Marcos Peña (born March 15, 1977) 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 ...

politician, author and political scientist who served as

Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers The Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Argentine Nation ( es, Jefe de Gabinete de Ministros de la Nación Argentina; JGM), more commonly known simply as the Cabinet Chief ( es, Jefe de Gabinete) is a ministerial office within the governmen ...

during Mauricio Macri's presidency. Previously, he was Legislator of the City of Buenos Aires by

Commitment to Change Commitment to Change ( es, Compromiso para el Cambio) was a centre-right political party in Argentina, principally active in the City of Buenos Aires. History The party was led by Mauricio Macri, businessman and chairman of Boca Juniors football ...

. He is one of the most important members of

Republican Proposal Republican Proposal ( es, link=no, Propuesta Republicana) is a centre-right political party in Argentina. It is usually referred to by its abbreviation, PRO. PRO was formed as an electoral alliance in 2005, but was transformed into a national p ...

and led

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 presidential campaigns of

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

and

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Early life and education

Marcos Peña was born on March 15, 1977, 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 ...

. Peña is the son of Félix Peña, a foreign trade specialist, and Clara Braun, an academic. He is the grandson of the Argentine physiologist,

Eduardo Braun-Menéndez Eduardo Braun-Menéndez (January 16, 1903 – January 16, 1959) was a noted Argentine physiologist. Life and work Born in Punta Arenas, Chile, he was a naturalized Argentine citizen from a very early age, and was raised in Buenos Aires.

. He attended his first years of elementary school at Wayside Elementary School in

Potomac, Maryland Potomac () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, named after the nearby Potomac River. Potomac is the seventh most educated small town in America, based on percentage of residents with postsecondary deg ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, as his parents lived abroad. He returned to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and completed high school in Buenos Aires. He graduated with a degree in political sciences from the

Torcuato di Tella University The Torcuato Di Tella University (''Universidad Torcuato Di Tella'', commonly referred to as UTDT or La Di Tella) is a non-profit private university founded in 1991. Located Buenos Aires, Argentina, it is focused primarily on social sciences. The ...

Political career

While studying political science, Peña volunteered in the presidential campaign of

José Octavio Bordón José Octavio Bordón (born 22 December 1945) is an Argentine politician and diplomat. He was governor of Mendoza Province from 1987 to 1991, and served in both houses of the National Congress as a National Deputy and a National Senator. Most ...

(

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 ...

) in 1995. He then worked ad honorem with his father in the Undersecretariat of Foreign Trade of the

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 ...

government, where he met

Gabriela Michetti Marta Gabriela Michetti Illia (; born 28 May 1965) is an Argentine politician and was Vice President of Argentina from 2015 to 2019 during Mauricio Macri's administration. Before her, the only woman to serve as vice president was Isabel Perón. ...

. In 2003 he helped the gestation of

, which would later be

, popularly known as ''PRO'', a new party led by

in the City of Buenos Aires. He was elected a

Legislator A legislator (also known as a deputy or lawmaker) is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people of the state. Legislatures may be supra-national (for ex ...

for the Buenos Aires City. In 2005, Macri appointed Marcos Peña as the first chairman of PRO's youth wing.

City of Buenos Aires

When

became

mayor of Buenos Aires , image = R larreta.jpg , alt = Mayor of Buenos Aires , incumbent = Horacio Rodríguez Larreta , incumbentsince = 10 December 2015 , style = No courtesy, title or style , residence = Buenos Aires ...

in 2007, Peña was designated General Secretary of the

City 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 Am ...

Chief of Cabinet

He was appointed as chief of communication for the

Mauricio Macri's campaign. He is considered one of the closest leaders to

and one of the

Cambiemos ( en, Together for Change) is a centre-right political coalition in Argentina. It was created in 2015 as Cambiemos ( en, Let's Change), and renamed in 2019. It is composed of Republican Proposal, Radical Civic Union, Civic Coalition ARI and ...

figures in the presidential campaign. In November 2015, after being elected, Macri appointed him as Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers of Argentine Nation. After the victory, thanks to his advice, Mauricio Macri began to introduce political, social and economic changes gradually and avoid using

shock therapy Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatric treatment where a generalized seizure (without muscular convulsions) is electrically induced to manage refractory mental disorders.Rudorfer, MV, Henry, ME, Sackeim, HA (2003)"Electroconvulsive the ...

. On December 28, 2017, he ordered a press conference where he,

Nicolás Dujovne Nicolás Dujovne (; born May 18, 1967) is an Argentine economist and former Minister of the Treasury between 2017 and 2019 under the administration of Mauricio Macri. Early life and education Nicolás Dujovne was born in Buenos Aires on 18 Ma ...

Luis Caputo Luis Andrés Caputo (born 21 April 1965) is an Argentine economist who was Minister of Public Finances and President of the Central Bank of Argentina. Surprisingly, in the middle of a negotiation with the International Monetary Fund and inter ...

, and the president of the

Central Bank of Argentina The Central Bank of the Argentine Republic ( es, Banco Central de la República Argentina, BCRA) is the central bank of Argentina, being an autarchic entity. Article 3 of the Organic Charter lists the objectives of this Institution: “The bank ...

Federico Sturzenegger Federico Sturzenegger (born 11 February 1966 in Rufino, Santa Fe) is an Argentine economist who was President of the Central Bank between 2015 and 2018. Sturzenegger has a PhD in Economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was ...

announced the change in inflation targets. Several economists repudiated the intervention of an independent institution that caused an acceleration in

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...

and loss of reserves.

Personal life

In 2002, he married journalist Luciana Mantero, with whom he has two children. Peña was also a fellow of the CIPPEC organization and the Poder Ciudadano Foundation.

Writer

In May 2013 he presented the book “We are: An open invitation.” A series of stories compiled by him and Alejandro Rozitchner, which brings together testimonies of leaders, officials and militants of the PRO.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pena, Marcos 1977 births Argentine people of Spanish descent Argentine people of Latvian-Jewish descent Argentine political scientists Chiefs of Cabinet of Ministers of Argentina Members of the Buenos Aires City Legislature Living people People from Buenos Aires Republican Proposal politicians