Oscar Raúl Aguad (born May 7, 1950) is an Argentine politician who served as the Minister of Defense from 2017 to 2019, serving in the cabinet of President

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 previo ...

. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 2005 to 2015, where he became chief of the UCR bloc.

Personal life

Aguad was born in Córdoba to Hilda Beily and Raúl Aguad, in 1950. His family is of Syrian origin. His father had, in the 1930s, established the first

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

retailer in Córdoba and later opened an art gallery. He enrolled at the

National University of Córdoba The National University of Córdoba ( es, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba,) is an institution of higher education in the city of Córdoba, Argentina. Founded in 1613, the university is the oldest in Argentina, the third oldest university of t ...

, and earned a law degree with a specialization in

corporate A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...

tax A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...

, and criminal law. He married María Dolores Albarenque in 1976, and they had five daughters.

Career

He was brought on as an associate by José Severo Caballero, a Córdoba jurist who would be appointed president of the

Argentine Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Argentina ( es, link=no, Corte Suprema de Argentina), officially known as the Supreme Court of Justice of the Argentine Nation ( es, link=no, Corte Suprema de Justicia de la Nación Argentina, CSJN), is the highest court of l ...

in 1983 by President

Raúl Alfonsín Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín (12 March 1927 – 31 March 2009) was an Argentine lawyer and statesman who served as President of Argentina from 10 December 1983 to 8 July 1989. He was the first democratically elected president after more than ...

. Following elections that year in which the UCR swept both national and Córdoba offices, Aguad was appointed Chief of Staff by Córdoba Mayor Ramón Mestre. Aguad served in the board of directors of ''

La Voz del Interior ''La Voz del Interior'' is a daily Spanish language newspaper edited and published in Córdoba, capital of the province of Córdoba, Argentina and the second-largest city in the country. The newspaper is the leading daily in Córdoba, and one of ...

'' (the leading Córdoba news daily), as well as of the University of Córdoba Foundation. He established ''Amparo Legal'' (Legal Recourse), a

legal assistance Legal aid is the provision of assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. Legal aid is regarded as central in providing access to justice by ensuring equality before the law, the right to cou ...

office, in 1994, and later a law office. Ramón Mestre would be both a friend and political mentor to Aguad. Mestre was appointed to head a

Federal intervention Federal intervention () is a power attributed to the federal government of Argentina, by which it takes control of a province in certain extreme cases. Intervention is declared by the President with the assent of the National Congress. Article 6 o ...

of politically troubled

Corrientes Province Corrientes (, ‘currents’ or ‘streams’; gn, Taragui), officially the Province of Corrientes ( es, Provincia de Corrientes; gn, Taragüí Tetãmini) is a province in northeast Argentina, in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by (fr ...

by President

Fernando de la Rúa Fernando de la Rúa (15 September 19379 July 2019) was an Argentine politician and a member of the Radical Civic Union (UCR) political party who served as President of Argentina from 10 December 1999 to 21 December 2001. De la Rúa was born in ...

in 1999, and recommended Aguad for the post of mayor of

Corrientes Corrientes (; Guaraní: Taragüí, literally: "Currents") is the capital city of the province of Corrientes, Argentina, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, about from Buenos Aires and from Posadas, on National Route 12. It ha ...

. The former was transferred to the post of Interior Minister by the President in March 2001, and Aguad was named as his successor. He presided over new provincial elections, and on December 10, was succeeded by a duly elected governor. Aguad was elected to the Argentine Chamber of Deputies in 2005, and in 2007, his UCR colleagues elected him president of their caucus. He was a vocal opponent of Resolution 125, which would have raised export

tariff A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and pol ...

s on a range of agricultural raw materials, and advocated greater

revenue sharing Revenue sharing is the distribution of revenue, the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services among the stakeholders or contributors. It should not be confused with profit shares, in which scheme only the profit is share ...

benefits for the

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

. He was one of five Congressmen honored with a Parliamentary Prize in 2008 by ''Semanario Parlamentario'' (''Parliamentary Weekly''), and during the 2009–10 congress, was the body's most frequent speaker. His tenure as Mayor of Corrientes led to controversy, however, when Aguad took a US$60 million loan to cancel Cecacor bonds previously issued by the province. The bonds, which had declined to junk status, could not ultimately be redeemed by the city government, and in 2009, Aguad was indicted for

misfeasance Misfeasance, nonfeasance, and malfeasance are types of failure to discharge public obligations existing by common law, custom, or statute. The Carta de Logu caused Eleanor of Arborea to be remembered as one of the first lawmakers to set up the ...

related to their handling. Aguad was elected First Vice President of the Chamber of Deputies (the body's second-highest ranking post) by his colleagues in December 2010. He obtained his party's nomination for Governor of Córdoba ahead of provincial elections on August 7. He was defeated, however, by former Governor

José Manuel de la Sota José Manuel de la Sota (28 November 1949 – 15 September 2018) was an Argentine politician who was a member of Justicialist Party. He was the governor of Córdoba Province from 1999 until 2007, and was reelected to the post for the 2011–15 ...

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aguad, Oscar 1950 births Living people Politicians from Córdoba, Argentina Argentine people of Arab descent National University of Córdoba alumni 20th-century Argentine lawyers Mayors of Corrientes Governors of Corrientes Province Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Córdoba Radical Civic Union politicians Defense ministers of Argentina