Sergio Raúl Ziliotto (born 24 September 1962) is an Argentine Justicialist Party politician who is currently

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 La Pampa Province, since 10 December 2019. Previously, from 2015 to 2019, he was a National Deputy for La Pampa.

Early life and education

Sergio Raúl Ziliotto was born on 24 September 1962 in

General Pico General Pico is a city located in the northeast of La Pampa Province, Argentina. It is located at above sea level and inside the region of the ''Pampa Húmeda Llana'' (Flat-Humid Pampas). It has a surface area of . With a population of 53,352 ( ...

, La Pampa Province. His father, son of immigrants, was a policeman, and also worked as a trucker. He moved to the provincial capital,

Santa Rosa Santa Rosa is the Italian, Portuguese and Spanish name for Saint Rose. Santa Rosa may also refer to: Places Argentina *Santa Rosa, Mendoza, a city * Santa Rosa, Tinogasta, Catamarca * Santa Rosa, Valle Viejo, Catamarca * Santa Rosa, La Pampa * S ...

, to enroll at the

National University of La Pampa The National University of La Pampa ( es, Universidad Nacional de La Pampa, UNLPAM) is an Argentine national university, situated in the city of Santa Rosa, capital of La Pampa Province La Pampa () is a sparsely populated province of Argentina ...

(UNLPam). It was there that he began his political activism in the local chapter of the

Peronist Youth 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 ...

Political career

Ziliotto was appointed director of transport by then-governor

Rubén Marín Rubén Hugo Marín (born May 1, 1934) is a former Argentine Senator for La Pampa Province. He was also a governor of the province on two occasions. Marín, a lawyer by profession, is a member of the Argentine Justicialist Party. Born in Trenel, M ...

in 1991. Under the governorship of

Carlos Verna Carlos Alberto Verna (born 8 May 1946) is an Argentine Justicialist Party (PJ) politician who was governor of La Pampa Province twice, from 2003 to 2007 and from 2015 to 2019. He was also a National Senator for La Pampa for two terms, and se ...

, he was appointed Undersecretary of Social Policy in 2003 and then Minister of Social Welfare in 2006. As minister, Ziliotto designed the "Plan Piquén", which reformed the existing social assistance scheme in the province and introduced a debit card-based welfare scheme. He was elected to the Argentine Chamber of Deputies in 2015, where he formed part of the Justicialist bloc. As a national deputy, Ziliotto gained national recognition in 2018 when, following Verna's instructions, he successfully lobbied two of his fellow Justicialist deputies from La Pampa ( Melina Delú and Ariel Rauschenberger) to change their mind and vote in favor of the Voluntary Termination of Pregnancy bill at the last minute.

Governor of La Pampa

Ahead of the 2019 general election, incumbent governor Carlos Verna announced he would not be seeking the re-election due to his ongoing battle with cancer. Instead, Verna nominated Ziliotto to run in the Justicialist Front list. He won the election with 51% of the vote. As governor, he caused controversy when he stated in a press conference during which he was announcing the province's

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

containment measures that "Argentina has ar too many

porteño In Spanish, the term (feminine: ''Porteña'') means "port city person". It is used to refer to residents of port cities such as Buenos Aires, Argentina; El Puerto de Santa María, Spain; Valparaíso, Chile; Mazatlán, Veracruz, Acapulco and Tam ...

s", when asked about the protests against lockdown measures in

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 ...

Personal life

Ziliotto is an avid football fan; in his youth he played for the Club Atlético Costa Brava, a local club in General Pico.

References

External links

Official website of the Governorship of La Pampa
(in Spanish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ziliotto, Sergio 1962 births Living people People from General Pico Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in La Pampa Governors of La Pampa Province Justicialist Party politicians 21st-century Argentine politicians