| Jorge Argüello | |
|---|---|
| Ambassador of Argentina to the United States | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office December 1, 2011 |
|
| Preceded by | Alfredo Chiaradía |
| Permanent Representative of Argentina to the United Nations | |
| In office June 18, 2007 – December 1, 2011 |
|
| Preceded by | César Mayoral |
| National Deputy from Buenos Aires |
|
| In office December 10, 2003 – June 18, 2007 |
|
| Member of the Buenos Aires City Legislature | |
| In office December 4, 1997 – December 10, 2003 |
|
| National Deputy from Buenos Aires |
|
| In office December 10, 1991 – December 10, 1995 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 20, 1956 Buenos Aires |
| Nationality | Argentine |
| Political party | Justicialist Party |
| Alma mater | University of Buenos Aires University of San Andrés |
Jorge Martín Arturo Argüello (born April 20, 1956) is an Argentine politician and diplomat. He served as Permanent Representative of Argentina to the United Nations between 2007 and 2011, and was designated Ambassador of Argentina to the United States in 2011.
Argüello was born in Buenos Aires in 1956. He graduated from Rochester Community High School, Rochester, Indiana, in 1974, and returned to Argentina, where he enrolled at the University of Buenos Aires and earned a Law degree in 1985.[1] He later earned a Master’s degree in public administration at the University of San Andrés, and authored numerous articles and books on voter participation.[2]
He entered public service upon his election in 1987 to the Buenos Aires City Council, and served in the Argentine Chamber of Deputies between 1991 and 1995. Argüello served as host organizer in 1994 of the first official visit to Argentina of a British Parliamentary delegation since the Falklands War twelve years earlier, and later represented Latin America in the 1994-95 meeting of the Parliamentarians for Global Action. He was elected to the convention called in 1996 to amend the Constitution of the City of Buenos Aires, and in 1997 defected from the Justicialist Party (JP) ahead of elections to the newly-established Buenos Aires City Legislature. He led the party list of candidates in an alliance between Patricia Bullrich's Union for All and the MID, and emerged as the sole legislator elected on that ticket.[3]
Returning to the JP as a member of the center-left Front for Victory caucus, Argüello was again elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 2003. He became Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee in 2005, and in that capacity organized the office of the Parliamentary Monitor for the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas). These efforts led to his designation as Permanent Representative of Argentina to the United Nations in 2007.[4] Argüello's tenure at the UN was marked by ongoing efforts to advance Argentine claims in the Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute, and he created controversy in 2011 by maintaining that the government of Prime Minister David Cameron exempted the territory from sharp budget cuts lest the Kelpers "emigrate to Argentina, where the opposite thing is happening."[5] British officials denied this, stating that Argüello was "grossly misinformed."[6]
Argüello served as Vice President of the Peace and Security Committee of Inter-Parliamentary Union in 2006 and 2007.[1] He was appointed Chairman of the UN Special Committee on Decolonization in 2008,[2] and of the Group of 77 for their 2011 session;[7] his tenure was highlighted by his support for the Kyoto Protocol.[8] He was designated as Ambassador of Argentina to the United States in November, and his credentials were formally accepted on December 1.[6]