Nilda Celia Garré (born November 3, 1945) is an Argentine
lawyer
A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...
,
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
, and
diplomat
A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...
. She was
Minister of Defense
A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...
during the presidency of the late
Nestor Kirchner
Nestor may refer to:
* Nestor (mythology), King of Pylos in Greek mythology
Arts and entertainment
* "Nestor" (''Ulysses'' episode) an episode in James Joyce's novel ''Ulysses''
* Nestor Studios, first-ever motion picture studio in Hollywood, ...
and remained in this position, and as
Minister of Security, under President
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (; born 19 February 1953), often referred to by her initials CFK, is an Argentine lawyer and politician who has served as the Vice President of Argentina since 2019. She also served as the President ...
. She was the first woman in her country's history to serve in either office. She also served as the Argentine Representative to the
OAS
OAS or Oas may refer to:
Chemistry
* O-Acetylserine, amino-acid involved in cysteine synthesis
Computers
* Open-Architecture-System, the main user interface of Wersi musical keyboards
* OpenAPI Specification (originally Swagger Specification) ...
. She served numerous terms as a member of 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 ...
, the latest one from 2015 to 2019.
Early life and career
Garré was born in the
San Telmo
San Telmo ("Saint Pedro González Telmo") is the oldest ''barrio'' (neighborhood) of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is a well-preserved area of the Argentine metropolis and is characterized by its colonial buildings. Cafes, tango parlors and antique ...
''
barrio
''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city, usually delimited by functional (e.g. residenti ...
'' of
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 ...
, and earned a
law degree
A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers. But while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not confer a license themselves. A legal license is gra ...
from the
Universidad del Salvador
The Universidad del Salvador (USAL) is a Jesuit university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In addition to its campus in downtown Buenos Aires, it has instructional and research facilities in Pilar, San Miguel, Bahía Blanca, and in the provinces of ...
when she was 22 years old. Her father, Raúl Garré, was a
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 ...
member of the
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 ...
Chamber of Deputies until the
1955 coup against President
Juan Perón
Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine Army general and politician. After serving in several government positions, including Minister of Labour and Vice President of a military dictatorship, he was elected P ...
in 1955.
Elected in the
March 1973 Peronist landslide, Garré became the youngest woman elected to Congress in Argentina to that date, and was among those on the flight that returned Perón to Argentina.
She married
Juan Manuel Abal Medina
Juan Manuel Abal Medina (born March 1, 1945) is an Argentine journalist and politician who served as Secretary General of the Peronist Movement between 1972 and 1974. He later became a prominent lawyer in Mexico.
Early life and entry into polit ...
, who then was the
Secretary-General
Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...
of 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 ...
, in 1973.
Legislative career
Following Perón's break with his party's left wing, Garré was among a group eight left-wing Peronists expelled from the Justicialist Party caucus in the Lower House in January 1974. She remained in Congress until its dissolution by the
military dictatorship
A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer.
The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...
installed during the
March 1976 coup
March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of Marc ...
. Informed, as were most lawmakers, that leftist elected officials would be targeted for imprisonment or assassination, she sought refuge with her husband at the Mexican Embassy, where Abal Medina remained for the next six years. She later joined the
Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS), a
legal aid
Legal aid is the provision of assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. Legal aid is regarded as central in providing access to justice by ensuring equality before the law, the right to co ...
foundation established in 1979 to defend the human rights of those targeted by the dictatorship and request
habeas corpus
''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...
for these
political prisoners
A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention.
There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although nu ...
.
Obtaining safe conduct in 1982, Abal Medina sought exile in
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
and, after this separation, the couple were finally divorced.
Garré became an ally of
Catamarca Province
Catamarca () is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. The province had a population of 334,568 as per the , and covers an area of 102,602 km2. Its literacy rate is 95.5%. Neighbouring provinces are (clockwise, fr ...
Senator
Vicente Saadi
Vicente Leonidas Saadi (1913 – 10 July 1988) was an Argentine Justicialist Party politician. He was a senator and governor for Catamarca Province, and became the patriarch of a family that has dominated Catamarca politics since the 1940 ...
and of Peronist Renewal leader
Antonio Cafiero
Antonio Francisco Cafiero (12 September 1922 – 13 October 2014) was an Argentine Justicialist Party politician. Cafiero held a number of important posts throughout his career, including, most notably, the governorship of Buenos Aires Province f ...
upon the return of democracy in
elections in 1983. She was given a post in a National Automobile Registry office, but reentered politics after President
Carlos Menem
Carlos Saúl Menem (2 July 1930 – 14 February 2021) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. Ideologically, he identified as a Peronist and supported economically liberal policies. H ...
's turn to the right during the early 1990s. She joined
Chacho Álvarez Carlos Alvarez may refer to:
Politics
*Carlos Álvarez (American politician) (born c. 1950), former mayor of Miami-Dade County
*Carlos Álvarez (Argentine politician) (born 1948), Argentine politician and former vice-president
Sports Associati ...
's leftist ''
Frente Grande
The Broad Front ( es, Frente Grande, FG) is a centre-left peronist political party in Argentina most prominent in the 1990s. The party is currently part of the ruling Frente de Todos coalition supporting the 2019 Argentine presidential candida ...
'' (Broad Front) in 1993, and was returned to the Chamber of Deputies in 1995 on the
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 ...
list formed by the Broad Front and other progressive parties.
[ She was named Deputy Interior Minister by Minister Federico Storani in October 2000. The government of President ]Fernando de la Rúa
Fernando de la Rúa (15 September 19379 July 2019) was an Argentine politician and a member of the Radical Civic Union (UCR) political party who served as President of Argentina from 10 December 1999 to 21 December 2001. De la Rúa was born in ...
