Josefina Mendoza (born 16 May 1992) 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 who was a National Deputy from 2017 to 2021, elected 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 ...

. She is a member of the

Radical Civic Union The Radical Civic Union ( es, Unión Cívica Radical, UCR) is a centrist and social-liberal political party in Argentina. It has been ideologically heterogeneous, ranging from social liberalism to social democracy. The UCR is a member of the So ...

(UCR). Mendoza made a career in student politics as part of '' Franja Morada'', the UCR's student wing. In 2016, she was elected president of the

Argentine University Federation The Argentine University Federation ( es, Federación Universitaria Argentina; FUA) is the most important student organization in Argentina. The FUA was created on April 11, 1918 within the University Reform student movement originated in Córdob ...

Early life and education

Mendoza was born on 16 May 1992 in Daireaux, a small town in South-western

. She finished high school at Escuela Agrotécnica Salesiana "Carlos Casares", and then went on to study International Relations at the National University of Central Buenos Aires (UNICEN), in

Tandil Tandil is the main city of the homonymous Partidos of Buenos Aires, partido (department), located in Argentina, in the southeast of Buenos Aires Province, just north-northwest of Tandilia hills. The city was founded in 1823 and its name originate ...

. She has one child. Mendoza became active in student politics as part of ''Franja Morada'', the student wing of the

. She was a member of the UNICEN student council from 2012 to 2014, and was a candidate to president of the student union in 2013.

Political career

In 2014, Mendoza was elected vice-president of the

(FUA). Two years later, in 2016, she was elected president of the FUA. In 2017, Mendoza rose to prominence due to her spat with union leader Roberto Baradel over a teachers' strike organized by Baradel's union, SUTEBA. Mendoza 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 ...

in the 2017 legislative election, as the tenth candidate in the

Cambiemos ( en, Together for Change) is a centre-right political coalition in Argentina. It was created in 2015 as Cambiemos ( en, Let's Change), and renamed in 2019. It is composed of Republican Proposal, Radical Civic Union, Civic Coalition ARI and ...

list in

. The list was the most voted in the general election with 42.15% of the vote, and Mendoza was elected. Upon being elected, she became the youngest-ever female deputy in the history of the Argentine Congress. As a national deputy, Mendoza formed part of the parliamentary commissions on Education, Natural Resources and Conservation, Sports, Cooperative Affairs, Disabilities, Women and Diversity, Modernization of Parliamentary Procedure, and Culture. She was a vocal supporter of the

legalization of abortion Abortion-rights movements, also referred to as Pro-choice (term), pro-choice movements, advocate for the right to have Abortion law, legal access to induced abortion services including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support wome ...

in Argentina, voting in favour of the two Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy bills that were debated by the Argentine Congress in 2018 and 2020. Ahead of the 2021 primary election, Mendoza was confirmed as one of the candidates in the "Dar el Paso" list in Buenos Aires Province. The Dar el Paso list lost in the Juntos por el Cambio primaries, and she was relegated to the 24th place in the Juntos por el Cambio list that competed in the general election. With 39.77% of the vote, the list did not receive enough votes for Mendoza to make it past the D'Hondt cut, and so she was not re-elected. Her term expired on 9 December 2021.

References

External links

Profile on the official website of the Chamber of Deputies
(in Spanish) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mendoza, Josefina Living people 1992 births Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Buenos Aires Province Women members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies People from Daireaux Partido Radical Civic Union politicians 21st-century Argentine politicians 21st-century Argentine women politicians