Luis Antonio Hierro López (born June 6, 1947) is a

Uruguay 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 ...

an politician and diplomat who served as the 13th

vice president of Uruguay The vice president of Uruguay is the person with the second highest position in the executive branch of the Uruguayan government, after the President of Uruguay. The Vice President replaces the elected President in case of his death or absence. The ...

from 2000 to 2005 under

Jorge Batlle Jorge Luis Batlle Ibáñez (; ''Batlle'' locally or ; 25 October 1927 – 24 October 2016) was a Uruguayan politician and lawyer, and a member of the Colorado Party. He served as the President of Uruguay from 2000 to 2005. Dr. Jorge Batlle b ...

. Born into a political family, his father was Luis Hierro Gambardella, former Minister of Education and Culture and Parliamentarian, while his grandfather, Luis Hierro Rivera, was National Representative. Member of the Colorado Party, Hierro López served as National Representative, Senator and as Ministry of the Interior. He also served as President of the Chamber of Representatives the fifth session of the 42nd Legislature. In November 2020, he was approved by the Senate as Ambassador of Uruguay to the

Republic of Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

, and on March 22, 2021 he delivered the credentials to President

Francisco Sagasti Francisco Rafael Sagasti Hochhausler OSP ( (); born 10 October 1944) is a Peruvian engineer, academic, and author who served as the President of Peru from November 2020 to July 2021. Sagasti has worked as an advisor for economic development a ...

Vice President of Uruguay

Hierro López was

Vice President of Uruguay The vice president of Uruguay is the person with the second highest position in the executive branch of the Uruguayan government, after the President of Uruguay. The Vice President replaces the elected President in case of his death or absence. The ...

from 2000 to 2005, under the

Presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

. Hierro was the thirteenth person to hold the office, which dates from 1934, when

Alfredo Navarro Alfredo Navarro (4 May 1868 – 17 May 1951) was a Uruguayan political figure. Background Navarro was a prominent member of the Colorado party in the 1930s. He was a noted medical doctor. Vice President of Uruguay Navarro served as Vice Pres ...

became the inaugural holder.

Subsequent events

He was succeeded in 2005 as Vice President by

Rodolfo Nin Novoa Rodolfo Nin Novoa (born 25 January 1948) is a Uruguayan politician who served as the 14th vice president of Uruguay from 2005 to 2010. He also served as Minister of Foreign Relations of Uruguay from 2015 to 2020 under Tabaré Vázquez. A membe ...

. While among the more experienced members of the Colorado Party to have held office, Hierro López has been somewhat eclipsed within the party by the activities of

Pedro Bordaberry Juan Pedro Bordaberry Herrán (born 28 April 1960) is a Uruguayan attorney, lecturer and politician, who served as a Senator of the Republic from 2010 to 2020, as Minister of Tourism and Sports from 2003 to 2005, and as Minister of Industry, Ene ...

Herrán, whose 'Vamos Uruguay' grouping (see: Pedro Bordaberry#Formation of Vamos Uruguay) has drawn supporters away from older, more traditional figures such as Hierro López. Both of them are candidates for the Presidency for the Colorado Party in the next elections in 2009, but polls in late 2008, assumed to be broadly accurate, showed Bordaberry as the runaway favourite for the nomination, with Hierro trailing badly. Hierro has also suffered the loss of personal support from among former close party colleagues, including Ope Pasquet Iribarne, who in 2007 endorsed

's 'Vamos Uruguay' grouping.

Resignation of Interior minister Tourné

In June 2009 Interior Minister Daisy Tourné, of the Broad Front Alliance, made a speech in which she referred to Hierro López as a 'donkey' and to former President

Luis Alberto Lacalle Luis Alberto Lacalle de Herrera, GCMG (; ''Lacalle'' locally or ; born 13 July 1941), is a Uruguayan politician and lawyer who served as President of Uruguay from 1990 to 1995. Background His mother, María Hortensia de Herrera de Lacalle, ...

de Herrera in terms widely regarded as obscenely indiscreet. The Minister's resignation followed the controversy which ensued.

Hierro provokes election tensions within the Colorado party

In an effort to bolster his candidacy, in June 2009 Hierro publicly attempted to discredit fellow candidate

Herrán by suggesting that his surname was a hindrance to his bid for office; in a muted response, Bordaberry - a former government colleague of his - wished him well and recalled that Hierro himself had campaigned for him during municipal elections some years previously.'La República', 16 June 2009
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