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 ...
, which was backed by FrePaSo in 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 ...
, was in crisis, however, and Garré resigned in protest over the appointment of conservative economist Ricardo López Murphy
Ricardo Hipólito López Murphy (born 10 August 1951) is an Argentine economist, academic and politician. He served as Minister of Defense and Minister of Economy during the presidency of Fernando de la Rúa. His time at the helm of the econom ...
as Minister of Economy of Argentina
The Ministry of Economy ( es, Ministerio de Economía) of Argentina is the country's state treasury and a ministry of the national executive power that manages economic policy.
The Ministry of Economy is one of the oldest ministries in the Arge ...
in March 2001.[
She returned to 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 2001, serving until 2005. Garré served briefly as Ambassador to Venezuela in 2005, and helped organize demonstrations led by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician who was president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013, except for a brief period in 2002. Chávez was also leader of the Fifth Republ ...
at the 4th Summit of the Americas
The 4th Summit of the Americas was held at Mar del Plata, about southeast of Buenos Aires in Argentina, on November 4–5, 2005.
This summit gathered together the leaders of all the countries of the American continent, except Cuba. Major se ...
against U.S. President George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
and the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas
The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) was a proposed agreement to eliminate or reduce the trade barriers among all countries in the Americas, excluding Cuba. Negotiations to establish the FTAA ended in failure, however, with all parties unab ...
.
Minister of defense and security
Garré was recalled to join the government of President Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Carlos Kirchner (; 25 February 195027 October 2010) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 2003 to 2007, Governor of Santa Cruz Province from 1991 to 2003, Secretary General of UNASUR and ...
as Defense Minister
A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...
in November, becoming the first woman to hold that post in Argentina. She implemented numerous significant changes during her tenure, including policies promoting jointness
Jointness is a neologism coined by the United States Armed Forces to describe cross-service cooperation in all stages of the military processes, from research, through procurement and into operations. Today, it is accepted by many advanced militari ...
(in the Argentine vernacular, ''conjuntez'') within the Argentine Armed Forces
The Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, in es, Fuerzas Armadas de la República Argentina, are controlled by the Commander-in-Chief (the President) and a civilian Minister of Defense. In addition to the Army, Navy and Air Force, there are ...
and those emphasizing civilian leadership in national defense matters; until then each one of the armed forces had had a virtual autonomy on budget, procurement, organization and deployment.
Garré was named to head the powerful new Ministry of Security, established in December 2010 by President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (; born 19 February 1953), often referred to by her initials CFK, is an Argentine lawyer and politician who has served as the Vice President of Argentina since 2019. She also served as the President ...
. The distribution of the '' Clarín'' and ''La Nación
''La Nación'' () is an Argentine daily newspaper. As the country's leading conservative newspaper, ''La Nación''s main competitor is the more liberal '' Clarín''. It is regarded as a newspaper of record for Argentina.
Its motto is: "''La Nac ...
'' newspapers was blocked on March 27, 2011, and, according to one of these newspapers, the police did not act to prevent or stop this; the Argentine Federal Police
The Argentine Federal Police ( es, Policía Federal Argentina or PFA) is the national civil police force of the Argentine federal government. The PFA has detachments throughout the country. Until January 1, 2017, it also acted as the local la ...
operates under the aegis of the new Security Ministry. This was not the first time this had happened, and the government had already been enjoined by the judiciary to prevent further blockades. 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 ...
(the largest party in opposition in the Argentine Senate
The Honorable Senate of the Argentine Nation ( es, Honorable Senado de la Nación Argentina) is the upper house of the National Congress of Argentina.
Overview
The National Senate was established by the Argentine Confederation on July 29, 185 ...
) proposed Garré's impeachment
Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements.
In ...
following this incident, albeit unsuccessfully. Garré has also reaped criticism by officials in Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri
Mauricio Macri (; born 8 February 1959) is an Argentine businessman and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 2015 to 2019. He has been the leader of the Republican Proposal (PRO) party since its founding in 2005. He previou ...
's administration for her decision to withdraw Federal Police officers from the city's hospitals, schools, subway stations, and other public places.
Her successor at the Defense Ministry, Arturo Puricelli, was nominated by the president on May 30, 2013 to succeed her as Security Minister; she in turn was nominated as Argentine Representative to the Organization of American States
The Organization of American States (OAS; es, Organización de los Estados Americanos, pt, Organização dos Estados Americanos, french: Organisation des États américains; ''OEA'') is an international organization that was founded on 30 April ...
. She resigned in 2015, when she was elected deputy for the Argentine Congress.
Garré is one of numerous South American women who, around 2005, assumed leadership positions traditionally held by men. This group includes Chilean President Michelle Bachelet
Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria (; born 29 September 1951) is a Chilean politician who served as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2018 to 2022. She previously served as President of Chile from 2006 to 2010 and 2014 to 201 ...
and Garré's compatriot, Felisa Miceli, who served as Minister of Economy. This would later include Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff
Dilma Vana Rousseff (; born 14 December 1947) is a Brazilian economist and politician who served as the 36th president of Brazil, holding the position from 2011 until her impeachment and removal from office on 31 August 2016. She is the first w ...
and Argentine President Fernández de Kirchner.
References
External links
Ministerio de Seguridad
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garre, Nilda
1945 births
Living people
People from Buenos Aires
Argentine people of French descent
20th-century Argentine lawyers
Front for a Country in Solidarity politicians
Justicialist Party politicians
Defense ministers of Argentina
Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Buenos Aires
Women members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies
Montoneros
Ambassadors of Argentina to Venezuela
Broad Front (Argentina) politicians
Female defence ministers
Argentine women lawyers
Women government ministers of Argentina
Argentine women ambassadors