Mónica Leticia Schlotthauer (born 22 August 1963) is an

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 ...

railway worker and union leader who served as 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 ...

elected in

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 three occasions, from April to December 2019, from June to December 2021, and from June 2024 to date. Schlotthauer is a member of Socialist Left, a

Trotskyist Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...

political party organized within the

Workers' Left Front The Workers' Left Front – Unity (, FIT-U) is an electoral alliance of four revolutionary Trotskyist parties in Argentina: the Workers' Party (PO), the Socialist Workers' Party (PTS), Socialist Left (IS), and the Workers' Socialist Movement ( ...

Early life and career

Schlotthauer was born on 22 August 1963 in

Isidro Casanova Isidro Casanova is a city in La Matanza Partido, Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina. It borders the towns of Villa Luzuriaga, San Justo, Ciudad Evita, Rafael Castillo, Laferrere, and Ezeiza. History The area encompassing Isidro Casanova was ...

, a city in

La Matanza Partido La Matanza ('The Slaughter' in Spanish) is a '' partido'' (county or department) located in the urban agglomeration of Greater Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. This provincial subdivision had 1,775,272 inhabitants (at the 2010 C ...

, in the

Greater Buenos Aires Greater Buenos Aires (, GBA), also known as the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (, AMBA), refers to the urban agglomeration comprising the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of B ...

conurbation. Raised Roman Catholic, she became an atheist as a teenager and joined the Socialist Workers' Party toward the end of the last military dictatorship in Argentina (1976–1986). She was a union delegate in the Sanatorio Antártida hospital, in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, until she was fired during the administration 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 2005, she left for

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

to support the National Workers' Union, until she was forced to return to Argentina due to economic limitations. Upon her return, she became a janitor in the

Mitre Line The Mitre line is an Argentine broad gauge commuter rail service in Buenos Aires Province and is part of the Ferrocarril General Bartolomé Mitre division. The service is currently operated by the state-owned company Operadora Ferroviaria Soci ...

, and later transferred to the

Sarmiento Line The Sarmiento line is a broad gauge commuter rail service in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, run by the state-owned Trenes Argentinos since 11 September 2013. The line is part of Domingo Sarmiento Railway, running trains departing from Once ...

. She became active in the railway workers' union in the Lista Bordó, led by Rubén Sobrero.

Political career

Schlotthauer ran for a seat in the

Buenos Aires Province Chamber of Deputies The Chamber of Deputies of Buenos Aires Province () is the lower house of the Legislature of Buenos Aires Province, the largest and most populous of Argentina's provinces. It is made up of 92 deputies elected in eight multi-member constituencies kn ...

in 2015 general election for the

(FIT); although she was not elected, she took office on 14 December 2016 due to the FIT's seat rotation agreement, succeeding the

Workers' Party Workers' Party is a name used by several political parties throughout the world. The name has been used by both organisations on the left and right of the political spectrum. It is currently used by followers of Marxism, Marxism–Leninism, Maoism ...

Guillermo Kane Guillermo Kane (born 12 October 1981) is an Argentine activist in the Workers' Party. He studied at the University of Buenos Aires, and now teaches history there. From July 2015 to December 2016 he was a deputy in the legislature of Buenos Aires ...

. Consequently, in 2015, Schlotthauer was the third candidate in the FIT list to the

; although the list received only 4.46% of the vote and Schlotthauer was not elected, she took office on 4 April 2019 following the resignation of Nathalia González Seligra. She served until 10 December 2019. Schlotthauer ran for re-election in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

; she was, again, not elected. She was sworn in for a second time on 10 June 2021 following the resignation of

Nicolás del Caño Nicolás del Caño (born 6 February 1980) is an Argentine politician from the Socialist Workers' Party (Argentina), Socialist Workers' Party.http://www.diariouno.com.ar/mendoza/Nicolas-Del-Cao-compartira-la-banca-con-Soledad-Sosa-Empezamos-a-escri ...

as per the rotation agreement. Alongside Juan Carlos Giordano, also of Socialist Left, she formed part of the Socialist Left

bloc Bloc may refer to: Government and politics * Political bloc, a coalition of political parties * Trade bloc, a type of intergovernmental agreement * Voting bloc, a group of voters voting together * Black bloc, a tactic used by protesters who wear ...

in the Chamber of Deputies, the first time the small party counted with more than one deputy in Congress. She again became a national deputy, as part of rotation by the Workers' Left Front, in June 2024, along with Vanina Biasi.

References

External links

Profile on the official website of the Chamber of Deputies
(in Spanish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Schlotthauer, Mónica 1963 births Living people People from La Matanza Partido Argentine atheists 21st-century Argentine women politicians Argentine trade union leaders Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Buenos Aires Province Argentine deputies 2023–2025 Argentine deputies 2019–2021 Argentine deputies 2017–2019 Women members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies Socialist Left (Argentina) politicians