Luis Eugenio Basterra (born 14 October 1958) 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 ...

agricultural engineer and politician. He was the country's Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries from 10 December 2019 to 20 September 2021, in the cabinet of President

Alberto Fernández Alberto Ángel Fernández (; born 2 April 1959) is an Argentine politician, lawyer, and academic who served as President of Argentina from 2019 to 2023. He was also the Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers from 2003 to 2008. His tenure as Cabin ...

. Since 2023, he has been a member of the

Argentine Chamber of Deputies The Chamber of Deputies (), officially the Honorable Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Nation, is the lower house of the Argentine National Congress (). It is made up of 257 national deputies who are elected in multi-member constituencies c ...

representing

Formosa Province Formosa Province () is a province in northeastern Argentina, part of the Gran Chaco Region. Formosa's northeast end touches Asunción, Paraguay, and the province borders the provinces of Chaco and Salta to its south and west, respectively. The ...

. He previously held the same position from 2011 to 2019. Basterra also served as vice-president of the

National Agricultural Technology Institute The National Agricultural Technology Institute (), commonly known as INTA, is an Argentine federal organisation responsible for agriculture. INTA is an extension agency in charge of the generation, adaptation and diffusion of technologies, knowle ...

(INTA) from 2009 to 2011 and as Minister of Production of Formosa Province from 2003 to 2009 in the administration of Governor

Gildo Insfrán Gildo Insfrán (born 19 January 1951) is an Argentine Justicialist Party (PJ) politician, who has been Governor of Formosa Province since 1995. Having been close to former President Carlos Menem, Insfrán later became close to President Néstor ...

Early life and education

Basterra was born in Resistencia,

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 1958. In 1988 he graduated as an agricultural engineer from the

National University of the Northeast The National University of the Northeast (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Universidad Nacional del Nordeste'', UNNE) is an Argentina, Argentine national university. It is located in the cities of Corrientes and Resistencia, Chaco, Resistencia, capita ...

(UNNE). In his youth he was a member of the Popular Socialist Party, but later joined the ranks 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 ...

when he moved to

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The island of Taiwan, formerly known to Westerners as Formosa, has an area of and makes up 99% of the land under ROC control. It lies about across the Taiwan Strait f ...

Political career

Provincial politics and work in INTA

In 1996 he was appointed Undersecretary of Employment in the Formosa Ministry of Economy, Public Works and Services by Governor

; he was in the position until 2000, when he was appointed to the Undersecretariat of Commerce and Investment within the same ministry. In 2003 Insfrán appointed him Minister of Production of the province; Basterra held this post until 2009. In 2009 he also briefly served as president of the Consejo Federal de Medio Ambiente (COFEMA). From 13 October 2009 to 10 December 2011 Basterra served as vice president of the

of Argentina (INTA). During his tenure at INTA, he sought to promote and expand the reach of

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. Nelu ...

in Argentina.

Congressional terms

At the 2011 general election Basterra was the 3rd candidate in 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 ...

(FPV) list to 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 ...

in Formosa; the FPV won nearly 80% of the vote and Basterra was elected. Shortly after taking office he was elected by the FPV majority to preside over the Agriculture Commission in the lower chamber of Congress. In

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

he was re-elected to the Chamber, this time placing first in the FPV party list in Formosa. He was re-elected a third time 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 ...

Minister of Agriculture

On 10 December 2019, Basterra was appointed Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries by President

as part of the new cabinet of Argentina, succeeding Luis Miguel Etchevehere. Following the government's poor showings in the 2021 legislative primary elections, Basterra was replaced by

Julián Domínguez Julián Andrés Domínguez (born 24 November 1963) is an Argentine Justicialist Party politician of the Justicialist Party. He was twice Minister of Agriculture, in the cabinets of presidents Alberto Fernández (2021–2022) and Cristina Fer ...

as part of a cabinet reshuffle.

Personal life

Basterra is a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

References

External links

Official website of the Ministry of Agriculture
(in Spanish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Basterra, Luis 1958 births Living people Agricultural engineers Alberto Fernández administration cabinet members Ministers of agriculture of Argentina Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Formosa People from Resistencia, Chaco Argentine deputies 2011–2013 Argentine deputies 2013–2015 Argentine deputies 2015–2017 Argentine deputies 2017–2019 Argentine deputies 2023–2025