Gustavo René Hein (born 27 May 1972) 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 ...

politician currently serving as a National Deputy 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 ...

. A member of

Republican Proposal Republican Proposal (), usually referred to by its abbreviation PRO, is a political party in Argentina. PRO was formed as an electoral alliance in 2005, but was transformed into a national party in 2010. It is the major component of the Juntos ...

(PRO), and the party's president in

Entre Ríos Province Entre Ríos (, "Between Rivers") is a Center Region, Argentina, central provinces of Argentina, province of Argentina, located in the Mesopotamia, Argentina, Mesopotamia region. It borders the provinces of Buenos Aires Province, Buenos Aires (so ...

, Hein previously 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

Basavilbaso Basavilbaso is a town in the center region of the province of Entre Ríos, Argentina, about from Concepción del Uruguay. It has about 9,700 inhabitants as per the . Locals often shorten the name to Basso. The town developed around the Gobernado ...

, Entre Ríos, from 2015 to 2019.

Career

Hein first ran for office in 2015, when he was a candidate for mayor of his hometown of

for 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 ...

alliance, which grouped the

PRO Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof might also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African ret ...

, the UCR and other political forces. He faced off and won against former mayor Fabián Flores, 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 ...

. His administration of Basavilbaso received the "National Quality Prize" in 2018. In 2017, Hein became president of the Entre Ríos chapter of PRO, following a long-lasting judicial intervention on the party led by then-

interior minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...

Rogelio Frigerio. Hein's term as party president ended in 2020, when new party elections took place and a new candidate, Eduardo Caminal (who counted with supported from both Hein and Frigerio) took office.

National Deputy

Near the end of his first term as mayor, in the 2019 legislative election, Hein 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 ...

as the second candidate in the

Juntos por el Cambio (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, behind Gabriela Mabel Lena. The list was the most voted in Entre Ríos, with 45.72% of the vote, both Lena and Hein were elected. He was sworn in on 4 December 2019 and formed part of the Juntos por el Cambio parliamentary inter-bloc. As a national deputy, Hein formed part of the parliamentary commissions on Budgets and Finances, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, Maritime Interests, Agriculture and Livestock, Internal Security, and Co-operative Affairs and NGOs. Owing to his faith, he was a vocal opponent of the legalisation of abortion in Argentina. He voted against the Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy bill debated by the Argentine Congress in 2020, which eventually passed and went on to legalise abortion in 2021. Hein was also one of 7 deputies to who abstained on the trans labour quota bill passed by the Chamber in 2021.

2019 gubernatorial run

Hein was the running mate of the UCR's

Atilio Benedetti Atilio Francisco Salvador Benedetti (born 1 January 1955) is an Argentine bromatologist, businessman and politician. A member of the Radical Civic Union, Benedetti served as ''intendente'' (mayor) of his hometown of Larroque from 1995 to 1999, a ...

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 as part of the Cambiemos alliance. 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

, who received 57.43% of the vote.

Personal life

Hein was born on 27 May 1972 in

. He is married and has two children. Hein is an

Evangelical Christian Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

. In 2019, Hein's private residence was subject to an arson attack allegedly by a neighbour. Nationwide PRO leader

Patricia Bullrich Patricia Bullrich (; born 11 June 1956) is an Argentine professor and politician who was appointed Ministry of Security (Argentina), Minister of National Security in 2023 under president Javier Milei, having previously held the office under pres ...

initially attributed the attack on a

Kirchnerist Kirchnerism ( ) is an Argentine political movement based on ideals formed by the supporters of spouses Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who consecutively served as Presidents of Argentina. Although considered a branch of Peron ...

activist, but Hein and his attorneys later clarified the attacker had been stalking him for three years and that the man in question had no evident political affiliation, but rather acted out of personal reasons. The arsonist was later sentenced to three years in prison.

References

External links

Profile on the official website of the Chamber of Deputies
(in Spanish) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hein, Gustavo Living people 1972 births People from Uruguay Department Argentine evangelicals Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Entre Ríos Mayors of places in Argentina Republican Proposal politicians Argentine people of Volga German descent Argentine deputies 2019–2021 Argentine deputies 2021–2023