Carmelo José Vidalín Aguirre (born 17 November 1955) is a Uruguayan politician serving as Intendant of the

Durazno Department Durazno (; ) is a Departments of Uruguay, department of Uruguay. Its capital is Durazno. Its name means ''"peach"'' in Spanish language, Spanish, referring to the department's peaches and its status as an agricultural breadbasket. It is located i ...

since November 26, 2020. A member of the

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

, he previously served in the same position from 2000 to 2009 and from 2015 to 2020, as well as National Representative in the 47th Legislature (2010–2015). Prior to entering politics, he worked as a philosophy teacher, and as a journalist in local media in his hometown. He began his local political career as a mayor and as an official in the Intendancy of Durazno, reaching the position of General Secretary. Due to the electoral results he was seen as a pre-presidential candidate for the 2009 presidential primaries. He is known for having been one of the promoters of the massive annual ''Pilsen Rock'' music festival that took place outskirts of Durazno in the 2000s.

Early life and education

Vidalín was born and raised in

Durazno Durazno is the capital city of the Durazno Department, department of Durazno in Uruguay. Geography The city is located at the intersection of Route 5 (Uruguay), Routes 5 and 41, in the south of the department, close to the borders with the depar ...

. He attended the Marist Brothers' Colegio San Luis where he completed his primary and secondary education, and the Liceo Rubino. In 2014 he obtained a '' Licentiate'' in labor relations from the

University of the Republic The University of the Republic (, sometimes ''UdelaR'') is a public research university in Montevideo, Uruguay. It is the country's oldest and largest university, as well as one of the largest public universities in South America in terms of en ...

Political career

Vidalín began his political career in the 1980s, as an ''Edil'' (member of the department's legislature) from 1985 to 1989. In 1990 he was appointed Secretary General of the Intendancy of Durazno by Intendant Raúl Iturria Igarzábal. He served in the post until 1995, when he returned to a seat in the legislature. In the 1999 general election, Vidalín was elected National Representative for the 45th Legislature, but promptly resigned to run for Intendant in the 2000 municipal elections, in which he was elected. In the 2004 general election he was elected Senator of the Republic, but again resigned from his seat. In the 2005 municipal elections he was again elected Intendant of Durazno with more than the 50% of the vote. In 2007 he served as an observer in the election in the Kingdom of Morocco. In 2007, Vidalín began to be seen as a possible nationalist pre-candidate for the 2009 presidential primaries. However, in December 2008 he endorsed

Luis Alberto Lacalle Luis Alberto Lacalle de Herrera (; ''Lacalle'' locally or ; born 13 July 1941) is a Uruguayan politician and lawyer who served as the 36th president of Uruguay from 1990 to 1995. A member of the National Party, he previously served as Nation ...

for president. In 2009, faced with the constitutional impossibility of a third term as Intendant of Durazno, Vidalín participated in the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

, being elected National Representative for the Department of Durazno in the 47th Legislature. In turn, in the third annual period (2012) he served as the fourth vice president of the Chamber. In 2014 he was re-elected to the position of National Representative, but resigned to participate in the 2015 municipal election, in which he was elected Intendant of Durazno with 41.19% of the vote. In 2015 he obtained the Legion of the Book Award from the Uruguayan Book Chamber. In September 2019, he was proclaimed the sole candidate of the

for the Intendant of Durazno in the 2020 municipal election. In the elections, which were postponed until September 27, 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Vidalín was reelected in the position for a fourth term with 48.5% of the vote.

Personal life

He was married to María Isabel Ramos, a civil servant, with whom he had three children: Martín, Nicolás and Juan Ignacio. In 2023, he participated in the television reality show ''¿Quién es la máscara?'', an adaptation of the South Korean format

Masked Singer ''Masked Singer'' is an international music reality game show franchise. It originated from the South Korean program '' The King of Mask Singer'', developed by Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation. Format The format features celebrities who perform ...

, ranking 8th.{{Cite web , date=2023-05-12 , title=¡Era él!: Destacado político cantó un tema de Xuxa y fue descubierto en "¿Quién es la máscara?" , url=https://www.elpais.com.uy/tvshow/tv/era-el-destacado-politico-canto-un-tema-de-xuxa-y-fue-descubierto-en-quien-es-la-mascara , access-date=2023-05-14 , website=EL PAIS , language=en

References

National Party (Uruguay) politicians University of the Republic (Uruguay) alumni Members of the Chamber of Representatives of Uruguay (2010–2015) 21st-century Uruguayan politicians 1955 births Living people