Atilio Francisco Salvador Benedetti (born 1 January 1955) is an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

bromatologist, businessman and politician. A member of the

Radical Civic Union The Radical Civic Union (, UCR) is a major political party in Argentina. It has reached the national government on ten occasions, making it one of the most historically important parties in the country. Ideologically, the party has stood for r ...

, Benedetti served as ''

intendente An intendant (; ; ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In the War of the Spanish Success ...

'' (mayor) of his hometown of Larroque from 1995 to 1999, and as a member of the board of directors of the

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from 2015 to 2017. Later, from 2017 to 2021, he served as a National Deputy. Business-wise, Benedetti presides Tierra Greda S.A. and served as chairman of the Entre Ríos Stock Exchange. With a net worth of US$5.5 million (as of 2020), Benedetti was wealthiest member of the Argentine Congress during his tenure.

Early and personal life

Benedetti was born on 1 January 1955 in Larroque, a small city in Southern Entre Ríos. He studied bromatology (food science) at the

National University of Entre Ríos The National University of Entre Ríos (, UNER) is an Argentine national university situated in the city of Concepción del Uruguay Concepción del Uruguay is a city in Argentina. It is located in the Entre Ríos province, on the western shore ...

, graduating in 1978. Benedetti is married to María Cristina Cháves, and has three children.

Career

Benedetti's political career began in the ''Juventud Radical'', the youth wing of the

(UCR). In 1983, following the return of democracy to Argentina, he was elected to the City Council of Larroque. In 1995, he was elected to the mayoralty of the city. Benedetti has also served in a number of posts within the Radical Civic Union, most notably as member of the Provincial Committee of Entre Ríos (from 2000 to 2002) and as president of the Entre Ríos Provincial Congress from 2006 to 2008.

National Deputy

Benedetti rose to prominence during the 2008 agrarian strike. As a major stakeholder in agrarian businesses, Benedetti positioned himself as a staunch opponent of President

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (; born 19 February 1953), often referred to by her initials CFK, is an Argentine lawyer and former politician who served as the 56th president of Argentina from 2007 to 2015, and later as the 37th Vice ...

's proposed raise on tariffs for agricultural products. Following the conflict, Benedetti ran for one of Entre Ríos' seats in the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

, heading the

Social and Civic Agreement The Social and Civic Agreement (, ACyS) was a center-left congressional alliance in Argentina, integrated by the Radical Civic Union (UCR) the Socialist Party (PS) and the Civic Coalition ARI (CC-ARI), which acted as an umbrella national electora ...

list. The list was the most voted in Entre Ríos, with 35.01% of the vote, and Benedetti was easily elected. He was sworn in on 4 December 2009. He was one of the 11 so-called "agro-deputies" elected in 2009. He did not run for re-election in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

. Benedetti ran for a second term in the 2017 legislative election, this time heading the

Cambiemos (JxC, ) was a political coalition in Argentina. A liberal coalition, it was created in 2015 as Cambiemos (), and renamed in 2019. It was composed of Republican Proposal, Radical Civic Union, Civic Coalition ARI and United Republicans. These ...

list. The list was the most voted in the province, with 53.02% of the vote, and Benedetti was elected. In 2010, as a national deputy, Benedetti voted against the Equal Marriage Law, which legalised same-sex marriage in Argentina. He was a supporter of the legalisation of abortion in Argentina, voting in favour of the two Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy bills that were debated by the Argentine Congress in 2018 and 2020. Ahead of the 2021 primary election, Benedetti was confirmed as one of the candidates in the "Juntos" list in Entre Ríos. He was the fifth candidate in the JxC list that competed in the general election, and he was not re-elected.

2019 gubernatorial run

Benedetti ran for the

governorship A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' may ...

of Entre Ríos in the 2019 provincial election; he was

's candidate, with deputy Gustavo Hein as his running mate. The Benedetti–Hein ticket received 35.57% of the vote, losing to incumbent governor

Gustavo Bordet Gustavo Bordet (born 21 February 1962) is an Argentine Justicialist Party politician. He served as mayor of Concordia, Entre Ríos from 2007 to 2015, and later as governor of Entre Ríos Province from 2015 to 2023. Bordet was born in Concordia ...

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 ...

, who received 57.43% of the vote.

References

External links

Profile on the official website of the Chamber of Deputies
(in Spanish) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Benedetti, Atilio Living people 1955 births Argentine businesspeople Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Entre Ríos Mayors of places in Argentina Radical Civic Union politicians 20th-century Argentine politicians National University of Entre Ríos alumni Argentine deputies 2009–2011 Argentine deputies 2011–2013 Argentine deputies 2017–2019 Argentine deputies 2019–2021 Argentine deputies 2023–2025