Osvaldo Álvarez Guerrero (1940 – 27 July 2008) was an Argentine Radical Civic Union (UCR) politician. He served as Governor of

Río Negro Province Río Negro (, ''Black River'') is a province of Argentina, located in northern Patagonia. Neighboring provinces are from the south clockwise Chubut, Neuquén, Mendoza, La Pampa and Buenos Aires. To the east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Its capi ...

and as a National Deputy. Born in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

(a suburb 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 ...

, Álvarez Guerrero joined the Radical Civic Union of the People (UCRP, the more conservative faction led by

Ricardo Balbín Ricardo Balbín (29 July 1904 – 9 September 1981) was an Argentine lawyer and politician, and one of the most important figures of the centrist Radical Civic Union (UCR), for which he was the presidential nominee four times: in 1951, 1958, an ...

) in 1958 in his home town of Vicente López, a neighboring community.Profundo pesar por la muerte de Osvaldo Alvarez Guerrero
''

La Nación ''La Nación'' () is an Argentine daily newspaper. As the country's leading conservative newspaper, ''La Nación''s main competitor is the more liberal '' Clarín''. It is regarded as a newspaper of record for Argentina. Its motto is: "''La Na ...

'', 29 July 2008. He became a lawyer and relocated to Viedma, in

, in 1964. UCR Governor Carlos Nielsen appointed him subsecretary of social affairs, serving in that post until the military coup of 28 June 1966 which toppled President

Arturo Illia Arturo Umberto Illia (; 4 August 1900 – 18 January 1983) was an Argentine politician and physician, who was President of Argentina from 12 October 1963, to 28 June 1966. He was a member of the centrist Radical Civic Union. Illia reached t ...

. That year he moved to San Carlos de Bariloche, where he practiced as a lawyer, taught philosophy and wrote for newspapers including ''

'' and ''

Diario Río Negro ''Diario Rio Negro'' is an Argentine daily newspaper edited in General Roca, and published in the provinces of Río Negro, Neuquén, the south of La Pampa, the north of Chubut, the south of Buenos Aires Province and the City of Buenos Aires. ...

''. He later wrote several books, particularly on political history. Upon the return of democracy, Álvarez Guerrero helped relaunch the UCR in Río Negro and was a leading player in the national internal Radical movement of

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 ...

and Conrado Storani. In 1973 he became President of the provincial committee of the UCR and was elected to the Argentine Chamber of Deputies. Following the coup of 1976, he was arrested and '

disappeared An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a state or political organization, or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organi ...

' for 72 hours, being released following protests by his party, including former President Illia, although he lost his passport and the right to leave the country. In October 1983, following the return of democracy, Álvarez Guerrero was elected governor of Río Negro with 63% of the vote. He was a staunch federalist and a prime mover behind attempts to move the Argentine federal capital to Viedma. He was returned to the Chamber of Deputies in 1987. Álvarez Guerrero was elected first vice-president of the National Committee of the UCR in 1989, and in 1991 he became President of the National Convention. He became a vocal critic of the 1993 Olivos Pact between UCR leader

and President Carlos Menem (of the opposition Justicialist Party), and opposed the subsequent 1994 reform of the Argentine Constitution, resigning in 1994 over the nomination of his successor as governor, Horacio Massaccesi, as UCR candidate for president. He took part in the launch of the center-left ARI, although he distanced himself when his fellow activists left the UCR.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarez Guerrero, Osvaldo 1940 births 2008 deaths People from Buenos Aires Province Argentine people of Spanish descent Radical Civic Union politicians Governors of Río Negro Province Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Río Negro Prisoners and detainees of Argentina 20th-century Argentine lawyers