Alejandro Esteban "Topo" Rodríguez (born 27 December 1965) is an Argentine politician, who served as National Deputy representing

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires, officially the Buenos Aires Province, is the largest and most populous Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of the province an ...

from 2019 to 2023. A member of the

Justicialist Party The Justicialist Party (, ; abbr. PJ) is a major political party in Argentina, and the largest branch within Peronism. Following the 2023 presidential election, it has been the largest party in the opposition against President Javier Milei. Fo ...

, Rodríguez was elected in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

for the

Federal Consensus Federal Consensus (, CF) was an electoral coalition in Argentina formed to support the alliance between Roberto Lavagna and Juan Manuel Urtubey in 2019 Argentine general election, 2019 general election. It is formed by dissidents of the Justicial ...

coalition. He previously served as Minister of Agrarian Affairs of Buenos Aires Province in the administration of Governor

Daniel Scioli Daniel Osvaldo Scioli ( , ; born 13 January 1957) is an Argentine politician, businessman and former sportsman. He currently serves as the Secretary of Tourism, Environment and Sports since January 2024. He was Vice President of Argentina from ...

Early life and education

Rodríguez was born on 27 December 1965 in

Tandil Tandil is the main city of the homonymous partido (department), located in Argentina, in the southeast of Buenos Aires Province, just north-northwest of Tandilia hills. The city was founded in 1823, and its name originates from the '' Piedra M ...

. He studied political science at the

Universidad del Salvador The University of the Salvador (, also known for its acronym USAL) is a Jesuit university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In addition to its campus in downtown Buenos Aires, it has instructional and research facilities in Pilar, San Miguel, Bahía B ...

, graduating in 1990, and has a master's degree in Administration and Public Policy from the

University of Chile The University of Chile () is a public university, public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

. Rodríguez is married and has one daughter, born in 2002. Rodríguez has taught at the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires (, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the second-oldest university in the country, and the largest university of the country by enrollment. Established in 1821 ...

, the

National University of La Plata The National University of La Plata (, UNLP) is a national public research university located in the city of La Plata, capital of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It has over 90,000 regular students, 10,000 teaching staff, 17 departments and 10 ...

, the

Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina The Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina (), also known as Catholic University of Argentina (; UCA), is a private university in Argentina with campuses in the cities of Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, Rosario, Paraná, Mendoza and Pergamino. The ...

, and the Favaloro University.

Political career

Rodríguez was appointed Undersecretary of Government of Buenos Aires Province in 2009. In 2011, he was appointed Undersecretary of Governmental Coordination at the Cabinet Chief's Office of the Province, a position he held until 2013. On 26 December 2013, he was appointed Minister of Agrarian Affairs of the province, succeeding Gustavo Arrieta. As minister, Rodríguez decreed the mandatory vaccination of cattle against

anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Bacillus anthracis'' or ''Bacillus cereus'' biovar ''anthracis''. Infection typically occurs by contact with the skin, inhalation, or intestinal absorption. Symptom onset occurs between one ...

. During the latter part of his administration, Rodríguez was critical of the agrarian policies of

Axel Kicillof Axel Kicillof (, born 25 September 1971) is an Argentine economist and politician who has been Governor of Buenos Aires Province since 2019. Kicillof also served as Argentina's Minister of Economy from 2013 to 2015 under the presidency of Crist ...

, then Economy Minister of Argentina. Following the election of

María Eugenia Vidal María Eugenia Vidal (born 8 September 1973) is an Argentine politician who served as Governor of the Buenos Aires Province, being the first woman in the office, and the first non-Peronist since 1987. A member of Republican Proposal (PRO), she ...

as Governor of Buenos Aires in 2015, Rodríguez became Cabinet Chief of

La Matanza Partido La Matanza ('The Slaughter' in Spanish) is a '' partido'' (county or department) located in the urban agglomeration of Greater Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. This provincial subdivision had 1,775,272 inhabitants (at the 2010 C ...

, under '' intendenta'' Verónica Magario.

National Deputy

Rodríguez ran for a seat in the

Argentine Chamber of Deputies The Chamber of Deputies (), officially the Honorable Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Nation, is the lower house of the Argentine National Congress (). It is made up of 257 national deputies who are elected in multi-member constituencies c ...

in the 2019 legislative election, as the second candidate in the

list, behind

Graciela Camaño Graciela Camaño (born 25 April 1953) is an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as a Argentine Chamber of Deputies, National Deputy for Buenos Aires Province for 28 years, from 1989 to 1993, later 1997 to 2002, and most recently from 2003 t ...

. The list received 6.01% of the votes, just enough for Camaño and Rodríguez to be elected. As deputy, Rodríguez formed part of the parliamentary commissions on Industry, Commerce, Maritime interests, and Transport. He was an opponent of the legalization of abortion in Argentina, voting against the 2020 Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy bill that passed the Chamber. In 2021, he was elected president of the Federal Consensus parliamentary bloc following the defection of Eduardo Bucca to the

Frente de Todos The Frente de Todos (translated as "Everyone's Front") was a centre-left political coalition of political parties in Argentina formed to support President Alberto Fernández and Vice President Cristina Kirchner. Fernández won the 2019 gen ...

bloc.

References

External links

Profile on the official website of the Chamber of Deputies
(in Spanish) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Alejandro Living people 1965 births Argentine political scientists People from Tandil Buenos Aires Province politicians Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Buenos Aires Province Argentine deputies 2021–2023 Argentine deputies 2019–2021 Argentine deputies 2017–2019 Universidad del Salvador alumni University of Chile alumni Academic staff of the University of Buenos Aires Academic staff of the National University of La Plata Justicialist Party politicians