Julio de Vido
Encyclopedia
Julio Miguel de Vido is an Argentine policy maker, currently the President's Minister of Planning and Public Works.
School of Architecture and Urbanism, he graduated in 1974. Returning to the remote Province of Santa Cruz, he was named Works Director within the province's Housing and Urban Development Institute in 1988 by Justicialist (Peronist) Governor Héctor Marcelino García, who promoted him to post of Provincial Highway Bureau Director in 1990.
The 1991 election of Rio Gallegos Mayor Néstor Kirchner
as Governor led to de Vido's appointment as Santa Cruz's Economy Minister, in which capacity he oversaw the investment of a US$535 million payout Kirchner negotiated for his oil-rich province when the State oil concern, YPF, was privatized in 1993. Julio de Vido was elected to the Argentine Lower House of Congress in the 1997 midterm elections
. He returned to Santa Cruz Province halfway through his term, however, and was named Minister of Government by Governor Kirchner, securing de Vido's role as Kirchner's chief adviser.
Helping coordinate Kirchner's presidential campaign in the 2003 general election
, de Vido was named to his current post as Minister of Planning when Kirchner became President of Argentina
on May 25, 2003. Overseeing the nation's public works, de Vido has presided over a dramatic increase in public investment, though he has reaped criticism for his apparent reliance on patronage and for doting a disproportionate share of these record investments into Santa Cruz Province, home to 0.6% of the Argentine population. Authorizing mostly gradual public sector rate increases during most of his tenure, de Vido has also reaped disapproval for a recent round of sharp rate and fare hikes.
Minister de Vido was instrumental in shaping President Cristina Kirchner's record US$32 billion public works plan for 2009-2010. He later confirmed that the plan's headline project, the construction of the Buenos Aires-Rosario-Córdoba high-speed railway
(the first of its kind in the Western Hemisphere), would be postponed in favor of developing greater nuclear power
capacity to satisfy growing electricity
demand.
Biography
De Vido was born in the City of Buenos Aires in 1949. Enrolling at the University of Buenos AiresUniversity 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...
School of Architecture and Urbanism, he graduated in 1974. Returning to the remote Province of Santa Cruz, he was named Works Director within the province's Housing and Urban Development Institute in 1988 by Justicialist (Peronist) Governor Héctor Marcelino García, who promoted him to post of Provincial Highway Bureau Director in 1990.
The 1991 election of Rio Gallegos Mayor 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 ...
as Governor led to de Vido's appointment as Santa Cruz's Economy Minister, in which capacity he oversaw the investment of a US$535 million payout Kirchner negotiated for his oil-rich province when the State oil concern, YPF, was privatized in 1993. Julio de Vido was elected to the Argentine Lower House of Congress in the 1997 midterm elections
Argentine legislative election, 1997
Argentina held national parliamentary elections on 26 October 1997 and the results were as follows:-Background:President Carlos Menem, who successfully campaigned to have the Argentine Constitution amended in 1994 largely for the sake of being eligible for a second term in office, won the 1995...
. He returned to Santa Cruz Province halfway through his term, however, and was named Minister of Government by Governor Kirchner, securing de Vido's role as Kirchner's chief adviser.
Helping coordinate Kirchner's presidential campaign in the 2003 general election
Argentine general election, 2003
Argentina held presidential and parliamentary elections on Sunday, April 27, 2003. Turnout was 78.2% and the results were as follows:-Argentine Congress:-Background:...
, de Vido was named to his current post as Minister of Planning when Kirchner became President of Argentina
President of Argentina
The President of the Argentine Nation , usually known as the President of Argentina, is the head of state of Argentina. Under the national Constitution, the President is also the chief executive of the federal government and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.Through Argentine history, the...
on May 25, 2003. Overseeing the nation's public works, de Vido has presided over a dramatic increase in public investment, though he has reaped criticism for his apparent reliance on patronage and for doting a disproportionate share of these record investments into Santa Cruz Province, home to 0.6% of the Argentine population. Authorizing mostly gradual public sector rate increases during most of his tenure, de Vido has also reaped disapproval for a recent round of sharp rate and fare hikes.
Minister de Vido was instrumental in shaping President Cristina Kirchner's record US$32 billion public works plan for 2009-2010. He later confirmed that the plan's headline project, the construction of the Buenos Aires-Rosario-Córdoba high-speed railway
Buenos Aires-Rosario-Córdoba high-speed railway
The Buenos Aires–Rosario–Córdoba high-speed railway is a project designed to link the Argentine cities of Buenos Aires, Rosario and Córdoba through a high-speed rail network. The plan, announced by President Néstor Kirchner during a press conference at the Casa Rosada on 26 April 2006, would be...
(the first of its kind in the Western Hemisphere), would be postponed in favor of developing greater nuclear power
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
capacity to satisfy growing electricity
Electricity sector in Argentina
The electricity sector in Argentina constitutes the third largest power market in Latin America. It relies mostly on thermal generation and hydropower generation , with new renewable energy technologies barely exploited. The country still has a large untapped hydroelectric potential...
demand.