Luis Juez | |
|---|---|
 Juez in 2011 | |
| National Deputy | |
| Assumed office 10 December 2019 | |
| Constituency | Córdoba |
| National Senator | |
| In office 10 December 2009 – 10 December 2015 | |
| Constituency | Córdoba |
| Mayor of Córdoba | |
| In office 10 December 2003 – 10 December 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Germán Kammerath |
| Succeeded by | Daniel Giacomino |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1963-09-13)13 September 1963 (age 61) Córdoba,Córdoba Province,Argentina |
| Political party | Justicialist Party(1983–2002) Civic Front(2002–present) |
| Spouse | Victoria Corte |
| Alma mater | National University of Córdoba |
| Profession | Lawyer |
Luis Alberto Juez (born 13 September 1963) is an Argentine politician who served as Mayor of the City ofCórdoba and was later elected to theSenate. Since 2019 he has been aNational Deputy.
Luis Juez was born inCórdoba, Argentina, to Adela Losada, the daughter ofSpanish Argentine immigrants fromA Coruña, and Gabriel Juez, the son ofArab Argentine immigrants fromSyria. Encouraged by his father, a formerArmy officer, Juez studied at the General Paz Military Lyceum, though he ultimately opted against a military career, and enrolled at theNational University of Córdoba. Juez, whose father had been jailed by thedictatorship that overthrew PresidentJuan Perón in 1955,[1] was active in thePeronist Youth, earning ajuris doctor in 1985.[2] He married the former Victoria Corte in 1992, and they had four children.[1]
He was appointed to the Provincial Legislature in 1994 to fill a vacancy, and in 1995, was elected on aparty list headed by fellow PeronistJosé Manuel de la Sota. The body's approval of a bill to raise legislators' salaries amid a recession led to his resignation within a year, however. He ran for the office of Mayor of Córdoba in 1998; but he was defeated in theJusticialist Party primaries by Germán Kammerath, who had received de la Sota's endorsement. De la Sota was electedGovernor in 1999, and Juez was appointed Director of the Highway Bureau.[1]
Governor de la Sota named Juez Director of the Corruption Prosecution Office in 2000. The appointment proved contentious, however, when the director uncovered evidence ofracketeering by, among others, Mayor Kammerath, Public Works Minister Carlos Caserio, and the governor's Chief of Staff (and wife), Olga Ruitort.[2][3] Lacking support from the governor, Juez resigned on 10 October 2002. His alliance with de la Sota ended, though the latter recognized their 20-year friendship by allowing Juez to step down without formally accepting a resignation, which left Juez's health benefits intact; Juez's youngest daughter had been bornpremature, and required six months' hospitalization.[2]
Juez left the Justicialist Party and established thePartido Nuevo (New Party). He was elected Mayor of Córdoba in 2003, defeating Governor de la Sota's nominee, Alfredo Keegan, by 30 points.[4] Juez became a leading figure in the "transversal" trend among key center-left elected officials who, without belonging to theFront for Victory of PresidentNéstor Kirchner, became his allies.[1] Juez expanded numerous city services, though by the end of his tenure, the municipal workforce had doubled, absorbing 74% of the city's us$500 million annual budget.[5]
He declined to run for a second term in 2007, and instead became a candidate for governor. He again faced a de la Sota nominee, Vice GovernorJuan Schiaretti, as well asUCR candidate Mario Negri, and organized a left-leaning Civic and Social Front with the support of theBroad Front, theSocialist Party and others. The election, on 2 September, resulted in a victory for Schiaretti by a margin of 1.17%, however.[6]
The election became the most contentious in Argentina that year. Juez allegedelectoral fraud when in a protracted, 16-hour ballot machine-counting process at the Córdoba Central Post Office from which the press was barred, overloaded circuit breakers shorted numerous times.[7] He appealed the results, requesting arecount in court for all 6,152 precincts. His campaign was, however, granted a recount in only the 676 precincts with disputed results, and on 2 October Juez appealed to theSupreme Court of Argentina.[8] Ultimately, results certified on 4 October narrowed the difference only slightly to 1.13% (18,000 votes).[6]
Juez's earlier rapport withKirchnerism soured, and in 2009, he ran for theSenate on the Civic Front Alliance party list.[1] Running, as Juez did in 2007, against Peronist and UCR opposition, the Civic Front Alliance prevailed by a narrow margin, sending Juez and fellow Civic Front candidateNorma Morandini to the Senate; both joined theBroad Progressive Front ahead of the 2011 campaign season.[9] He ran again for Governor of Córdoba in the2011 provincial elections. Juez was defeated, however, by his erstwhile boss and ally, former Governor de la Sota.[10]
