loss to UCR gubernatorial candidate

Alejandro Armendáriz Alejandro Armendáriz (5 June 1923 – 7 August 2005) was an Argentine physician and politician. Life and times Early career Armendáriz was born in Saladillo, a pampas town in the Province of Buenos Aires, in 1923. His family relocated t ...

. After this incident, he significantly lost his political prestige while ''quemar el cajón'' became political jargon for insensitive faux pas.

Legislative branch

Between 1985 and 1989, Iglesias occupied a seat in 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 ...

. In the 1990s, he was a

Councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

in the Municipality of Avellaneda. He lived his final years largely in seclusion, partly because of his health problems.

References

1929 births 2007 deaths Mayors of Avellaneda People from Buenos Aires Argentine people of Galician descent Justicialist Party politicians Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Buenos Aires Province {{Argentina-politician-stub