Graciela Ocaña
Encyclopedia
Graciela Ocaña is an Argentine politician.
suburb of San Justo
in 1960. Raised without her father, she lost her mother to an accident at age five and was taken in by her maternal grandparents, both immigrants from Spain
. Ocaña received her primary education at the Santa Rosa de Lima
School, an institution maintained by Dominican
nuns. She was transferred to the San Justo Secondary School system and enrolled at the University of Buenos Aires
in 1978, where she graduated with a degree in Political Science
in 1983.
Ocaña became affiliated with the populist Justicialist Party
and found work in the private sector, managing a number of import-export
businesses in the San Justo area. She married Juan González Gaviola, with whom she moved to nearby Haedo in 1991.
Ocaña became disaffected from the Justicialist Party following President Carlos Menem
's unexpected adoption of free market
policies after taking office and, in 1993, she aligned herself with the eight congressmen who had left the party to form the center-left Frente Grande. An adviser to Buenos Aires Province
Congressman "Chacho" Álvarez
(the party's leader), she was elected to the Argentine Lower House of Congress as a member of the Frente Grande's successor, FrePaSo, on the Alliance
ticket that brought Álvarez to the office of Vice President in 1999.
Ocaña earned renown for her work in the Money Laundering
and Capital flight
Subcommitee in Congress, where in 2001 she led investigations into businessman Emir Yoma and Córdoba Province
Vice Governor Germán Kammerath, among others. President Fernando de la Rúa
's resignation in December and the attendant crisis dissolved the Alliance, whereby Ocaña joined fellow Congresswoman Elisa Carrió
's ARI
, a new center-left christian democratic party.
Enjoying Carrió's esteem, she was invited to run on the ARI ticket for Governor of Buenos Aires Province, but declined, opting to stand for reelection as Congresswoman. Prominent in the Small Business
Committee, in January 2004 President Néstor Kirchner
appointed her Director of the National Integrated Medical Attention Plan (PAMI), a national health insurance program hitherto struggling under chronic mismanagement. Known for her differences with her boss at the time, Health Minister Ginés González García
, over abortion rights and birth control
(which she opposed), she maintained a low profile while earning plaudits for her active intervention in a number of large public hospitals, notably the Hospital Francés. Increasingly distanced from ARI leader Elisa Carrió, Ocaña formally resigned her seat in Congress in 2006.
Hoping to win a fraction of ARI voters over following their defeat in the October 2007 elections
, President-elect Cristina Kirchner offered Ocaña the post of Health and Environment Minister, which the popular PAMI director accepted, taking office on December 10. Ocaña's decision to demand reimbursement for around US$60 million in PAMI services rendered to health plans administered by the CGT
and other labor unions intensified CGT Secretary General Hugo Moyano
's opposition to her tenure, helping result in her June 23, 2009, decision to resign her post. Her departure from the Health Ministry was not announced until after the mid-term elections
on June 28, and Tucumán Province
surgeon and Vice Governor Juan Luis Manzur
was tapped to succeed her on July 1.
Life and times
Ocaña was born and raised in the western Buenos AiresBuenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
suburb of San Justo
San Justo, Buenos Aires
San Justo is a city and the seat of government of La Matanza Partido, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.On the initiative of Judge Lino Lagos, the settlement was founded on December 25th, 1858 on land requisitioned from Justo Villegas, a prominent landowner...
in 1960. Raised without her father, she lost her mother to an accident at age five and was taken in by her maternal grandparents, both immigrants from Spain
Spanish Argentine
Spanish settlement in Argentina, that is the arrival of Spanish emigrants in Argentina, took place firstly in the period before Argentina's independence from Spain, and again in large numbers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries...
. Ocaña received her primary education at the Santa Rosa de Lima
Rose of Lima
Rose of Lima, , the first Catholic saint of the Americas, was born in Lima, Peru.-Biography:Saint Rose of Lima was born in the city of that name, the daughter of Gaspar Flores, a harquebusier from San German, Puerto Rico, and his wife, Maria de Oliva, who was a native of Lima. She was part of a...
School, an institution maintained by Dominican
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
nuns. She was transferred to the San Justo Secondary School system and enrolled at the University of Buenos Aires
University of Buenos Aires
The University of Buenos Aires is the largest university in Argentina and the largest university by enrollment in Latin America. Founded on August 12, 1821 in the city of Buenos Aires, it consists of 13 faculties, 6 hospitals, 10 museums and is linked to 4 high schools: Colegio Nacional de Buenos...
in 1978, where she graduated with a degree in Political Science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
in 1983.
Ocaña became affiliated with the populist Justicialist Party
Justicialist Party
The Justicialist Party , or PJ, is a Peronist political party in Argentina, and the largest component of the Peronist movement.The party was led by Néstor Kirchner, President of Argentina from 2003 to 2007, until his death on October 27, 2010. The current Argentine president, Cristina Fernández de...
and found work in the private sector, managing a number of import-export
Foreign trade of Argentina
-Modern history:Agriculturally productive and thinly populated, Argentina recorded trade surpluses for most of the period between 1900 and 1948, including a cumulative US$1 billion during World War I and US$1.7 billion during World War II. Record taxes on grain exports imposed by the...
businesses in the San Justo area. She married Juan González Gaviola, with whom she moved to nearby Haedo in 1991.
Ocaña became disaffected from the Justicialist Party following President Carlos Menem
Carlos Menem
Carlos Saúl Menem is an Argentine politician who was President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. He is currently an Argentine National Senator for La Rioja Province.-Early life:...
