Agustín Oscar "Chivo" Rossi (born 18 October 1959) 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, ...

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, serve ...

politician. Rossi has held a number of important political posts throughout his career, most notably as

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 s ...

during the presidencies 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 o ...

(2013–2015) and Alberto Fernández (2019–2021). He was also a National Deputy for his native Santa Fe, and served as leader of the Front for Victory parliamentary bloc in the lower house.

Early life and education

Rossi was born in

Vera Vera may refer to: Names * Vera (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Vera (given name), a given name (including a list of people and fictional characters with the name) **Vera (), archbishop of the archdiocese of Tarr ...

, a small city in the north of Santa Fe Province, where he spent his early youth. He moved to

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central Argentine province of Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous city in the country, and is also the most p ...

when he was 17 years old, and graduated as a

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

at the National University of Rosario.

Political career

Provincial career

Rossi was a member of the Peronist University Youth in the 1970s, and joined the Justicialist Party in the 1980s. He elected to the Rosario

Deliberative Council The Deliberative Council of Princes and Ministers (), also known as the Council of Princes and High Officials and Assembly of Princes and High Officials, or simply as the Deliberative Council (; ), was an advisory body for the Emperor of China, em ...

in 1987, but returned to his private practice in the 1991. He returned to politics in 2001, was elected to the Deliberative Council in 2002, and presided said body from 2004 to 2005. In the 2005 legislative elections he ran for a seat in the Lower House of Congress for the Front for Victory, the largest faction of the Justicialist Party, formed by supporters of

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 ...

Néstor Kirchner. His campaign capitalized on, and was centered on gaining support for, the successful policies implemented by Kirchner on the national level; Rossi, who was not yet well known in the province, presented himself as "Kirchner's candidate." The Front for Victory

party list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can ...

headed by Rossi came in second (with 33% of votes) after the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of ...

list headed by Hermes Binner (43%).

Congressional terms and Ministry of Defense

He then became the head of the Front for Victory bloc in the lower house of Congress. In that capacity, he took on the task of imposing party discipline while rallying legislative support of Kirchner's policies; he stated that "the bloc elonging to the ruling partyhas the fundamental role of being the legislative arm of the government. I cannot conceive a overnment partyblock that has doubts or criticism for the government's projects. Society tells us: 'I choose you to strengthen the course of action initiated by the President." He also courted controversy with his rhetoric, notably in August 2010 when he described lawmakers who presented a bill that sought reverse a government decision to revoke an expired license for the Fibertel

internet service provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise priva ...

, as "lawyers" for the

Clarín Group Grupo Clarín S.A. is the largest media conglomerate in Argentina. Overview Established as such in 1999, it includes the '' Clarín'' newspaper (the most-widely circulated in Latin America), Papel Prensa (the nation's principal newsprint manufac ...

(Fibertel's parent company); there have been ongoing

controversies between Clarín and Kirchnerism The Argentine Governments of Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner had several conflicts with major media groups. Kirchner accused the Clarín Group, ''La Nación'', ''Perfil'', and related media of having promoted their overthro ...

since 2008 over a number of issues. Rossi was a candidate in the FpV primary for the governorship of Santa Fe in the 2007 elections. His rival within the party was Rosario-born National Deputy and former Foreign Relations Minister Rafael Bielsa. The Mayor of Rafaela, Omar Perotti, campaigned for some time as well, but finally gave up and turned to support Bielsa. In the classical caudillist fashion that has prevailed in Argentina’s last century of politics, although some in the party, including Bielsa, would have rather negotiated on a consensus candidacy, Rossi insisted on conducting a primary election. Rossi also stated that he wanted Bielsa's sister

María Eugenia ''María Eugenia'' is a 1943 Mexican drama film directed by Felipe Gregorio Castillo and starring María Félix, alongside Manolita Saval and Rafael Baledón. The film's sets were designed by the art director Manuel Fontanals. Cast * María F ...

(then vice-governor of Santa Fe), on his party list, though he instead chose Jorge Fernández, former Minister of Education during the governorship of Víctor Reviglio. Bielsa was eventually chosen as the party's candidate in

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

s on July 1, 2007, but subsequently lost the election to

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

Hermes Binner. Rossi continued in his role as Majority Leader of the Chamber of Deputies as head of the Front for Victory bloc, which retained a majority in the Chamber. President

nominated him to the post of Minister of Defense of Argentina on 30 May 2013.

Electoral history

Executive

Legislative

References

External links

Official website of the Ministry of Defense
(in Spanish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Rossi, Agustin 1959 births Living people People from Vera Department Argentine people of Italian descent National University of Rosario alumni Argentine civil engineers Justicialist Party politicians Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Santa Fe Defense ministers of Argentina