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Horacio Massaccesi (born September 12, 1948) is an Argentine politician and former Governor of
Río Negro Province Río Negro (, ''Black River'') is a province of Argentina, located in northern Patagonia. Neighboring provinces are from the south clockwise Chubut, Neuquén, Mendoza, La Pampa and Buenos Aires. To the east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Its capi ...
.


Life and times


Early career

Massaccesi was born in 1948 to an
Italian Argentine Italian Argentines ( it, italo-argentini; es, ítalo-argentinos, or ''tanos'' in Rioplatense Spanish) are Italian-born people (born in Argentina or Italy) or non-Italian citizens of Italian descent residing in Argentina. Italian is the largest ...
family in Villa Regina, then a largely agricultural town on the banks of the Río Negro in Argentina's region of
Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...
. He joined the centrist Radical Civic Union (UCR) in 1974, while in law school, and on Argentina's return to democracy in 1983, Massaccesi was elected to the Provincial Legislature. Governor Osvaldo Álvarez Guerrero named him Minister of Government (similar to a Chief of Staff) in 1984, a recognition which led to his election to the Argentine Chamber of Deputies (Lower House of Congress) in 1985. Elected by a 38-35% margin over populist Justicialist Party candidate Remo Costanzo, Massaccesi became one of only two UCR Governors elected in 1987, after the popular Álvarez Guerrero was termed out of office.UCA: Panorama preelectoral
Upon taking office, Massaccesi advanced a new Provincial Constitution. Enacted in 1988, the document allowed him to run for reelection. Following Justicialist Party candidate Carlos Menem's landslide defeat of the UCR for the presidency in 1989, Massaccesi adopted a pragmatic stance towards the unpredictable Menem, distancing himself with Álvarez Guerrero. Continuing financial instability, however, led Menem's new Economy Minister,
Domingo Cavallo Domingo Felipe Cavallo (born July 21, 1946) is an Argentine economist and politician. Between 1991 and 1996 he was Economic Ministry of Argentina during Carlos Menem presidency. He is known for implementing the '' Convertibility plan'', which ...
, to retain around US$60 million in
revenue sharing Revenue sharing is the distribution of revenue, the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services among the stakeholders or contributors. It should not be confused with profit shares, in which scheme only the profit is share ...
funds derived from the
orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of ...
-rich Río Negro Province's growing export earnings. The province, which in turn owed the central bank US$100 million, found itself in circumstances not unlike most provinces in Argentina at the time.''New York Times''
/ref>


Robin Hood of patagonia

This leading to a budgetary crisis in his province and an inability to pay some 30,000 provincial employees, on July 4, 1991 Governor Massaccesi entered the
General Roca A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED O ...
branch of the public Bank of the Province of Río Negro, wherein he signed a decree authorizing the seizure of nearly US$17 million from an account held by the Central Bank of Argentina. Explaining that ''"I was told repeatedly that no help was coming. What were my options - to not pay my people?"'' Massaccesi was indicted by Justice Minister León Arslanian for
grand larceny Larceny is a crime involving the unlawful taking or theft of the personal property of another person or business. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of Engl ...
, Cavallo ordered the province's accounts frozen, and the President hinted that a conservator would be appointed in the governor's stead; ultimately, however, the wave of goodwill Massaccesi earned nationally led Menem to suspend any action against the "Robin Hood of Patagonia." By mutual agreement, the province repaid the central bank within 30 days of the event. The Governor was reelected that September by a margin of 46-27%, following which he became a conditional ally of the Menem Administration, whose free market policies were a reversal of his populist 1989 platform. He and Menem also shared a personal affinity, including an interest in
tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
and River Plate (one of Argentina's preeminent football teams).''Clarín''
Massaccesi supported the newly returned President of the UCR, former President
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 ...
, in his 1993 political overtures to the then-popular Menem. Hoping to avoid defeat in the upcoming 1995 elections, Alfonsín negotiated the Olivos Pact with Menem, by which the Argentine Constitution would be extensively amended to allow the President reelection - in return for an expansion of the Argentine Senate and other changes designed to favor the UCR.


Bid for the presidency

His popularity and staunch support for the pact earned Massaccesi Alfonsín's support for the UCR nomination, which the Governor won in 1994 by a margin of 2-to-1 over Federico Storani, a young UCR figure opposed to the changes. The low turnout in the UCR's 1994 primaries bode poorly for Argentina's oldest existing political party, however, and in 1995, Massaccesi and his running mate, Córdoba Province Congressman Antonio "La Tuta" Hernández, received 17% of the vote (placing third and dealing the UCR its worst national defeat, up to then). Termed out as Governor, Massaccesi left a province in financial straits, though he earned plaudits for his policies streamlining the bloated provincial government and for supporting new
casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...
s, for instance. The UCR retained the post and he was elected to the Argentine Senate that November, though charges pending on the 1991 "Robin Hood" incident barred him from the Senate until 1997. Massaccesi founded
Noticias de la Costa
', a Viedma newspaper, with his second wife Patricia Querejeta in 1996. Keeping a low profile in the Senate, he did not run for reelection in 2001 (a disastrous year for the UCR, which had gained the presidency in 1999 on an
Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
ticket with the center-left
Frepaso The Front for a Country in Solidarity ( or ) was a center-left political coalition in Argentina. It was formed in 1994 out of the Broad Front (''Frente Grande''), which had been founded mainly by progressive members of the Peronist Justicialist ...
).''La Nación''
Distanced from the UCR, he endorsed centrist Peronist candidate
Adolfo Rodríguez Saá Adolfo Rodríguez Saá (born 25 July 1947) is an Argentine Peronist politician. Born in a family that was highly influential in the history of the San Luis Province, he became the province's governor in 1983, after the end of the National R ...
's failed 2003 presidential bid. Rodríguez Saa, a member of the UCR's main opposition, the Justicialist Party, was Governor of nearby
San Luis Province San Luis () is a province of Argentina located near the geographical center of the country (on the 32° South parallel). Neighboring provinces are, from the north clockwise, La Rioja, Córdoba, La Pampa, Mendoza and San Juan. History The cit ...
. That year, Massaccesi published ''Haceme Senador'' (''Make Me a Senator''), a criticism of the role of the media in the political process.


Massaccesi today

The former Governor was convicted of embezzlement of public funds by a federal court in General Roca on May 6, 2005, for his seizure of the central bank funds in 1991, and given a suspended jail sentence, as well as being barred from public office. Massaccesi appealed the decision on the grounds that the ruling implied that the funds were absconded with for personal gain, when they were used in their entirety to pay public salaries (the courts have thus far denied him an appeal).''Pagina/12''
Massaccesi and his wife continue to live in Viedma, where they devote their time to their news daily, ''Noticias de la Costa''.


References and external links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Massaccesi, Horacio 1948 births Living people People from Villa Regina Argentine people of Italian descent Radical Civic Union politicians 20th-century Argentine lawyers Governors of Río Negro Province Members of the Argentine Senate for Río Negro Members of the Legislature of Río Negro Candidates for President of Argentina Argentine newspaper founders