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Jorge Capitanich

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Jorge Capitanich
Governor of Chaco
Incumbent
Assumed office
10 December 2019
Vice GovernorAnalía Rach Quiroga
Preceded byDomingo Peppo
In office
10 December 2007 – 10 December 2015
On leave: 20 November 2013 – 27 February 2015
Vice GovernorJuan Carlos Bacileff Ivanoff
Preceded byRoy Nikisch
Succeeded byDomingo Peppo
Mayor of Resistencia
In office
10 December 2015 – 10 December 2019
Preceded byAída Ayala
Succeeded byGustavo Martínez
Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers
In office
20 November 2013 – 26 February 2015
PresidentCristina Fernández de Kirchner
Preceded byJuan Manuel Abal Medina
Succeeded byAníbal Fernández
In office
2 January 2002 – 3 May 2002
PresidentEduardo Duhalde
Preceded byAntonio Cafiero
Succeeded byAlfredo Atanasof
National Senator
In office
10 December 2001 – 10 December 2007
ConstituencyChaco
Minister of Economy, Social Development, Labour and Health
In office
21 December 2001 – 23 December 2007
PresidentRamón Puerta
Preceded byDomingo Cavallo (as Minister of Economy)
Succeeded byRodolfo Frigeri (as Secretary of the Treasury)
Personal details
Born (1964-11-28) 28 November 1964 (age 60)
Presidencia Roque Sáenz Peña, Argentina
Political partyJusticialist Party
Alma materNational University of the Northeast
University of Belgrano
University of San Andrés

Jorge Milton Capitanich (born November 28, 1964) is an Argentine politician, businessman, and accountant who became Governor of Chaco Province in 2019, having held the position before from 2007 to 2013 and then from February to December 2015. A member of the Justicialist Party, he previously served as Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers from 2013 until 2015, serving under President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, as intendente (mayor) of Chaco's capital city, Resistencia, and as National Senator, representing Chaco as well. Since 2007 he has also been president of the Sarmiento Athletic Club.

Capitanich's career, stated La Nación in November 2013, has been “punctuated by harsh allegations of corruption.”[1] He has been described elsewhere as “a true symbol of the corruption of politics in Argentina”[2] He is said to have been a favorite of the late President Nestor Kirchner,[3] and La Nación has called him “a loyal Kirchnerista since the first hour” and a perennial Peronist. As of November 2013, he was considered a leading contender in the presidential election of 2015.[4]

Early life and education

Capitanich (originally Kapitanić) descends from the first Montenegrins who settled in Chaco and created Colonia La Montenegrina, the biggest Montenegrin colony in South America. He was born in Presidencia Roque Sáenz Peña, the son of Daniel Capitanich and Mirca Popovich, who owned a small farm.[2] The family hails from Banjani.[5]

He attended the National University of the Northeast, graduating with a degree in accountancy in 1988. He earned a post-graduate degree in public administration from the University of Belgrano in 1991, and taught in his discipline. In 1999 he obtained a master's degree in Economics and Political Science at the School of Economics and Business Administration.[6]

Capitanich destroying a Clarín newspaper after wrongly accusing the newspaper of publishing false information. 2015

Career

Early political career

Capitanich took up his first position in politics in 1987, serving as private secretary to the Governor of Chaco province, Danilo Baroni,[4]

Capitanich thereafter experienced a quick rise through the government ranks. In 1994 he was named coordinator of a private-sector jobs-creation program in the Ministry of Assistance for the Reform of the Provincial Economy. The next year he became assistant secretary for technical-administrative coordination in the Ministry of Social Development. In 1998, he was appointed assistant secretary of social projects in the Ministry of Social Development. And in 2001, he was named Minister of Infrastructure.[2][7]

Senate

Capitanich was elected Senator for Chaco in October 2001, and named Argentina's interim Minister of Economy of Argentina during the institutional crisis of December 21 of that year, serving for two days in the post. President Eduardo Duhalde appointed Capitanich Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers on January 2, 2002.[6] While in that position under Duhalde, Capitanich was involved in the consulting firm M-Unit, for which he was accused of arranging covert government financing.[2] He worked at M-Unit with Economy Minister Axel Kicillof, with whom he collaborated on a book.[8] Capitanich held the position of Cabinet Chief until May 2002.

