Juan Carlos Rousselot (June 24, 1935 – July 8, 2010) was an Argentine radio and television personality, newspaper publisher, and former mayor of the

Greater Buenos Aires Greater Buenos Aires (, GBA), also known as the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (, AMBA), refers to the urban agglomeration comprising the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of B ...

suburb of Morón.

Life and times

Early life and career

Rousselot was born in Árbol Solo, a rural outpost in

Tapenagá Department Tapenagá is a southern department of Chaco Province in Argentina. The provincial subdivision has a population of about 4,000 inhabitants in an area of 6,025km², and its capital city is Charadai, which is located around 1,070 km from th ...

Chaco Province Chaco (; Wichi languages, Wichi: ''To-kós-wet''), officially the Province of Chaco ( ) is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, provinces of Argentina. Its capital and largest city is Resistencia, Chaco, Resistencia. It is located in the north- ...

, in 1935. He debuted on

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

when, at age 18, he stood in for an absent broadcaster on LT5 Radio Chaco. He later worked the news daily ''El Territorio'', and in 1958, relocated to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, where he joined Radio El Mundo. Rousselot hosted a

talent show A talent show or talent contest is an event in which participants perform the arts of singing, dancing, lip-syncing, acting, martial arts, playing an instrument, poetry, comedy or other activities to showcase skills. Many talent shows are p ...

on Radio Rivadavia from 1964. He later became a

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

anchorman on a Channel 11 evening news program, ''El Diario Alpargatas''; among his milestones at the program included live coverage of the 1969

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 was a spaceflight conducted from July 16 to 24, 1969, by the United States and launched by NASA. It marked the first time that humans Moon landing, landed on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module pilot Buzz Aldrin l ...

Moon landing. He would be appointed spokesman for the

Argentine Navy The Argentine Navy (ARA; ). This forms the basis for the navy's ship prefix "ARA". is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the Argentine Army, Army and the Argentine ...

in 1972, and in 1973, for the Minister of Social Welfare and head of the

Argentine Anticommunist Alliance The Argentine Anticommunist Alliance (, usually known as Triple A or AAA) was an Argentine Peronist and fascist political paramilitary group operated by a sector of the Federal Police and the Argentine Armed Forces, linked with the anticom ...

José López Rega José López Rega (17 November 1916 – 9 June 1989) was an Argentine politician who served as Minister of Social Welfare from 1973 to 1975, first under Juan Perón and continuing under Isabel Perón, Juan Perón's third wife and presidential ...

. Obtaining a loan from the Ministry, he relocated to Resistencia, capital of his native Chaco Province, and purchased an ailing news daily, '' Diario Norte'', persuading his brother, Ricardo, to join him from

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. He also served as director of

Public Television Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive f ...

from May to August 1975. Following the

March 1976 coup March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 21 m ...

, Rousselot was arrested and his newspaper was placed under provincial

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver – a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights" – especia ...

. Its subsequent purchase by ''Editorial Chaco'' in 1978 was alleged in a 1996 lawsuit by Rousselot to have been paid with the ''El Nortes own profits, and at far below its market value.

Mayor of Morón

He later relocated to

Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Argentine Sea, Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón Partido, General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires ...

and, in the early 1980s, to El Palomar, where he became a member of the local

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 ...

committee. His name recognition, television experience, and marquée smile made Rousselot a natural candidate for mayoral elections in Morón (which at the time had jurisdiction over El Palomar), and in 1987, he was elected to the post. Rousselot became known as one of the "twelve apostles" (Peronist figures in politics and

labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

who supported La Rioja Province Governor

Carlos Menem Carlos Saúl Menem (2 July 1930 – 14 February 2021) served as the 50th president of Argentina for ten years, from 1989 to 1999. He identified as Peronism, Peronist, serving as President of the Justicialist Party for 13 years (from 1990 to 200 ...

