Roberto Raúl Iglesias (born 25 February 1951) 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 ...

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) politician, a former leader of the party and formerly a deputy and governor of

Mendoza Province Mendoza, officially Province of Mendoza, is a province of Argentina, in the western central part of the country in the Cuyo region. It borders San Juan to the north, La Pampa and Neuquén to the south, San Luis to the east, and the republic o ...

. Iglesias was born in

Mendoza, Argentina Mendoza (, ), officially the City of Mendoza ( es, Ciudad de Mendoza) is the capital of the province of Mendoza in Argentina. It is located in the northern-central part of the province, in a region of foothills and high plains, on the eastern si ...

, and enrolled at the local campus of the

National Technological University The National Technological University ( es, Universidad Tecnológica Nacional, UTN) is a country-wide national university in Argentina, and considered to be among the top engineering schools in the country. Hosting over 85,000 students, its stud ...

, earning a degree in construction engineering. He was elected City Councilman in 1991, and Mayor of Mendoza, in 1995. Joining 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 ...

between the UCR and

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 ...

, he was elected Governor of

in 1999. He stepped down in 2003, being elected 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 ...

. In December 2005, Iglesias succeeded

Ángel Rozas Ángel Rozas (born 22 March 1950) is a retired Argentine politician. A member of the Radical Civic Union (UCR), Rozas was Governor of Chaco Province from 1995 to 2003, and served as a National Senator for Chaco from 2013 to 2019. Rozas was born ...

as President of the national committee of the Radical Civic Union, effectively leader of the party. In gaining the position, he took a hard-line approach against Peronist

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

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 ...

, largely opposing efforts to re-align the Radicals alongside the left-wing Kirchner. Iglesias had supported fellow UCR member,

Julio Cobos Julio César Cleto Cobos (; born 30 April 1955) is an Argentine politician who was the Vice President of Argentina in the administration of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner from 2007 to 2011. He started his political career as member of ...

, to succeed him as governor in 2003, but they subsequently fell out in a high-profile manner. Cobos became a leading supporter of President Kirchner in Radical ranks, taking a more left-wing position, and Iglesias leading the opposition to Kirchner ahead of the

2007 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2007. * Electoral calendar 2007 * Elections in 2007 * 2007 United Nations Security Council election Africa * 52nd National Conference of the African National Congress * 2007 Algerian legislative el ...

. He threatened to resign if the UCR did not deal with deputies and governors who align themselves with Kirchner. Iglesias led negotiations to find a suitable candidate for the UCR to back in the 2007 Presidential elections.

Roberto Lavagna Roberto Lavagna (born 24 March 1942) is an Argentine economist and politician who was Minister of Economy and Production from April 27, 2002 until November 28, 2005. Despite the fact that he only garnered 6% of the votes in 2019 presidential e ...

, a former minister under Kirchner who subsequently opposed his policies, appeared to be the favoured candidate for the majority of the Party. However, Iglesias eventually resigned the presidency of the party in November 2006 due to differences with Lavagna, having reached the conclusion that an alliance with him would be a mistake, and joined the camp which maintained that the party should look for its own candidate (the so-called Radicales R). On 1 December 2006 the UCR National Committee appointed

Jujuy Province Jujuy is a province of Argentina, located in the extreme northwest of the country, at the borders with Chile and Bolivia. The only neighboring Argentine province is Salta to the east and south. Geography There are three main areas in Jujuy: * ...

Senator Gerardo Morales as its new president. Morales stated that he wanted to follow the mandate of the Rosario convention (that is, looking for a possible alliance with Roberto Lavagna) and went on to become Lavagna's running mate in the presidential election of October 2007, coming third. Cobos meanwhile was elected Vice President as the running mate of

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 ...

. Iglesias stood to be governor of Mendoza once again but came fourth with less than 10% of the vote. He left the Chamber of Deputies at the same election. Iglesias has accepted the request of Morales to plan together the future of the UCR, including to consider an alliance with the centre-left and a way to accommodate those Radicals who have hitherto backed

Kirchnerism Kirchnerism ( es, Kirchnerismo ) is an Argentine political movement based on populist ideals formed by the supporters of Néstor Kirchner and his wife Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who consecutively served as Presidents of Argentina. Althou ...

in the Plural Consensus.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iglesias, Roberto 1951 births Living people Mayors of Mendoza, Argentina Governors of Mendoza Province Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Mendoza Radical Civic Union politicians People from Mendoza, Argentina Argentine people of Spanish descent Argentine civil engineers National Technological University alumni