Francisco de Narváez Steuer (born 22 September 1953 in
Bogotá
Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...
), known as El Colorado or Pancho, is a
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
n-born naturalized
Argentine
Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...
businessman, politician who ran for governor of
Buenos Aires Province
Buenos Aires, officially the Buenos Aires Province, is the largest and most populous Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of the province an ...
on the
Unión PRO ballot in the
2007 elections in
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
. He was a member of the
Argentine Chamber of Deputies
The Chamber of Deputies (), officially the Honorable Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Nation, is the lower house of the Argentine National Congress (). It is made up of 257 national deputies who are elected in multi-member constituencies c ...
until late 2015.
Business life
De Narváez arrived in Argentina at the age of three. His father was a Colombian coffee merchant. His mother's family owned the
Almacenes Tía chain of supermarkets, started by his grandfather, Karel Steuer, in
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...
as 'Te-Ta'. Upon relocating to South America, it became a major chain. De Narváez began work there at the age of 17 years and was appointed Chief Executive in 1989, a position which he held for ten years. De Narváez eventually sold the Argentinean division of the company in 2002
for $638 million.
In 2002, his group bought 50% of
La Rural, a major and historic exhibitions centre, and the additional 50% in 2005. In 2007 he bought one of Argentina's most important TV stations,
América TV. He owns 20% of the ''
El Cronista Comercial''. In 1983, de Narváez took Argentine citizenship to vote for
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 the 7-yea ...
. His nickname in business and politics is "El Colorado", and his personal fortune has been estimated to be in excess of $500 million.
Political life
Following the
2001 crisis, he decided to enter politics and joined the
Justicialist Party
The Justicialist Party (, ; abbr. PJ) is a major political party in Argentina, and the largest branch within Peronism. Following the 2023 presidential election, it has been the largest party in the opposition against President Javier Milei.
Fo ...
. He aided the presidential campaign of
Carlos Menem
Carlos Saúl Menem (2 July 1930 – 14 February 2021) served as the 50th president of Argentina for ten years, from 1989 to 1999. He identified as Peronism, Peronist, serving as President of the Justicialist Party for 13 years (from 1990 to 200 ...
in
2003
2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater.
In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War.
Demographic ...
as a candidate for the position of
Minister of Social Development.
De Narváez ran from the political left, commenting that in office he would be a staunch welfarist.
In July 2004 he then self-financed major commemorations around Argentina to celebrate the 30th anniversary of
Peron's death.
As a
centre-right
Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...
pro business politician, he supported the senatorial bid of
Hilda de Duhalde and sits with dissident
Peronist
Peronism, also known as justicialism, is an Argentine ideology and movement based on the ideas, doctrine and legacy of Juan Perón (1895–1974). It has been an influential movement in 20th- and 21st-century Argentine politics. Since 1946, Pe ...
s in
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
, opposed to the government of the
Kirchners. Then, he was elected as
National Deputy for
Buenos Aires Province
Buenos Aires, officially the Buenos Aires Province, is the largest and most populous Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of the province an ...
in 2005, the first foreigner to be elected to the Chamber.
He stood to be Governor of the Province in 2007, gaining over a million votes. Jorge Macri, cousin of
Mauricio Macri
Mauricio Macri (; born 8 February 1959) is an Argentine businessman and politician who served as President of Argentina from 2015 to 2019. He has been the leader of the Republican Proposal (PRO) party since its founding in 2005. He previously ...
, was his running mate and their campaign was supported by Macri's party
Commitment to Change
Commitment to Change () was a centre-right political party in Argentina, principally active in the City of Buenos Aires.
History
The party was led by Mauricio Macri, businessman and chairman of Boca Juniors football club. The party was conceived ...
and the
PRO
Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional".
Pro, PRO or variants thereof might also refer to:
People
* Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest
* Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter
* Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African ret ...
coalition. De Narváez mentioned to the press in November 2012 that he would be interested in forming a similar coalition in the upcoming 2013 election season as well.
In 2008 de Narváez took the side of agriculture workers against the
Argentinian government over efforts to either ban certain meat exports. He has also spoken out about the
nationalization
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English)
is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with p ...
of private industry in many other areas of governance.
During his campaigns, de Narváez is known for self-financing his campaigns, using his own money to pursue his political interests.
On June 28, 2009, de Narváez defeated former president
Nestor Kirchner in the
legislative midterm elections in the province of Buenos Aires. During the electoral campaign he took part of the humoristic TV show
Gran Cuñado, which included parodies of the most important politicians of Argentina (including De Narváez himself), and engaged with his parody in stage jokes. This act generated controversy in the media about the effects on his actual electoral performance: columnists like
Joaquín Morales Solá claim he was benefited from it, while other think that such influence was relative. Francisco de Narváez says that Gran Cuñado helped him, and that it helped to humanize the image of politicians. He also ran the campaign in Buenos Aires as part of a political alliance between himself,
Chief of Government of the City of Buenos Aires Mauricio Macri
Mauricio Macri (; born 8 February 1959) is an Argentine businessman and politician who served as President of Argentina from 2015 to 2019. He has been the leader of the Republican Proposal (PRO) party since its founding in 2005. He previously ...
and former
Governor of Buenos Aires Felipe Solá.
In 2010 de Narváez introduced a bill to the Argentinian legislature to increase the universal child allowance from 180 pesos to 250. The bill was targeted at alleviating
child poverty
Child poverty refers to the state of children living in poverty and applies to children from poor families and orphans being raised with limited or no state resources. UNICEF estimates that 356 million children live in extreme poverty. It is esti ...
, and to correlate the allowance with wage inflation. In 2011 de Narváez ran for office with the
UDESO as a gubernatorial candidate in the Buenos Aires province.
In October 2012 de Narváez began national calls for the formation of a new coalition to remove the majority coalition from power in Argentina, naming
Peronist dissidents, the PRO, and others as potential members of a new ruling coalition. He has been particularly critical of the national government in its handling of
civil security and the country's problem with
crime
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...
.
Personal life
His second wife is former model Agustina Ayllón, friend of
Juliana Awada
María Juliana Awada (born 3 April 1974) is an Argentine businesswoman who served as the first lady of Argentina from 2015 to 2019. She is the first woman in this role to have received the distinction of the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Is ...
, with whom he has three children.
Francisco de Narváez: el millonario que saltó del PJ a candidato de Macri
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Narvaez, Francisco De
1953 births
Living people
Politicians from Bogotá
Naturalized citizens of Argentina
Justicialist Party politicians
Republican Proposal politicians
Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Buenos Aires Province
Argentine deputies 2013–2015
Argentine deputies 2011–2013
Argentine deputies 2009–2011
Argentine deputies 2007–2009
Argentine deputies 2005–2007
Argentine businesspeople
Colombian emigrants to Argentina
Argentine people of Spanish descent
Argentine people of Czech descent
People educated at Colegio Cardenal Newman
People from Luján, Buenos Aires