The ambassador to Brazil, Daniel Osvaldo Scioli, former Vice President of the Nation, former Governor of Buenos Aires and candidate for President for the Victory Front in the 2015 elections that ended with the victory of Mauricio Macri, was confirmed as Minister of Productive Development to replace Matías Kulfas, in what promises to be another chapter in a prolific political career that began in the ’90s in the ranks of Justicialism.
Scioli’s appointment comes after President Alberto Fernández asked Kulfas to resignafter considering “ethically reprehensible” the dissemination of an ‘off’ report on the bidding process for the Néstor Kirchner gas pipeline.
In a day that had begun with the accusation by Vice President Cristina Fernández of “officials of the government itself” of “carrying out attacks, without showing their faces, lying and using journalists.”
In this context, the arrival of Scioli is a way of reaffirming the unity of the ruling party that the President and Vice President exhibited on Friday when they led an act for the centenary of the creation of YPF at the Tecnópolis site.
Scioli gained public recognition in the early ’90s by participating in powerboating competitions that captured the attention of television audiences in that decade.
That notoriety earned him the approval of the then President Carlos Saúl Menem to start a public journey that began in 1997 with a seat of deputy of the Nation for the Justicialist Party.
With a history that mixes the sports epic, the entrepreneurial past, his empathy with the media, Scioli knew with that experience to sweep the ups and downs of Peronism during the last 25 years, to the point of becoming one of the protagonists of Argentine politics .
Scioli was defined over the years by his fellow militants as “a man who doesn’t talk much” but who “has a firm conviction to fulfill what he sets out to do, with a lot of patience and always turning the other cheek to criticism. “, which was transforming him into a leader with a fireproof image.
That second son of an important appliance entrepreneur who owned “Casa Scioli” was often underestimated for his uncreative or repetitive speeches with common words like “faith” and “hope.”
Another of the strong winds that the former motonaut managed to overcome was the constant distrust of some leaders who pointed him out as “not very loyal” to the project that Néstor Kirchner started in 2003 and that had him as vice president until 2007.
He never distanced himself from Kirchnerism despite the internal disputes that surrounded him in the twelve years that this political space governed Argentina.
The man born on January 13, 1957 and who lived his first years in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Villa Crespo, many politicians and businessmen imagined him facing Cristina Fernández when he was president, however, it was she who anointed him as a Front candidate. of Victory in 2015.
With his style that combines the classic liturgy of a Peronist leader with the ways of a businessman, always concerned about maintaining a good relationship with the media, Scioli knew how to gain the trust and respect of Kirchnerism and the other sectors that make up Peronism.
A sports lover and fan of Boca Juniors, he turned his place in the world, Villa La Ñata -in the municipality of Tigre-, into an important venue for professional futsal.
As a businessman, he was also a representative of Electrolux in Argentina; and in the public function he was vice president (2003-2007); Governor of Buenos Aires (2007-2015); national deputy for the city of Buenos Aires (1997-2002); Secretary of Tourism and Sports (2002); Vice President in charge of the PJ; but Scioli lacked a university diploma and in September he received a Bachelor of Marketing from UADE.
The student who began his primary studies at Colegio Ward, during the years he lived in Ramos Mejía, and who continued secondary school at Carlos Pellegrini, fulfilled the promise he had with his deceased father José -his mother’s name was Esther Méndez- and He graduated from the Universidad Argentina de la Empresa.
Despite his relevant positions in the public service, his media appearances and his sports history, in popular memory there are still images of the tragic boating accident in 1989, which caused the total loss of his right arm and marked him for all time. life.
In 2015, in the final days of the electoral campaign ahead of the ballot, he starred in a memorable debate with Macri, in which he anticipated many of the measures that the leader of the PRO would take in government, such as the return to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the layoffs in the public and private sectors that took place during the Cambiemos government.
He returned to the Chamber of Deputies in the legislative elections of 2017, when he ranked fifth on the list of candidates for Unidad Ciudadana, which led Cristina Fernández as candidate for first senator.
Alberto Fernández invited him to attend the first presidential debate ahead of the 2019 elections, and when looking at the camera he pointed to Macri and blurted out: “Four years ago, there was a candidate who lied and another who told the truth. One is in this stage, and the other is in the auditorium.
After winning those elections, Fernández appointed him as ambassador to Brazil to manage the relationship with the country’s main trading partner that was prefigured as conflictive under the presidency of the right-wing Jair Bolsonaro, but Scioli knew how to maintain a formal relationship from Brasilia that ensured the continuity of the commercial link with the neighboring country.
Based on his performance as a diplomat in Brazil, his loyalty to the government and Kirchnerism, and his temperance when it comes to making politics and executing decisions, Scioli returns to the government in a key area to ensure the recovery of the economy and the production growth that is verified after the coronavirus pandemic.
In short, he will have a key task to ensure the chances of the Frente de Todos for the 2023 elections.
