César Augusto Virguetti Pinto (17 June 1955 – 29 June 2021) was a Bolivian sociologist and politician who served as a uninominal member of 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 ...

from

Cochabamba Cochabamba (; ) is a city and municipality in central Bolivia in a valley in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital (political), capital of the Cochabamba Department and the list of cities in Bolivia, fourth largest city in Bolivia, with ...

representing circumscription 20 from 2020 until his death from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

in 2021. He was a member of

Civic Community Civic Community (, CC) is a Liberalism, liberal Bolivian political coalition led by former president Carlos Mesa, founded in 2018 to contest the 2019 Bolivian general election, 2019 general election. It was born of the alliance of Revolution ...

Early life and career

César Virguetti was born on 17 June 1955 in

. He studied sociology at the Higher University of San Simón, where he began his political activity fighting for the recovery of democracy in the country. In 1980, during the dictatorship of

Luis García Meza Luis García Meza Tejada (8 August 1929 – 29 April 2018) was a Bolivian general who served as the ''de facto'' 57th president of Bolivia from 1980 to 1981. He was a dictator convicted of human rights violations and leader of a violent coup. ...

, he was a member of an underground student committee aimed at recovering university autonomy from the government. A sociologist by profession, he later returned to the Higher University of San Simón as a professor at the Faculty of Humanities. From 1982 to 1984, he served as executive secretary of the Association of Promotion and Education Institutions OF Cochabamba. Later, from 1993 to 2003, he was the executive director and the city's Center for Research, Promotion, and Development. An active members of the Revolutionary Left Movement and

Free Bolivia Movement The Free Bolivia Movement (Spanish: ''Movimiento Bolivia Libre'') is a progressive political party in Bolivia. The party was formed on January 15, 1985, following a split in MIR. Initially the party was known as ''MIR Bolivia Libre''. At the le ...

, he worked as executive secretary of the Cochabamba Mayor's Office from 2006 to 2007. Additionally, he worked as a researcher and consultant for various

NGOs A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

Chamber of Deputies

In 2019, Virguetti participated in the foundation of the Cochabamba branch of the

(CC) alliance, serving in the front's departmental directorate. That year, he was elected as a deputy for Cochabamba in circumscription 20, though the results were annulled in the midst of a

political crisis A cabinet crisis, government crisis or political crisis refers to a situation where an incumbent government is unable to form or function, is toppled through an uprising, or collapses. Political crises may correspond with, cause or be caused by an ...

. In the rerun elections in October 2020, Virguetti achieved a second victory in the same district, winning over sixty percent of the vote. An avid environmentalist, he served on the Chamber of Deputies' Science and Technology Committee during his brief tenure.

Commission assignments

* Planning, Economic Policy, and Finance Commission ** Science and Technology Committee

Health issues and death

In mid-2021, Virguetti contracted

and was interned at a medical center in Cochabamba. After over a month in intensive care, he had a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

as a complication of the virus and died on 29 June 2021. CC leader

Carlos Mesa Carlos Diego de Mesa Gisbert (; born 12 August 1953) is a Bolivian historian, journalist, and politician who served as the 63rd president of Bolivia from 2003 to 2005. As an independent politician, he had previously served as the 37th vice pr ...

recalled that he was a "tireless fighter for democracy and human rights". Virguetti was married and had two children.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Virguetti, Cesar 1955 births 2021 deaths 21st-century Bolivian politicians Bolivian environmentalists Bolivian sociologists Civic Community politicians Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Bolivia Higher University of San Simón alumni Members of the Bolivian Chamber of Deputies from Cochabamba People from Cochabamba