- María Eugenia Vidal
-
María Eugenia Vidal 
Minister of Social Development
of the City of Buenos AiresIncumbent Assumed office
May 27, 2008Preceded by Esteban Bullrich Personal details Born 1974
Buenos AiresPolitical party Republican Proposal Spouse(s) Ramiro Tagliaferro Alma mater Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina María Eugenia Vidal (born in 1974) is an Argentine politician. Affiliated with the Republican Proposal party, she was appointed Minister of Social Development of the City of Buenos Aires, and in 2011 was elected Deputy Mayor.
Life and times
Vidal was born in Buenos Aires. She was raised in the Flores ward and enrolled in the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina, earning a degree in Political Science.[1][2] She met Ramiro Tagliaferro, a classmate at the university, and they were married in 1998; the couple had a son and two daughters.[1]
She began her career in Grupo Sophia, a think tank founded by Horacio Rodríguez Larreta. She was named director of the group's social policy desk in 2000, as well as of Fundación Creer y Crecer, a think tank organized by Commitment to Change, a conservative political party led by mayoral candidate Mauricio Macri.[3] Vidal was elected to the Buenos Aires City Legislature in 2003, and was appointed Chair of the Committee on Women and Youth.[2] She served in the Human Resources Department at PAMI (the national health insurance service for the elderly and disabled), and as adviser to ANSES (the social security administration), as well as the nation's Ministries of Social Development and Foreign Relations.[4][5]
Vidal was fielded in the Republican Proposal (PRO) party list as a candidate for a seat in the Argentine Chamber of Deputies for Buenos Aires Province in 2005, though unsuccessfully.[6] The election of PRO leader Mauricio Macri as Mayor of Buenos Aires in 2007 led to Vidal's nomination as the city's Minister of Social Development. She requested maternity leave from the post ahead of her scheduled December 10 swearing-in for the birth of her third child, and took office on May 27, 2008.[2]
Vidal's profile rose following the 2009 election of Deputy Mayor Gabriela Michetti to a seat in the Chamber of Deputies, and she became Mayor Macri's most visible female adviser.[1] Consistent with the Mayor's policy, she took a hard-line stance against the growing number of squatters and led the city government's opposition to the national government's policy of tolerating the illegal practice and negotiating with occupants.[1] She faced numerous incidents related to this problem, notably the attempted takeover on December 2010 of an undeveloped section of the Parque Indoamericano and of nearby public housing units slated for slum clearance; she refused squatters' demands in each incident, prompting federal authorities to evict them and thereby limit their policy of permissiveness in this regard.[5]
Following Macri's decision to forfeit a PRO candidacy for the 2011 presidential election, and instead seek a second term as Mayor, he nominated Vidal as his running mate.[4] The duo were reelected in a landslide on July 31, 2011, receiving over 64% of the vote.[7]
References
- ^ a b c d "Vidal, de alumna ejemplar a la chance de ser la vicejefa de Macri". Perfil. http://www.perfil.com/ediciones/2011/7/edicion_595/contenidos/noticia_0005.html.
- ^ a b c "Asumió María Eugenia Vidal en reemplazo de Esteban Bullrich". Buenos Aires Ciudad. http://buenosaires.gov.ar/areas/des_social/noticias/?modulo=ver&item_id=5&contenido_id=23459&idioma=es.
- ^ "Quién es María Eugenia Vidal, la candidata a vice de Macri". Diario Z. http://www.diarioz.com.ar/nota-quien-es-maria-eugenia-vidal-la-candidata-a-vice-de-macri.html.
- ^ a b "Macri confirmó que María Eugenia Vidal será su compañera de fórmula". Clarín. http://www.clarin.com/politica/Macri-inclino-mujer-Vidal-vice_0_479952264.html.
- ^ a b "Informe Reservado". http://www.informereservado.net/noticia.php?noticia=33996#.
- ^ "Propuesta Republicana". La Nación. http://www.lanacion.com.ar/748855-propuesta-republicana.
- ^ "Macri re-elected BA Mayor after defeating Filmus by 28.5 points". Buenos Aires Herald. http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/74614/macri-reelected-ba-mayor-after-defeating-filmus-by-285-points.
Categories:- 1974 births
- Living people
- People from Buenos Aires
- Argentine people of Spanish descent
- Argentine Catholic University alumni
- Republican Proposal politicians
- Argentine women in politics
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