Graciela Ocaña | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Legislator of the City of Buenos Aires | |
| Assumed office 10 December 2023 | |
| In office 10 December 2013 – 10 December 2017 | |
| National Deputy | |
| In office 10 December 2017 – 10 December 2023 | |
| Constituency | Buenos Aires |
| In office 10 December 2011 – 10 December 2013 | |
| Constituency | Buenos Aires |
| In office 10 December 1999 – 10 December 2003 | |
| Constituency | Buenos Aires |
| Minister of Health | |
| In office 10 December 2007 – 29 June 2009 | |
| President | Cristina Fernández de Kirchner |
| Preceded by | Ginés González García |
| Succeeded by | Juan Luis Manzur |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1960-09-16)September 16, 1960 (age 65) |
| Political party | FREPASO (Before 2001) ARI (2001–2003) Front for Victory (2004–2009) Union for Social Development (2011–2013) Public Trust (since 2013) |
| Alma mater | Universidad Argentina John F. Kennedy |
Graciela Ocaña (born September 16, 1960) is an Argentine politician.
She has a degree in political science. In 2007 she wasMinister of Health of Argentina in the government ofCristina Fernández de Kirchner and was anational deputy for four terms.
In 2017, Ocaña joinedCambiemos as a candidate fornational deputy forProvince of Buenos Aires.[1] In 2021, she is a pre-candidate seeking her re-election.[2]
Ocaña was born and raised in the westernBuenos Aires suburb ofSan Justo in 1960. Raised without her father, she lost her mother to an accident at age five and was taken in by her maternal grandparents, bothimmigrants from Spain. Ocaña received her primary education at theSanta Rosa de Lima School, an institution maintained byDominican nuns. She was transferred to the San Justo Secondary School system and enrolled at theUniversity of Buenos Aires in 1978, where she graduated with a degree inpolitical science in 1983.
Ocaña became affiliated with theJusticialist Party and found work in the private sector, managing a number ofimport-export businesses in the San Justo area.
Ocaña became disaffected from the Justicialist Party following PresidentCarlos Menem's unexpected adoption offree market policies after taking office and, in 1993, she aligned herself with the eightcongressmen who had left the party to form the center-leftFrente Grande. An adviser toBuenos Aires Province Congressman"Chacho" Álvarez (the party's leader), she was elected to the Argentine Lower House of Congress as a member of the Frente Grande's successor,FrePaSo, on theAlliance ticket that brought Álvarez to the office of Vice President in1999.
Ocaña earned renown for her work in theMoney Laundering andCapital flight Subcommittee in Congress, where in 2001 she led investigations into businessmanEmir Yoma andCórdoba Province Vice GovernorGermán Kammerath, among others. PresidentFernando de la Rúa's resignation in December and the attendant crisis dissolved the Alliance, whereby Ocaña joined fellow CongresswomanElisa Carrió'sARI, a new center-leftchristian democratic party.
Enjoying Carrió's esteem, she was invited to run on the ARI ticket for Governor of Buenos Aires Province, but declined, opting to stand for reelection as Congresswoman. Prominent in theSmall Business Committee, in January 2004 PresidentNéstor Kirchner appointed her Director of the National Integrated Medical Attention Plan (PAMI), a national health insurance program hitherto struggling under chronic mismanagement. Known for her differences with her boss at the time, Health MinisterGinés González García, overabortion rights andbirth control (which she opposed), she maintained a low profile while earning plaudits for her active intervention in a number of large public hospitals, notably theHospital Francés. Increasingly distanced from ARI leader Elisa Carrió, Ocaña formally resigned her seat in Congress in 2006.[3]
Hoping to win a fraction of ARI voters over following their defeat in theOctober 2007 elections, President-electCristina Kirchner offered Ocaña the post of Health and Environment Minister, which the popular PAMI director accepted, taking office on December 10. Ocaña's decision to demand reimbursement for around US$60 million in PAMI services rendered to health plans administered by theCGT and other labor unions intensified CGT Secretary GeneralHugo Moyano's opposition to her tenure, helping result in her June 23, 2009, decision to resign her post.[4] Her departure from the Health Ministry was not announced until after themid-term elections on June 28, andTucumán Province surgeon and Vice GovernorJuan Luis Manzur was tapped to succeed her on July 1.[5]
In 2014, Ocaña founded the anti-corruption political partyPublic Trust [es] (Spanish:Confianza Pública). The party, which is currently a member of the opposition coalitionJuntos por el Cambio (English: Together for Change), supported former presidentMauricio Macri in the2015 and2019 elections.
In the2023 local elections, she was once again elected to theBuenos Aires City Legislature.
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