's unexpected adoption of free market
Free market
A free market is a competitive market where prices are determined by supply and demand. However, the term is also commonly used for markets in which economic intervention and regulation by the state is limited to tax collection, and enforcement of private ownership and contracts...
policies after taking office and, in 1993, she aligned herself with the eight congressmen who had left the party to form the center-left Frente Grande. An adviser to Buenos Aires Province
Buenos Aires Province
The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...
Congressman "Chacho" Álvarez
Carlos Álvarez (vice-president)
Carlos Alberto "Chacho" Álvarez is an Argentine politician; he was Vice-President of Argentina during part of President Fernando de la Rúa's mandate, and currently heads the Aladi Secretariat....
(the party's leader), she was elected to the Argentine Lower House of Congress as a member of the Frente Grande's successor, FrePaSo, on the Alliance
Alliance for Work, Justice and Education
The Alliance for Work, Justice and Education was a party coalition in Argentina around the turn of the third millennium...
ticket that brought Álvarez to the office of Vice President in 1999.
Ocaña earned renown for her work in the Money Laundering
Money laundering
Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...
and Capital flight
Capital flight
Capital flight, in economics, occurs when assets and/or money rapidly flow out of a country, due to an economic event and that disturbs investors and causes them to lower their valuation of the assets in that country, or otherwise to lose confidence in its economic...
Subcommitee in Congress, where in 2001 she led investigations into businessman Emir Yoma and Córdoba Province
Córdoba Province (Argentina)
Córdoba is a province of Argentina, located in the center of the country. Neighboring provinces are : Santiago del Estero, Santa Fe, Buenos Aires, La Pampa, San Luis, La Rioja and Catamarca...
Vice Governor Germán Kammerath, among others. President Fernando de la Rúa
Fernando de la Rúa
Fernando de la Rúa is an Argentine politician. He was president of the country from December 10, 1999 to December 21, 2001 for the Alliance for Work, Justice and Education ....
's resignation in December and the attendant crisis dissolved the Alliance, whereby Ocaña joined fellow Congresswoman Elisa Carrió
Elisa Carrió
Elisa María Avelina Carrió is an Argentine politician, founder of the party initially known as Alternative for a Republic of Equals , now Civic Coalition ARI ....
's ARI
Support for an Egalitarian Republic
Civic Coalition ARI is a social liberal Argentine political party, founded in 2001 by Elisa Carrió. It is a member of the Civic Coalition with centrist and centre-left parties.- Creation and political representation :...
, a new center-left christian democratic party.
Enjoying Carrió's esteem, she was invited to run on the ARI ticket for Governor of Buenos Aires Province, but declined, opting to stand for reelection as Congresswoman. Prominent in the Small Business
Small business
A small business is a business that is privately owned and operated, with a small number of employees and relatively low volume of sales. Small businesses are normally privately owned corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships...
Committee, in January 2004 President Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Carlos Kirchner was an Argentine politician who served as the 54th President of Argentina from 25 May 2003 until 10 December 2007. Previously, he was Governor of Santa Cruz Province since 10 December 1991. He briefly served as Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations ...
appointed her Director of the National Integrated Medical Attention Plan (PAMI), a national health insurance program hitherto struggling under chronic mismanagement. Known for her differences with her boss at the time, Health Minister Ginés González García
Ginés González García
Ginés González García is a medical doctor and was the Minister of Health and Environment of Argentina during the administrations of Presidents Eduardo Duhalde and Néstor Kirchner.-Career:...
, over abortion rights and birth control
Birth control
Birth control is an umbrella term for several techniques and methods used to prevent fertilization or to interrupt pregnancy at various stages. Birth control techniques and methods include contraception , contragestion and abortion...
(which she opposed), she maintained a low profile while earning plaudits for her active intervention in a number of large public hospitals, notably the Hospital Francés. Increasingly distanced from ARI leader Elisa Carrió, Ocaña formally resigned her seat in Congress in 2006.
Hoping to win a fraction of ARI voters over following their defeat in the October 2007 elections
Argentine general election, 2007
Argentina held national presidential and legislative elections on October 28, 2007, and elections for provincial governors took place on staggered dates throughout the year. For the national elections, each of the 23 provinces and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires are considered electoral districts...
, President-elect Cristina Kirchner offered Ocaña the post of Health and Environment Minister, which the popular PAMI director accepted, taking office on December 10. Ocaña's decision to demand reimbursement for around US$60 million in PAMI services rendered to health plans administered by the CGT
General Confederation of Labour (Argentina)
The General Confederation of Labour of the Argentine Republic is a national trade union centre of Argentina founded on September 27, 1930, as the result of the merge of the USA and the COA trade union centres...
and other labor unions intensified CGT Secretary General Hugo Moyano
Hugo Moyano
Hugo Moyano is an Argentine labor leader and Secretary General of the CGT, the nation's largest trade union.-Early life and career:...
's opposition to her tenure, helping result in her June 23, 2009, decision to resign her post. Her departure from the Health Ministry was not announced until after the mid-term elections
Argentine legislative election, 2009
Legislative elections were held in Argentina for half the seats in the Chamber of Deputies and a third of the seats in the Senate on 28 June 2009, as well as for the legislature of the City of Buenos Aires and other municipalities.-Background:...
on June 28, and Tucumán Province
Tucumán Province
Tucumán is the most densely populated, and the smallest by land area, of the provinces of Argentina. Located in the northwest of the country, the capital is San Miguel de Tucumán, often shortened to Tucumán. Neighboring provinces are, clockwise from the north: Salta, Santiago del Estero and...
surgeon and Vice Governor Juan Luis Manzur
Juan Luis Manzur
Juan Luis Manzur is an Argentine surgeon and politician, currently Minister of Health and Environment to the President.-Biography:...
was tapped to succeed her on July 1.