over Buenos Aires Governor

Antonio Cafiero Antonio Francisco Cafiero (12 September 1922 – 13 October 2014) was an Argentine Justicialist Party politician. Cafiero held a number of important posts throughout his career, including, most notably, the governorship of Buenos Aires Province ...

for the Justicialist Party

presidential nomination In United States politics and government, the term presidential nominee has two different meanings: # A candidate for president of the United States who has been selected by the delegates of a political party at the party's national convention ...

in 1988), and unsuccessfully sought the vice presidential nod when Menem was indeed nominated. He emphasized

public works Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and procured by a government body for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, ...

as mayor, initiating the construction of new streets and an extension of the

sewage system Sewerage (or sewage system) is the infrastructure that conveys sewage or surface runoff (stormwater, meltwater, rainwater) using sewers. It encompasses components such as receiving drains, manholes, pumping stations, storm overflows, and screen ...

, among other projects. The numerous contracts he signed for these projects became the subject of a

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

investigation by the City Council, however, and the 24-person body (in which Rousselot had but four allies), voted to impeach the mayor on April 19, 1989. Rousselot was appointed

Cultural Attaché Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, attitudes, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

at the Embassy in Paraguay. He faulted Cafiero for what he considered

political persecution Political repression is the act of a state entity controlling a citizenry by force for political reasons, particularly for the purpose of restricting or preventing the citizenry's ability to take part in the political life of a society, thereby ...

, and was subsequently exonerated on 28 charges related to these contracts. He ran again for Mayor of Morón in 1991, and was returned to office with 64% of the vote. He was re-elected in 1995, though ultimately the issue of city contracts would again lead to his downfall. Citing irregularities in

parking meter A parking meter is a device used to collect money in exchange for the right to Parking, park a vehicle in a particular place for a limited amount of time. Parking meters can be used by Municipality, municipalities as a tool for enforcing their i ...

and

hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

contracts, Mayor Rousselot was again impeached on March 16, 1999, and on March 19, he was arrested at his home in Haedo. He maintained that this resulted from his opposition to Governor

Eduardo Duhalde Eduardo Alberto Duhalde (; born 5 October 1941) is an Argentina, Argentine former peronist politician who served as the interim President of Argentina from January 2002 to May 2003. He also served as Vice President of Argentina, Vice President ...

(President Menem's leading rival within Peronism at the time).

Later life

Rousselot was convicted in 2000 of

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...

and of allocating us$225,000 for the transfer of a hospital without City Council approval, receiving a

suspended sentence A suspended sentence is a sentence on conviction for a criminal offence, the serving of which the court orders to be deferred in order to allow the defendant to perform a period of probation. If the defendant does not break the law during that ...

. Pursuant to the latter sentence, he was arrested in 2001 at the

Ministro Pistarini International Airport Ministro Pistarini International Airport () , also known as Ezeiza International Airport owing to its location in Ezeiza in Greater Buenos Aires, is an international airport south-southwest of the autonomous city of Buenos Aires, the capital c ...

on suspicion of attempting to flee the country (a violation of the terms of the sentence). He was barred from holding public office, though never convicted of

embezzlement Embezzlement (from Anglo-Norman, from Old French ''besillier'' ("to torment, etc."), of unknown origin) is a type of financial crime, usually involving theft of money from a business or employer. It often involves a trusted individual taking ...

. He later returned to

radio broadcasting Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio signal, audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a lan ...

as a host in ''Radio Colonia'' (

Colonia del Sacramento Colonia del Sacramento (; ) is a city in southwestern Uruguay, by the Río de la Plata, facing Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is one of the oldest towns in Uruguay and the capital of the Colonia Department. As of the 2023 census, it has a populatio ...

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

). Rousselot developed cancer, and died in Buenos Aires in 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rousselot, Juan Carlos 1935 births 2010 deaths Argentine people of French descent People from Chaco Province Argentine radio presenters Argentine television presenters Argentine male journalists Mayors of Morón, Buenos Aires Justicialist Party politicians Deaths from cancer in Argentina Politicians convicted of embezzlement