Mauricio Macri
Encyclopedia
Mauricio Macri is an Argentine
businessman turned politician
, and Head of Government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. Son of Francisco Macri
, a businessman of Italian origin prominent in the industrial and construction sectors, he represented the City of Buenos Aires
in the Lower House of Congress and has held his current office since 10 December 2007.
He was considered a potential candidate for the 2011 general elections
, but declined to run for the presidency of the country and run instead for reelection as mayor. He got nearly 47% of the vote in the mayoral election, leading to a runoff
vote on 31 July 2011 against candidate Daniel Filmus.
, in the province
of Buenos Aires
, and studied at the Catholic University of Argentina
(UCA), where he received a degree in Civil Engineering
. In 1985, he also attended short courses at Columbia Business School
, Wharton Business School and the local Universidad del CEMA.
His professional experience started in SIDECO Americana S.A., a construction company belonging to his father's holding company
, the Socma Group, where we worked for 3 years as Junior Analyst, later becoming a Senior Analyst. In 1984, he worked in the credit department of Citibank
Argentina, in Buenos Aires. He joined Socma the same year, and from 1985 onward he served as General Manager. In 1992 he became the vicepresident of Sevel (then manufacturing Fiat
and Peugeot
automobiles under licence in Argentina, and part of Socma), climbing to the presidency in 1994.
In 1991, he was kidnapped for 12 days by officers of the Argentine Federal Police
, and then freed after his family reportedly paid a multi-million dollar ransom.
He has since said that during the ordeal, he decided to enter politics.
He gained recognition as president of the most popular football
club in Argentina, Boca Juniors
. He was elected in 1995 and reelected in 1999 and 2003, to complete one of the most successful periods of the club, winning several international competitions.
), and later that year he ran for mayor of the City of Buenos Aires for his party. He won the first round of the election with 33.9% but lost the runoff election
with 47% of the vote to his opponent Aníbal Ibarra
.
In 2005, he joined Ricardo López Murphy
of Recrear
to create a right-wing electoral front called Propuesta Republicana
(a.k.a. PRO ) and successfully ran in the City of Buenos Aires for the Argentine Chamber of Deputies
where he won with 33.9% of the votes.
Throughout 2006 he alternated his political activities as deputy with his presidency of the soccer club Boca Juniors
. During that year he was absent to a 70% of the polls at the Chamber of Deputies, something for what he was later widely criticized, to what he answered he didn't assist because the Congress "is a place where ideas are not debated".
In 2007 Macri was in discussions with right-conservative Jorge Sobisch
, governor of Neuquén Province
, ahead of the 2007 national elections. However, this agreement was in conflict with the previous alliance with Ricardo López Murphy who had decided to run for the presidency and had denounced Sobisch for corruption, providing as proof a video where Sobisch was bribing Jorge Taylor, deputy of the Radical party. Later that year, Sobisch image was severely damaged when the school teacher Carlos Fuentealba was killed during a syndical demonstration in Neuquén
. In front of this situation, Macri immediately defused his agreements with Sobisch and remained neutral during the national elections of 2007.
In February 2007 Macri announced that he would run once again for the mayoral elections of the City of Buenos Aires in the 2007, heading the PRO slate with Gabriela Michetti
as his running mate. In the first round of the election
on June 2 2007 he won with 45.6% of votes over the government-backed candidate, Daniel Filmus, who received 23.8% of votes. The incumbent
Jorge Telerman
, came in third place. The runoff election between Macri and Filmus took place on June 24 2007, and resulted in Macri's victory with 60.96% of the votes.
Macri's victory was largely analyzed as a defeat for President Néstor Kirchner
and turned the elected mayor into de facto leader of the right-wing opposition, which has remained fractured after the Argentine political crisis of late 2001. The perceived blow to Kirchner's political support was reinforced by the provincial elections on Tierra del Fuego, which took place on the same day, where another candidate backed by the national government lost to ARI
's Fabiana Ríos
.
