Rafael Michelini Delle Piane (born 30 October 1958 in

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

) is a

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He is currently Senator of the Republic of Uruguay as a member of the Frente Amplio party, and was the founder of

New Space Private spaceflight is spaceflight or the development of spaceflight technology that is conducted and paid for by an entity other than a government agency. In the early decades of the Space Age, the government space agencies of the Soviet Unio ...

party. He was the seventh of ten children, and is the son of

Zelmar Michelini Zelmar Raúl Michelini Guarch (20 May 1924 – 20 May 1976) was a Uruguayan reporter and politician, assassinated in Buenos Aires in 1976 as part of Operation Condor. Career Zelmar Michelini was member of the Chamber of Deputies from 1954 to 1958 ...

, a former senator who was assassinated 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 ...

during

Operation Condor Operation Condor ( es, link=no, Operación Cóndor, also known as ''Plan Cóndor''; pt, Operação Condor) was a United States–backed campaign of political repression and state terror involving intelligence operations and assassination of o ...

. As a result, he has been active in human rights issues, primarily those stemming from the dictatorship. In the elections of 1984, the first since the end of the military dictatorship which had ruled Uruguay from 1973 to 1984, Michelini was elected to the city council in Montevideo running for the

Party for the Government of the People The Party for the Government of the People (PGP)—in Spanish: ''Partido por el Gobierno del Pueblo''—was a social democratic political party in Uruguay. It was originally the ''Movimiento por el Gobierno del Pueblo''. MGP was formed in ...

. Five years later, he joined the breakaway group led by

Hugo Batalla Hugo Batalla Parentini (July 11, 1926 – October 3, 1998), Uruguayan politician, was Vice President of Uruguay from 1995 to 1998 during the presidency of Julio María Sanguinetti. Background His political activity started in the Colorado Party ...

, forming a new party, the New Area, supporting the presidential candidacy of Batlle for the elections of 1989, in which Michelini was elected deputy. In 1994, he disagreed with the alliance between Hugo Batalla and the Colorado Party, and in response founded the

party with other dissidents. The party is part of the Frente Amplio coalition, and has twice nominated Michelini for President of Uruguay. In the first election in 1994 he obtained 5.16% of total votes cast, while in 1999 he obtained 4.56% of the vote. On both occasions he was elected Senator. In 2003 he reached an agreement with the Progressive Encounter-Broad Front, called the New Majority, in which he returned to his old political party. Some sections of the New Space directed by

Pablo Mieres Pablo Andrés Mieres Gómez (born 30 July 1959 in Montevideo) is a Uruguayan lawyer, sociologist, professor and politician of the Independent Party (PI), serving as Minister of Labour and Social Welfare of Uruguay, since March 1, 2020. Politi ...

disagreed with this decision, left the party, and founded the Independent Party. The Frente Amplio won the election in 2004, and as part of the coalition Michelini won a seat in the

Senate 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 ...

. During his time as Senator, Michelini drafted a law on the integration of men and women in the electoral lists of political parties, and drafted a declaration naming July 17 of each year a day of National Suicide Prevention. He is married to Arq. Matilde Jorge and has four children: Clara, Juan Pedro, Beatriz, and Martin. His brother Felipe Michelini is also a member of the Senate, and has served for three terms.

References

External links

Rafael Michelini on New Space
{{DEFAULTSORT:Michelini, Rafael 1958 births Living people Politicians from Montevideo Members of the Senate of Uruguay Broad Front (Uruguay) politicians New Space (Uruguay) politicians