Oscar Aníbal Castillo (born 18 January 1954) 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, ...

Radical Civic Union The Radical Civic Union ( es, Unión Cívica Radical, UCR) is a centrist and social-liberal political party in Argentina. It has been ideologically heterogeneous, ranging from social liberalism to social democracy. The UCR is a member of the S ...

(UCR) politician, currently a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for the Civic and Social Front of Catamarca and a former governor of that province. He is the son of the late

Arnoldo Castillo Arnoldo Castillo (April 29, 1922 – September 29, 2005) was an Argentine politician. Life and times Arnoldo Aníbal Castillo was born to Carmen Berrondo and Gualberto Castillo in Quilmes, a suburb of Buenos Aires, in 1922. His parents relocated ...

, a leading figure in the Catamarca UCR.

Biography

Castillo was born in

San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca () is the capital and largest city in Catamarca Province in northwestern Argentina, on the Río Valle River, at the feet of the Cerro Ambato. The city name is normally shortened as Catamarca. The city of , ...

. He studied at the

Universidad Nacional del Litoral The National University of Litoral ( es, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, UNL) is a public university in Argentina. It is based in Santa Fe, the capital of Santa Fe Province. It has colleges and other academic facilities in Esperanza, Recon ...

becoming a lawyer. He was active in student politics, serving as secretary of his faculty's

student union A students' union, also known by many other names, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social ...

and representing his university at the Buenos Aires University Federation in 1980. He married the former Silvia Brocal, an accountant, and had two children. Castillo has held high office in the UCR. He was President of the UCR youth wing in

Catamarca Province Catamarca () is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. The province had a population of 334,568 as per the , and covers an area of 102,602 km2. Its literacy rate is 95.5%. Neighbouring provinces are (clockwise, fr ...

(1981–83), and represented his province on the UCR national committee, in 1990-96 and 2001–04, and was vice-president and treasurer of the party. Castillo served as a provincial deputy (legislator) in Catamarca (1985–89), and was UCR-MPC caucus leader. He was elected to the

Argentine Chamber of Deputies The Chamber of Deputies ( es, Cámara de Diputados de la Nación), officially the Honorable Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Nation, is the lower house of the Argentine National Congress ( es, Congreso de la Nación). It is made up of 257 ...

in 1989 and reelected, serving until 1997. Castillo ran for and was elected governor of Catamarca in 1999, serving until 2003. His tenure was marked by debates regarding the

separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular s ...

. Castillo, who had taken his oath as a legislator without mentioning

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

in two previous occasions, imposed mandatory

religious education In secular usage, religious education is the teaching of a particular religion (although in the United Kingdom the term ''religious instruction'' would refer to the teaching of a particular religion, with ''religious education'' referring to t ...

of a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

nature in Catamarca schools; protest from the province's sizable

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

community and others led to the policy's rescission in 2001, however. Catamarca voters returned him to the Senate upon completion of his term as governor. His reelection campaign, however, was followed by a challenge of the results amid accusations of vote buying and collusion with Governor Eduardo Brizuela del Moral to that effect; his personal estate, which includes at least a dozen properties in the province, has also come under scrutiny.''Catamarca Actual''
/ref>

References

External links

Senate profile
1954 births Living people People from Catamarca Province Argentine people of Spanish descent National University of the Littoral alumni 20th-century Argentine lawyers Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Catamarca Members of the Argentine Senate for Catamarca Governors of Catamarca Province Radical Civic Union politicians {{Argentina-politician-stub