Mauricio Macri made an alliance for the 2009 elections with Francisco de Narváez and Federico Solá. The alliance was successful, as De Narvaez defeated Kirchner in the Buenos Aires province and Michetti, Macri's candidate, won the elections in the city of Buenos Aires. Macri was thus considered as a likely candidate to dispute the presidency in the 2011 elections. However, the death of Néstor Kirchner improved the image of Cristina Kirchner, and the opposition fragmented into several candidatures. Macri proposed to organize a great opposition front to run against Kirchner, but was unsuccessful.
In 2011, instead of running for the presidency, he ran instead for his reelection as mayor. He won the first rounds of the election on July 10 2011, with 47.08% of votes against Filmus with 27.78% and Fernando "Pino" Solanas
as main rivals, and won the runoff against Filmus again on July 31, now with 64.25% of the votes.
on the 29th of each month, around the time of pay day). This action caused conflicts with the city unions which were followed up by strikes of the SUTECBA-CGT and ATE-CTA unions. In response to the strike, Macri administratively intervened the medical security organization of the city workers which depends on the unions.
After several months of negotiations with the National Government, they did not arrive to any agreement, and on March 2008, Macri announced he would create a new Metropolitan Police force under his control. On October 28, 2008, the law was sanctioned by the Legislature of Buenos Aires. Initially it would have approximately 1000 effectives and it should start working by the end of 2009. The situations in which this police force would be allowed to act, is yet to be determined by an agreement with the National Government, but in principle it would be allowed to act in evictions and traffic blocking protests.
The first chief of the Metropolitan Police, Jorge Alberto "Fino" Palacios
was forced to resign on August 25, 2009 after an important public resistance, due to an ongoing investigation about his involvement in the AMIA bombing of 1994, his successor being Osvaldo Chamorro, his second in chief.
as Chief of Police (because of its connections with the terrorist attack on the AMIA), he denounced in court was being spied on by the Police of the City of Buenos Aires. Shortly thereafter, the Justice observed that in fact, Burnstein was being spied upon by a band that would be part Fino and his successor Osvaldo Palacios Chamorro, a federal police lawyer who worked for the Ministry of Education of Buenos Aires (Ciro James), two judges of the Province of Misiones, among others.
The investigation revealed that the spying included opposition leaders and even leaders Macri's own party as well as businessmen, trade unionists and their families between the Head of Government, as the spies had illegally tapped the phone of his brother-in-law, a parapsychologist who had been threatened by the father of Macri, industrialist Franco Macri. In December 2009, were arrested for this case Fino Palacios, Osvaldo Ciro Chamorro and James, while he had to give the Education Minister Mariano Narodowski, by assuming the place the writer Abel Posse
.
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
businessman turned politician
Politics of Argentina
The politics of Argentina take place in the framework of what the Constitution defines as a federal presidential representative democratic Republic, where the President of Argentina is both Head of State and Head of Government. Legislative power is vested in both the President and the two chambers...
, and Head of Government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. Son of Francisco Macri
Francisco Macri
Francisco Macri is a prominent Argentine businessman and father of Mauricio Macri, current mayor of Buenos Aires.-Childhood in Italy:...
, a businessman of Italian origin prominent in the industrial and construction sectors, he represented the City of Buenos Aires
Buenos 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...
in the Lower House of Congress and has held his current office since 10 December 2007.
He was considered a potential candidate for the 2011 general elections
Argentine general election, 2011
Argentina held national presidential and legislative elections on 23 October 2011. Incumbent president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner secured a second term in office after the Front for Victory won just over half of the seats in the National Congress....
, but declined to run for the presidency of the country and run instead for reelection as mayor. He got nearly 47% of the vote in the mayoral election, leading to a runoff
Two-round system
The two-round system is a voting system used to elect a single winner where the voter casts a single vote for their chosen candidate...
vote on 31 July 2011 against candidate Daniel Filmus.
Biography
Mauricio Macri was born in TandilTandil
-Place name:The name of the city comes from the Mapuche words tan , and lil . It is probably a reference to the Piedra Movediza , a large boulder which stood seemingly miraculously balanced on the edge of a rocky foothill. The Moving Stone toppled on February 29, 1912, and split into two pieces at...
