Martín Buzzi (born March 6, 1967) is an Argentine political scientist and politician elected Governor of

Chubut Province Chubut ( es, Provincia del Chubut, ; cy, Talaith Chubut) is a province in southern Argentina, situated between the 42nd parallel south (the border with Río Negro Province), the 46th parallel south (bordering Santa Cruz Province), the Andes ra ...

in 2011.

Life and times

Martín Buzzi was born in

Comodoro Rivadavia Comodoro Rivadavia () is a city in the Patagonian province of Chubut in southern Argentina, located on the San Jorge Gulf, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, at the foot of the Chenque Hill. Comodoro Rivadavia is the most important city of the San ...

in 1967. A third-generation

native, he enrolled at the

National University of Patagonia San Juan Bosco The National University of the Patagonia San Juan Bosco (Spanish: ''Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco'') is a higher education establishment in Patagonia, southern Argentina. It was created on February 25, 1980, by law 22.713, ...

and earned a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

. Following graduation, he joined the Institute of Public Policy at the National Academy of Sciences in 1991, and served as an adviser to a local oil industry executive, Cristóbal López. He and his wife, Carolina, have two sons. He published his first textbook, ''On the Theory of Regions in Argentina'', in 1993, and in 1994, entered public service as Director of Planning for his native Comodoro Rivadavia. Buzzi authored a textbook on the study of German social scientist

Max Weber Maximilian Karl Emil Weber (; ; 21 April 186414 June 1920) was a German sociologist, historian, jurist and political economist, who is regarded as among the most important theorists of the development of modern Western society. His ideas profo ...

in 1994, and was named Professor of Political Science at his alma mater between 1995 and 2003. He served in a number of local business

advocacy group Advocacy groups, also known as interest groups, special interest groups, lobbying groups or pressure groups use various forms of advocacy in order to influence public opinion and ultimately policy. They play an important role in the developm ...

s, and became Vice President of the Institute for the Regional Development 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 gl ...

. A term as Director of the Municipal Employment and Production Bureau was followed in December 2003 by his appointment as Provincial Minister of Production by the newly elected Governor, Mario Das Neves; Das Neves appointed him Minister of Foreign Trade, Tourism, and Investment in February 2007. He resigned in July, and ran successfully for the post of Mayor of Comodoro Rivadavia on 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 ...

ticket. Buzzi maintained a low profile as mayor, during which tenure he also avoided aligning himself too visibly with any one faction of the traditionally fractious

Peronist Peronism, also called justicialism,. The Justicialist Party is the main Peronist party in Argentina, it derives its name from the concept of social justice., name=, group= is an Argentine political movement based on the ideas and legacy of Ar ...

movement. He thus earned the governor's trust, and in 2011, was nominated as his party's candidate for Governor to succeed Das Neves. The race attracted three strong candidates:

Puerto Madryn Puerto Madryn (; cy, Porth Madryn), also known as ''Madryn'', is a city in the province of Chubut in Argentine Patagonia. It is the capital of the Viedma Department, and has about 93,995 inhabitants according to the last census in 2010. Puer ...

Mayor Carlos Eliceche (

Front for Victory The Front for Victory ( es, Frente para la Victoria, FPV) was a centre-left Peronist electoral alliance in Argentina, and is formally a faction of the Justicialist Party. Former presidents Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner wer ...

Rada Tilly Rada Tilly is a town in Escalante Department, Chubut Province (Patagonia), Argentina. The town is between Punta Piedras hill to the north and Punta del Marqués to the south. Punta del Marqués, a geographical landmark on San Jorge Gulf, reaches ...

Mayor Pedro Peralta (

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 ...

), and Buzzi; another city mayor, Gustavo MacCarthy of

Trelew Trelew (, from cy, tref "town" and the name of the founder, Lewis Jones) is a city in the eastern part of the Chubut Province of Argentina. Located in Patagonia, the city is the largest and most populous in the low valley of the Chubut River, wit ...

, was nominated as Buzzi's running-mate. The

elections 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 operate ...

, held on March 20, yielded inconclusive results, however, as Buzzi's total of 37.8% (against Eliceche's 37.2%), and his winning margin of 1,551 votes led to a

recount An election recount is a repeat tabulation of votes cast in an election that is used to determine the correctness of an initial count. Recounts will often take place if the initial vote tally during an election is extremely close. Election reco ...

when irregularities triggered a judicial

injunction An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in pa ...

against results in six precincts totaling 1,967 votes. A protracted recount process followed, as well a court-ordered re-vote held on May 29 in the six impugned precincts. Buzzi, albeit with a narrowed lead of 384 votes, was officially elected Governor of Chubut.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buzzi, Martin 1967 births Living people People from Comodoro Rivadavia Justicialist Party politicians Argentine political scientists Mayors of places in Argentina National University of Patagonia San Juan Bosco alumni