Sergio Edgardo Acevedo (born 1 May 1956) is an Argentine Justicialist Party politician, formerly a provincial governor and secretary in the national government.

Life and times

Born in

Esquel Esquel is a town in the northwest of Chubut Province in Argentine Patagonia. It is located in Futaleufú Department, of which it is the government seat. The town's name derives from one of two Tehuelche words: one meaning "marsh" and the other ...

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 rang ...

, Acevedo moved to

Pico Truncado Pico Truncado is a town and municipality in Santa Cruz Province in southern Argentina. In 1921, the village's railway station was the site of one of the few open engagements between the Argentine Army and anarchist strikers at the time of the e ...

in 1958. He became a lawyer and married, having three children. He was elected mayor of Pico Truncando in 1983, serving until 1987 when he became a provincial deputy. In 1991 he returned to be mayor. From 1995 to 1999, Acevedo was a national deputy, and became vice-governor of Santa Cruz Province under then-governor

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 ...

. In 2001 he was elected once again to Congress. Acevedo was appointed Secretary of Intelligence by President

Eduardo Duhalde Eduardo Alberto Duhalde (; born 5 October 1941) is an Argentine Peronist politician who served as the interim President of Argentina from January 2002 to May 2003. He also served as Vice President and Governor of Buenos Aires in the 1990s. B ...

, serving from 2002 to mid-2003. He was confirmed by President Néstor Kirchner, but later resigned to take up the post of

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of Santa Cruz Province, swapping positions with

Héctor Icazuriaga Héctor Icazuriaga (born 9 January 1955) is the former Secretary of Intelligence of Argentina who served from 2004 until 2014. Icazuriaga was born in Chivilcoy, Buenos Aires Province to Basque Argentine parents (his Basque descent inspired his ...

. He was elected with almost 75% of the popular vote. Acevedo resigned as governor in March 2006 citing personal reasons. However, his resignation came after clashes with the national government and amid controversy over police brutality in repressing the Las Heras riot and a corruption scandal involving the family of President Kirchner. The President had himself been governor of Santa Cruz and there had been allegations that public contracts were granted based on bribes and kick-backs. Members of his family held senior positions and Acevedo retained Carlos Kirchner as his provincial minister of works. He was prevented from sacking Carlos Kirchner, allegedly due to interference from

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 ...

. A judge, the President's nephew, declined to continue the investigation and Acevedo was replaced by Carlos Sancho, vice-governor and employer of the President's son. It was widely speculated at the time that Acevedo resigned due to Presidential interference, in particular with oil and privatisation policy, and he has subsequently become a vocal, if equivocal, opponent of his former mentor and patron. He has set up a political faction, the Santa Cruz Coalition (''Convocatoria Santacruceña''), gathering together Peronists and others opposed to the

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 we ...

of Kirchner and

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 o ...

. Several provincial deputies and former provincial ministers joined the team. Following his reappearance on the political scene, there was speculation that Acevedo would run as running mate to

Elisa Carrió Elisa María Avelina "Lilita" Carrió (born 26 December 1956) is an Argentine lawyer, professor, and politician. She is the leader of Civic Coalition ARI, one of the founders of Cambiemos, and was National Deputy for Chaco Province and Buenos A ...

Adolfo Rodríguez Saá Adolfo Rodríguez Saá (born 25 July 1947) is an Argentine Peronist politician. Born in a family that was highly influential in the history of the San Luis Province, he became the province's governor in 1983, after the end of the National R ...

in the 2007 Presidential elections, but he ruled himself out at an early stage.''Clarín''
/ref> His coalition, by now called 'New Movement' (''Nuevo Movimiento'') backed UCR Eduardo Costa for Governor of Santa Cruz, who was defeated by Kirchner's candidate Daniel Peralta in 2007, although the different opposition parties within the Change to Grow coalition fell out over the placings on the regional list for national deputies in the election. Nevertheless, Acevedo's team largely collaborated with opposition forces in municipal and provincial elections across Santa Cruz.

Life and times

References

See also