Leandro Santoro (born 11 June 1977) 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 ...

political scientist, professor and politician, currently serving as a National Deputy since 2021. Santoro previously served as a member of the

Buenos Aires City Legislature The Buenos Aires City Legislature (, commonly known as the ) is the legislative power of the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is housed in the Buenos Aires City Legislature Palace, Legislature Palace (), an archite ...

from 2017 to 2021. He is member of the

centre-left Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commo ...

political coalition

Union for the Homeland The Union for the Homeland (, UP) is a centre-left political and electoral coalition of Peronist political parties in Argentina. It has been the main opposition coalition since December 2023. The coalition was formed to compete in the 2023 gen ...

. Though his political career began in 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 ...

(UCR), since 2015 Santoro has been aligned with the

National Alfonsinist Movement The National Alfonsinist Movement (, MNA) is a centre-left political party in Argentina with a Alfonsinist and Kirchnerist ideology, Was founded in 2014, and was member of the Front for Victory in 2015, Citizen's Unity in 2017, the Frente de ...

, a faction of the UCR that broke away with the party and backed the

Front for Victory The Front for Victory (, FPV) was a centre-left Peronist electoral alliance in Argentina, and is formally a faction of the Justicialist Party. Former presidents Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner were elected as representatives ...

Early life and career

Santoro was born on 11 June 1976 in the

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 ...

neighbourhood of

Boedo Boedo is a working-class ''barrio'' or neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The neighborhood and one of its principal streets were named after Mariano Boedo, a leading figure in the Argentine independence. It is the home of San Lorenzo de Al ...

. He was raised by a single mother and attended the Colegio Salesiano San Francisco de Sales, a Catholic boys' school. Starting at age 13, he joined the

(UCR) inspired by his admiration of then-president

Raúl Alfonsín Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín (; 12 March 1927 – 31 March 2009) was an Argentine lawyer and statesman who served as President of Argentina from 10 December 1983 to 8 July 1989. He was the first democratically elected president after the 7-yea ...

. In time, Santoro would become a leader in the , the UCR's youth wing. In 1999, Santoro and other members of his local UCR committee camped outside the Hospital Italiano, where Alfonsín had been hospitalised following a potentially lethal accident, for 40 days. The event helped forge a deeper connection between Alfonsín and Santoro. He formed part of Los Irrompibles, an alfonsinist group within the UCR founded by Jesús Rodríguez. Santoro studied political science 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 ...

, and later taught courses at the university's UBA XXI programme.

Political career

Following Alfonsín's death in 2009, Santoro and other alfonsinists started getting closer to the

, which then supported the government of

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 ...

. In 2014, upon Fernández de Kirchner's invitation, he formed part of the state delegation that visited

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

in the Vatican. In 2015, he joined Leopoldo Moreau in breaking away from the UCR and founding the pro-Kirchner

. That year, he was

Mariano Recalde Mariano Recalde (born 8 April 1972) is an Argentine lawyer and Justicialist Party politician. He currently serves as a National Senator for the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires since December 2019, representing the Frente de Todos. He previously ...

's running mate for

Chief of Government of Buenos Aires This is a list of mayors and chiefs of government of the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina's capital, since its federalization. Its first Mayor (, Intendant) was Torcuato de Alvear, who was appointed by President Julio Argentino Roca followin ...

in the Front for Victory list: the ticket received 21.91% of the vote and landed third. In 2017, Santoro was elected to the

as the fourth candidate in the Unidad Porteña list, which received 21.26% of the vote. Following the 2019 general election, he joined 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 ...

and sat in the unified FdT

bloc Bloc may refer to: Government and politics * Political bloc, a coalition of political parties * Trade bloc, a type of intergovernmental agreement * Voting bloc, a group of voters voting together * Black bloc, a tactic used by protesters who wear ...

in the Legislature. In the 2021 legislative election, Santoro ran for a seat 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 first candidate in the Frente de Todos list in Buenos Aires. With 25.06% of the vote, the FDT was the second-most voted alliance in the city, enough for Santoro to make it past the D'Hondt cut and be elected, alongside Gisela Marziotta and Carlos Heller. He was sworn in on 4 December 2021, and began his mandate on 10 December 2021.

Personal life

Santoro was married to Cecilia Moreau, a fellow politician and daughter of the prominent political leader (and Santoro's former political mentor) Leopoldo Moreau. Santoro and Moreau have a daughter together, Francisca. Since 2021, Santoro has sat in the Chamber of Deputies alongside both Moreaus. Santoro has since married a childhood friend, pharmacist Clara González Sorey with whom he has a daughter, Antonia. Sports-wise, he is a supporter of the local Boedo-based

San Lorenzo de Almagro Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro is an Argentine professional sports club based in the Boedo neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its football team, which plays in the Primera División, the first tier of the Argentine foot ...

Electoral history

Executive

Legislative

References

External links

Profile on the official website of the Chamber of Deputies
(in Spanish) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Santoro, Leandro Living people 1976 births Argentine people of Italian descent Politicians from Buenos Aires Radical Civic Union politicians Members of the Buenos Aires City Legislature Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Buenos Aires Argentine deputies 2021–2023 Argentine deputies 2023–2025 University of Buenos Aires alumni Academic staff of the University of Buenos Aires