Aníbal Fernández

Aníbal Domingo Fernández (b. Quilmes, 1957-01-09 is an Argentine Justicialist Party politician, currently Minister of Justice in the government of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and previously Interior Minister under President Néstor Kirchner.

Born in Buenos Aires Province, Fernández studied to become an accountant and lawyer. He entered public service, working for the municipalities of Quilmes Partido and Florencio Varela Partido from 1983. From 1985 to 1991 he also worked for the Peronist bloc in the Senate of the Province of Buenos Aires.

In 1991, Fernández was elected Mayor of Quilmes. In 1995 he became a provincial senator and chaired the Public Health committee. He won the award for best senator in 1996. In June 1997 he was appointed to assist the province's Minister of Government and Justice, Dr. José María Díaz Bancalari. In December 1999, Governor Carlos Ruckauf made him Secretary of Labour, promoting him to be the province's first Minister of Labour in 2001.

In January 2002, the then-President of Argentina Eduardo Duhalde appointed Fernández as General Secretary of the Presidency in the national cabinet, and moved him to be Minister of Production in October 2002. In 2003 Kirchner appointed him Interior Minister.

Following the scandal of infant malnutrition in Tucumán in November 2002, Fernández famously stated that this was caused by "a sick society and a ruling class that are sons of bitches, all of them, myself included." [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/latin_america/newsid_2527000/2527457.stm BBC Mundo | AMÉRICA LATINA | 4. Paradojas de noticias y exabruptos ] ]

Fernández is married with one son and is a passionate fan of Quilmes Atlético football club. He is the president of the Jauretche Institute.

He was believed to be planning to run for Governor of Buenos Aires Province in the 2007 elections, but his party (Front For Victory) chose Daniel Scioli instead. New President Cristina Kirchner reappointed him to her cabinet following her inauguration in December 2007.

External links

* [http://www.gestionmininterior.com.ar Newspaper of the Ministry of Interior]
* [http://www.jauretche.org Site of the Institute Jauretche]
* [http://www.mininterior.gov.ar/institucional/trayectoria.asp Ministry of Interior profile]

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