, in the province
Provinces of Argentina
Argentina is subdivided into twenty-three provinces and one autonomous city...
of Buenos Aires
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...
, and studied at the Catholic University of Argentina
Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina
The Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina is a university in Argentina with campus in the cities of Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, Rosario, Paraná, Mendoza and Pergamino. The main campus is located in Puerto Madero, one of the most modern neighborhood of Buenos Aires...
(UCA), where he received a degree in Civil Engineering
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
. In 1985, he also attended short courses at Columbia Business School
Columbia Business School
Columbia Business School is the business school of Columbia University in Manhattan, New York City. It was established in 1916 to provide business training and professional preparation for undergraduate and graduate Columbia University students...
, Wharton Business School and the local Universidad del CEMA.
His professional experience started in SIDECO Americana S.A., a construction company belonging to his father's holding company
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
, the Socma Group, where we worked for 3 years as Junior Analyst, later becoming a Senior Analyst. In 1984, he worked in the credit department of Citibank
Citibank
Citibank, a major international bank, is the consumer banking arm of financial services giant Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, later First National City Bank of New York...
Argentina, in Buenos Aires. He joined Socma the same year, and from 1985 onward he served as General Manager. In 1992 he became the vicepresident of Sevel (then manufacturing Fiat
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
and Peugeot
Peugeot
Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion...
automobiles under licence in Argentina, and part of Socma), climbing to the presidency in 1994.
In 1991, he was kidnapped for 12 days by officers of the Argentine Federal Police
Policía Federal Argentina
The Policía Federal Argentina is a police force of the Argentine federal government. The PFA has detachments throughout the country, but its main responsibility is policing the Federal District of Buenos Aires...
, and then freed after his family reportedly paid a multi-million dollar ransom.
He has since said that during the ordeal, he decided to enter politics.
He gained recognition as president of the most popular football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
club in Argentina, Boca Juniors
Boca Juniors
Club Atlético Boca Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Boca neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Primera División....
. He was elected in 1995 and reelected in 1999 and 2003, to complete one of the most successful periods of the club, winning several international competitions.
Political career
In 2003 Macri made his political debut when he founded the centre-right party Compromiso para el Cambio (Commitment to ChangeCommitment to Change
Commitment to Change is a centre-right political party in Argentina, principally active in the city of Buenos Aires.The party is led by Mauricio Macri, businessman and chairman of Boca Juniors football club. It has been active since he stood to be Mayor of Buenos Aires in 2003. He won the first...
), and later that year he ran for mayor of the City of Buenos Aires for his party. He won the first round of the election with 33.9% but lost the runoff election
Two-round system
The two-round system is a voting system used to elect a single winner where the voter casts a single vote for their chosen candidate...
with 47% of the vote to his opponent Aníbal Ibarra
Aníbal Ibarra
Aníbal Ibarra is an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as mayor of Buenos Aires from 2000 to 2006.-Biography:Ibarra was born in Lomas de Zamora, a district located in the southern region of Greater Buenos Aires. His father was a Paraguayan member of the PLRA who left his country during the...
.
In 2005, he joined Ricardo López Murphy
Ricardo López Murphy
Ricardo Hipólito López Murphy is an Argentine economist and politician.-Career:López Murphy was born in Adrogué, Buenos Aires Province. He attended the National University of La Plata, where he was awarded the title of "Licenciado en Economía" in 1975...
of Recrear
Recreate for Growth
Recreate for Growth was a conservative liberal political party in Argentina, that existed from 2002 to 2009.The party was formed in March 2002, mostly by market-oriented members of the Radical Civic Union, headed by Ricardo López Murphy....
to create a right-wing electoral front called Propuesta Republicana
Republican Proposal
Republican Proposal is a right-wing political party in Argentina. It is usually referred to as PRO. PRO was formed as an electoral alliance in 2005, but was transformed into a unitary party on 3 June 2010....
(a.k.a. PRO ) and successfully ran in the City of Buenos Aires for the Argentine Chamber of Deputies
Argentine Chamber of Deputies
The Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Argentine National Congress. This Chamber holds exclusive rights to create taxes, to draft troops, and to accuse the President, the ministers and the members of the Supreme Court before the Senate....
where he won with 33.9% of the votes.