He retained his Senate seat, and supported President Néstor Kirchner's Front for Victory. In 2003 he stood to be governor of Chaco, but was defeated by Roy Nikisch of the Radical Civic Union.

Governor

On 12 September 2007, he stepped down from the senate to be elected Governor of Chaco on 16 September 2007, taking office on December 10.[9] In that election, he defeated former governor Ángel Rozas by a margin of just 0.8% of the vote.[10] Capitanich was the first Argentine of Montenegrin origin to hold the Governor's post in any province.

While he was governor of Chaco, Capitanich appointed his wife, Sandra Mendoza, to be provincial Minister of Health. Her handling of a 2009 dengue epidemic in the province was criticized because she used expired pesticides on the mosquitoes. Capitanich asked her to resign, in response to which she “jumped into her Toyota truck and proceeded to use it as a battering ram, destroying six parked cars and an entire section of the government building’s wall.” She then campaigned successfully to represent Chaco in Congress, and led a protest outside the statehouse in which 30 people were detained. She filed for divorce shortly thereafter.[7]

In May 2013, Capitanich's vice governor, Juan Carlos Bacileff Ivanoff, accused him of doing nothing to combat drug trafficking. Bacileff said that Capitanich had lost control of the province and described it as being in a state of “anarchy.” One report noted that the province is located “near the smuggling hub of the Triple Frontier, which is a major transit point for drugs smuggled out of Paraguay and into Argentina,” and that the Sinaloa Cartel allegedly produces and distributes synthetic drugs in the province. Members of the opposition Radical Civil Union Party (UCR) filed a petition to investigate Bacileff's charges.[11]


Gabinet chief

In 2013, during the second term of Cristina Fernández, he was appointed Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers and Bacileff Ivanoff replaced him as acting governor of the province of Chaco. As Chief of Staff, he was characterized by regularly submitting reports to both houses of Congress and holding daily morning press conferences.

On February 26, 2015, his replacement by the Secretary General of the Presidency, Aníbal Fernández, was announced. Capitanich had announced that same day, his intention to run for Mayor of the City of Resistance. The next day, he resumed as governor of the Chaco.

Honors and awards

In 1997 Capitanich received the Annual ADEBA (Association of Argentine Banks) Award for efficiency in social spending.[12]

In 2008 he was given a Konex Award in recognition of his career as a senator.

Personal life

Capitanich and Sandra Mendoza have two daughters together.[4]

References

  1. ^ "Dos denuncias de corrupción que salpicaron a Jorge Capitanich". La Nación. Nov 21, 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d "ARGENTINA, CHACO: ¿QUIEN ES JORGE MILTON CAPITANICH POPOVICH?". Bajando Lineas. Jun 25, 2012. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02.
  3. ^ Leuco, Alfredo (Nov 29, 2013). "El socio de Coqui". Perfil.
  4. ^ a b c "Quién es quién en el nuevo gabinete". La Nación. Nov 19, 2013.
  5. ^ "Metropolitan Amfilohije meets with Jorge Capitanich, Governor of the province of Chaco". SPC.
  6. ^ a b "Bendición presidencial para Capitanich: triple mal trago para Gildo Insfrán". Misiones para Todos.
  7. ^ a b Beaudette, Noah (Dec 20, 2013). "If Capitanich Wants to be President, He Needs a (Non) Crazy Ex-wife". The Bubble.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference per was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "MONTENEGRINA - digitalna biblioteka crnogorske kulture i nasljedja". www.montenegrina.net.
  10. ^ "Chaco: Jorge Capitanich se impuso por menos del 0,8% y se proclamó gobernador". www.clarin.com. September 16, 2007.
  11. ^ Bargent, James (May 15, 2013). "Drug Trade "Anarchy" in Argentina Border State Sparks Controversy". Insight Crime.
  12. ^ "actividades premio adeba". ADEBA.
Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Economy
Acting
2001 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers
2002 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Governor of Chaco
2007–2013 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers
2013–2015 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Governor of Chaco
2015 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Mayor of Resistencia
2015–2019 		Succeeded by
Gustavo Martínez
Preceded by Governor of Chaco
2019–present 		Succeeded by
Incument
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