Gerardo Morales (politician)
| Gerardo Morales | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argentine Senator from Jujuy Province | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office December 10, 2001 | |
| President of the National Committee of the Radical Civic Union | |
| In office December 1, 2006 – December 5, 2009 | |
| Preceded by | Roberto Iglesias |
| Succeeded by | Ernesto Sanz |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 18, 1959 Jujuy Province |
| Nationality | Argentine |
| Political party | Radical Civic Union |
| Profession | Public accountant |
Gerardo Rubén Morales (born July 18, 1959) is an Argentine politician, leader of the Radical Civic Union (UCR). He is a member of the Argentine Senate representing Jujuy Province, elected for the Front of Jujuy. He was a candidate for Vice President of Argentina on Roberto Lavagna's UNA ticket in the 2007 elections.
Biography
Morales was born in Jujuy Province. He worked on the Ferrocarril General Manuel Belgrano railway as a waiter at age 18, and was promoted to the post of administrator. He enrolled at the National University of Jujuy, where he earned a degree in Accountancy. Morales was later appointed Director of Liquidations at the Provincial Insurance Institute. He also lectured and was politically active at university, teaching in Political Economy courses from 1985 to 1993. He married in 1985, and had three children; he admitted to past infidelities in a 2008 interview.[1]
In 1989 Morales was elected as a provincial deputy and in 1993 became leader of the UCR block in the legislature. He served as president of the Finance Committee in 1991 and 1992. He was nominated for Vice Governor of Jujuy in a defeated 1991 UCR ticket, and with the support of party leader Raúl Alfonsín, ran for Governor of Jujuy in 1995 and 1999, albeit unsuccessfully. He stepped down as a Jujuy Congressman in 2000 to join the national government of President Fernando de la Rúa as Secretary for Social Development.[2] Morales was elected to the Argentine Senate in 2001 mid-term elections.
After the election of Néstor Kirchner as President of Argentina in 2003, many leading Radicals publicly supported Kirchner's populist left-wing agenda. The group, known as Radicales K, included provincial governors and national legislators. The national president of the Radicals, Roberto Iglesias took a hard-line approach against Kirchner, however, opposing efforts to re-align UCR elected officials toward the popular Kirchner.[3] Morales, who supported Iglesias' policy, was re-elected to the Senate in 2005.
Iglesias led negotiations to find a suitable candidate for the UCR to back in the 2007 Presidential elections against Kirchner's wife and FpV nominee, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. Roberto Lavagna, a former minister under Kirchner who subsequently opposed his policies, appeared to be the favored candidate for the majority of the party. Iglesias resigned the presidency of the party in November 2006, however, due to differences with Lavagna, having reached the conclusion that an alliance with him would be a mistake, and joined those who maintained that the party should look for its own candidate (the so-called Radicales R).[4]
The UCR National Committee appointed Morales as its new president in December 2006. Morales supported the party's Rosario convention, in which Alfonsín's call for an alliance with Lavagna was adopted into the party platform.[5] He became Lavagna's running mate in the presidential election of October 2007, on a centrist electoral front known as "An Advanced Nation" ('UNA'), and placed third.
Morales entered subsequently into a heated political dispute with Milagro Sala, the leader of the Indigenist Tupac Amaru Neighborhood Association. He was attacked in 2009, though without injury, by two youths tied to the association, and filed charges against their leader.[6] Sala, who denied involvement, alleged that the accusations were politically and racially motivated.[7] She responded with demands that Morales' estate be investigated, and each exchanged accusations of corruption.[8]
Morales was elected leader of the UCR Caucus in the Senate in December 2009; he succeeded Ernesto Sanz, who replaced Morales as President of the party's National Committee.[9]
References
- ↑ "Fui infiel y me arrepiento". Prensa Jujuy.
- ↑ "De la Rúa colocó a un alfonsinista en un puesto clave del área social". La Nación.
- ↑ Iglesias calificó de "traidores y cobardes" a sus rivales internos (Spanish)
- ↑ Sorpresiva renuncia de Iglesias a la presidencia de la UCR (Spanish)
- ↑ La UCR eligió a un hombre cercano a Lavagna como conductor del partido (Spanish)
- ↑ "Procesaron a Milagro Sala por la agresión al senador Morales=". La Nación.
- ↑ "Milagro Sala defends her housing programme". Buenos Aires Herald.
- ↑ "Cruces entre Morales y Milagro Sala por los fondos del Gobierno". El Cronista Comercial.
- ↑ "Ernesto Sanz fue elegido como nuevo presidente del Comité Nacional de la UCR". MDZ Online.