Throughout 2006 he alternated his political activities as deputy with his presidency of the soccer club Boca Juniors
Boca Juniors
Club Atlético Boca Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Boca neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Primera División....
. During that year he was absent to a 70% of the polls at the Chamber of Deputies, something for what he was later widely criticized, to what he answered he didn't assist because the Congress "is a place where ideas are not debated".
In 2007 Macri was in discussions with right-conservative Jorge Sobisch
Jorge Sobisch
Jorge Omar Sobisch is an Argentine centre-right politician, formerly governor of Neuquén Province. He leads the Neuquén People's Movement and was a candidate for President of Argentina in 2007.-Biography:...
, governor of Neuquén Province
Neuquén Province
Neuquén is a province of Argentina, located in the west of the country, at the northern end of Patagonia. It borders Mendoza Province to the north, Rio Negro Province to the southeast, and Chile to the west...
, ahead of the 2007 national elections. However, this agreement was in conflict with the previous alliance with Ricardo López Murphy who had decided to run for the presidency and had denounced Sobisch for corruption, providing as proof a video where Sobisch was bribing Jorge Taylor, deputy of the Radical party. Later that year, Sobisch image was severely damaged when the school teacher Carlos Fuentealba was killed during a syndical demonstration in Neuquén
Neuquén, Argentina
-Sister cities:Neuquén is sister city, as designated by Sister Cities International with: Knoxville, Tennessee, United States Treviso, Veneto, Italy Valdivia, Chile-External links: - Official website....
. In front of this situation, Macri immediately defused his agreements with Sobisch and remained neutral during the national elections of 2007.
In February 2007 Macri announced that he would run once again for the mayoral elections of the City of Buenos Aires in the 2007, heading the PRO slate with Gabriela Michetti
Gabriela Michetti
Marta Gabriela Michetti is an Argentine politician. She is a member of the Commitment to Change party, part of the Republican Proposal coalition. Michetti was Deputy Head of Government in Buenos Aires during the tenure of Mayor Mauricio Macri.-Biography:Marta Michetti was born in 1965 in the...
as his running mate. In the first round of the election
Two-round system
The two-round system is a voting system used to elect a single winner where the voter casts a single vote for their chosen candidate...
on June 2 2007 he won with 45.6% of votes over the government-backed candidate, Daniel Filmus, who received 23.8% of votes. The incumbent
Incumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
Jorge Telerman
Jorge Telerman
Jorge Telerman is an Argentine politician and journalist. He was the fourth Chief of Government of Buenos Aires City, replacing Aníbal Ibarra between 2006 and 2007...
, came in third place. The runoff election between Macri and Filmus took place on June 24 2007, and resulted in Macri's victory with 60.96% of the votes.
Macri's victory was largely analyzed as a defeat for 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 ...
and turned the elected mayor into de facto leader of the right-wing opposition, which has remained fractured after the Argentine political crisis of late 2001. The perceived blow to Kirchner's political support was reinforced by the provincial elections on Tierra del Fuego, which took place on the same day, where another candidate backed by the national government lost to 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 :...
's Fabiana Ríos
Fabiana Ríos
María Fabiana Ríos is an Argentine politician of the party ARI . She is the governor of the province of Tierra del Fuego since December 17, 2007. She is currently the only woman governor in Argentina.Ríos was elected governor on June 24, 2007...
.
Mauricio Macri made an alliance for the 2009 elections with Francisco de Narváez and Federico Solá. The alliance was successful, as De Narvaez defeated Kirchner in the Buenos Aires province and Michetti, Macri's candidate, won the elections in the city of Buenos Aires. Macri was thus considered as a likely candidate to dispute the presidency in the 2011 elections. However, the death of Néstor Kirchner improved the image of Cristina Kirchner, and the opposition fragmented into several candidatures. Macri proposed to organize a great opposition front to run against Kirchner, but was unsuccessful.
