Juan Emilio Ameri (born 25 May 1973) 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 ...

retired politician, who was a National Deputy representing

Salta Province Salta () is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the east clockwise Formosa, Chaco, Santiago del Estero, Tucumán and Catamarca. It also surrounds Jujuy. To the north it borders Boliv ...

from 2019 to 2020. A member of the

Victory Party ''Victory Party'' is the sixth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Geoff Berner, released March 8, 2011 on Mint Records. The album is influenced by the Eastern European klezmer tradition, as well as elements of Punk rock, punk and Folk mu ...

, Ameri assumed office on 12 December 2019 to fill in the vacancy left by Sergio Leavy. Ameri was expelled from Congress in September 2020 following a sex scandal during a live parliamentary commission meeting.

Early and personal

Ameri was born on 25 May 1973 in

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 ...

, son of Oscar Ameri and Lidia Beatriz Romero. During the 1990s, Ameri was a member of the

Club Atlético River Plate Club Atlético River Plate, commonly known as River Plate, is an Argentine professional sports club based in the Núñez, Buenos Aires, Núñez neighborhood of Buenos Aires. Founded in 1901, the club is named after the English name for the city ...

barra brava ''Barra brava'' () is the name of organized supporters' groups of football teams in Latin America, analogous to British hooligans in providing fanatical support to their clubs in stadiums and provoking violence against rival fans as well as a ...

''. Ameri found employment in the club's administrative offices following an incident in 2001 in which Ameri lost an eye during clashes with the police. He moved to Salta in 2010, and worked as a private security agent. In Salta, Ameri married a

politician, Alejandra Escudero. Ameri and Escudero had three daughters, Constanza, Evita and Malvina.

Political career

Ameri's political career began in El Aguante, an organization within the

led by his wife, Alejandra Escudero. In 2013, he became an employee at the provincial government of Salta during the administration of

Juan Manuel Urtubey Juan Manuel Urtubey (born September 6, 1969) is an Argentine politician, lawyer, university professor and former governor of Salta Province. Formerly a senior figure in the ruling Front for Victory faction of the Justicialist Party (PJ) in the ...

. That year, he ran for a seat in the Salta City Council as part of the El Aguante list in the Victory Party primary elections, losing against the lists of Abel Moya and Mario Moreno. He would run again, with a similarly unsuccessful result, in 2015. In the 2017 legislative election, Ameri was the third candidate in the Frente Ciudadano para la Victoria list to 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 ...

, behind Sergio Leavy and Nora Giménez. The list came third in the general election, with 23.24% of the vote, and only Leavy was elected to the Chamber. In the 2019 election, both Leavy and Giménez were elected to the

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

, and Ameri was called to in to fill Leavy's vacancy. He was sworn in on 18 December 2019.

Controversies and scandal

Before taking office as deputy, Ameri had been subject to accusations of abuse, violence and harassment by fellow members of the Victory Party. On 24 September 2020, during a remote session of a parliamentary commission debating provincial debt renegotiation, Ameri was inadvertently caught on camera kissing a woman's (later identified as his girlfriend) breast. The act was livestreamed on the Chamber of Deputies' TV and YouTube channel. As soon as other lawmakers called on Ameri's attention, he apologized and stated he was unaware his camera was still on. Within an hour, the Chamber unanimously resolved to suspend Ameri. He would later be forced to resign from his seat. The scandal was widely condemned by politicians and parties from the Opposition and from the governing coalition. The national president of the Victory Party, Diana Conti, called on the Salta chapter to expel Ameri from the party. Senators Leavy and Giménez, both from the Salta Victory Party, also repudiated Ameri. Ameri was succeeded in his seat by Alcira Figueroa.

References

External links

Profile on the official website of the Chamber of Deputies
(in Spanish, archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ameri, Juan Emilio Living people 1973 births Politicians from Buenos Aires People from Salta Province Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Salta 21st-century Argentine politicians Victory Party (Argentina) politicians