In 2011, instead of running for the presidency, he ran instead for his reelection as mayor. He won the first rounds of the election on July 10 2011, with 47.08% of votes against Filmus with 27.78% and Fernando "Pino" Solanas
Fernando Solanas
Fernando Ezequiel 'Pino' Solanas is an Argentine film director, screenwriter and politician....
as main rivals, and won the runoff against Filmus again on July 31, now with 64.25% of the votes.
Union conflicts
One of the first administrative decisions taken by his government was to fire 2400 city employees under contract, whose contracts were not renewed, claiming that they were "ñoquis" (employees who receive a salary but do little or no work, a term derived from the Argentine tradition of eating gnocchiGnocchi
Gnocchi are various thick, soft dumplings. They may be made from semolina, ordinary wheat flour, flour and egg, flour, egg, and cheese, potato, bread crumbs, or similar ingredients. The smaller forms are called gnocchetti....
on the 29th of each month, around the time of pay day). This action caused conflicts with the city unions which were followed up by strikes of the SUTECBA-CGT and ATE-CTA unions. In response to the strike, Macri administratively intervened the medical security organization of the city workers which depends on the unions.
Metropolitan police
The main police force which acts in the city is the Argentine Federal Police. The city, being a capital district until 1994 when a new National Constitution was sanctioned, did not elect the mayor who by then was appointed by the president. When in 1996 the new City Constitution was created, a national law was passed, known as "Cafiero Law", which kept the Federal Police control for the Ministry of Justice of the National Government. Since then this lack of control for any police force from the mayor, has been a persistent problem between the city and the federal government.After several months of negotiations with the National Government, they did not arrive to any agreement, and on March 2008, Macri announced he would create a new Metropolitan Police force under his control. On October 28, 2008, the law was sanctioned by the Legislature of Buenos Aires. Initially it would have approximately 1000 effectives and it should start working by the end of 2009. The situations in which this police force would be allowed to act, is yet to be determined by an agreement with the National Government, but in principle it would be allowed to act in evictions and traffic blocking protests.
The first chief of the Metropolitan Police, Jorge Alberto "Fino" Palacios
Jorge Alberto Palacios
Jorge Alberto Palacios, also known as "Fino" Palacios is a controversial Argentine policeman.-Jobs:In 2009 he was appointed by Mauricio Macri to lead the Metropolitan Police, the new police force of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires...
was forced to resign on August 25, 2009 after an important public resistance, due to an ongoing investigation about his involvement in the AMIA bombing of 1994, his successor being Osvaldo Chamorro, his second in chief.
Spy scandal
In October 2009, Sergio Burnstein, one of the leaders of the Jewish community who had led the opposition against the appointment of Fino PalaciosJorge Alberto Palacios
Jorge Alberto Palacios, also known as "Fino" Palacios is a controversial Argentine policeman.-Jobs:In 2009 he was appointed by Mauricio Macri to lead the Metropolitan Police, the new police force of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires...
as Chief of Police (because of its connections with the terrorist attack on the AMIA), he denounced in court was being spied on by the Police of the City of Buenos Aires. Shortly thereafter, the Justice observed that in fact, Burnstein was being spied upon by a band that would be part Fino and his successor Osvaldo Palacios Chamorro, a federal police lawyer who worked for the Ministry of Education of Buenos Aires (Ciro James), two judges of the Province of Misiones, among others.
The investigation revealed that the spying included opposition leaders and even leaders Macri's own party as well as businessmen, trade unionists and their families between the Head of Government, as the spies had illegally tapped the phone of his brother-in-law, a parapsychologist who had been threatened by the father of Macri, industrialist Franco Macri. In December 2009, were arrested for this case Fino Palacios, Osvaldo Ciro Chamorro and James, while he had to give the Education Minister Mariano Narodowski, by assuming the place the writer Abel Posse
Abel Posse
Abel Parentini Posse, born Córdoba, Argentina, on 7 January 1934, is an Argentine diplomat and writer. He was designated at a diplomatic mission in Venice by Alejandro Agustín Lanusse in 1973 and hold similar offices during the following Argentine governments, both military and civilian...
.