Norma Elena Morandini (born 31 March 1948) is an Argentine journalist and politician. She was elected to the
Argentine Senate
The Honorable Senate of the Argentine Nation () is the upper house of the National Congress of Argentina.
Overview
The National Senate was established by the Argentine Confederation on July 29, 1854, pursuant to Articles 46 to 54 of the 185 ...
in 2009, and was nominated as running mate by Progressive Front presidential candidate
Hermes Binner
Hermes Juan Binner (June 5, 1943 − June 26, 2020) was an Argentine physician and politician who served as Governor of Santa Fe from 2007 to 2011.2011 campaign
Life and times
Morandini was born in
Córdoba, Argentina
Córdoba () is a city in central Argentina, in the foothills of the Punilla Valley, Sierras Chicas on the Primero River, Suquía River, about northwest of Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Córdoba Province, Argentina, Córdoba Province an ...
, in 1948. Her mother served as President of the Córdoba chapter of the
Communist Party of Argentina
The Communist Party of Argentina (, abbr. PCA) is a communist party in Argentina. It is a member of the Unión por la Patria, the former ruling coalition which supported former President Alberto Fernández.
It was founded on 6 January 1 ...
during the 1960s. She enrolled at the
National University of Córdoba
The National University of Córdoba (), is a public university located in the city of Córdoba, Argentina. Founded in 1613, the university is the oldest in Argentina, the third oldest university of the Americas, with the first university being ...
, and earned degrees in
communications
Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...
,
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...
, and
medicine
Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...
. She joined the
Revolutionary Communist Party of Argentina
The Revolutionary Communist Party () is a Marxist–Leninist–Maoist political party in Argentina.
The party is part of the Union for the Homeland coalition that supported the presidential candidate Sergio Massa during the 2023 Argentine gene ...
following its 1968 break from the Communist Party, and lost two brothers as ''
desaparecidos
An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person with the support or acquiescence of a State (polity), state followed by a refusal to acknowledge the person's fate or whereabouts with the i ...
'' in the subsequent
Dirty War
The Dirty War () is the name used by the military junta or National Reorganization Process, civic-military dictatorship of Argentina () for its period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983. During this campaign, military and secu ...
.
She sought exile in
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, where she continued her career in journalism. She worked in
Lisbon
Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
from 1977 to 1980 as a
news correspondent
A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...
for the Pyresa
news agency
A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations, such as newspapers, magazines and All-news radio, radio and News broadcasting, television Broadcasting, broadcasters. A news agency ma ...
, for ''El Correo Catalán'', and '' Revista Cambio 16'', as well as for the Portuguese magazine '' Visao''. She met left-wing journalist and Brazilian exile Flávio de Freitas Tavares, and they were married in 1980. Her career as a correspondent for ''Cambio 16'' first took her to
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
in 1978, and despite being separated from her husband (who was unable to return to Brazil, where he had been tortured), she would live there until 1984.
Morandini covered the
Trial of the Juntas
The Trial of the Juntas () was the judicial trial of the members of the ''de facto'' military government that ruled Argentina during the dictatorship of the '' Proceso de Reorganización Nacional'' (''el Proceso''), which lasted from 1976 to 1 ...
and subsequent trials against officers implicated in the Dirty War for the leading
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
daily ''
O Globo
''O Globo'' (, ''The Globe'') is a Brazilian newspaper based in Rio de Janeiro. ''O Globo'' is the leading daily newspaper in the country and the most prominent print publication in the Grupo Globo media conglomerate.
Founded by journalist Ir ...
'' until 1987. She remained in
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 ...
Catamarca Province
Catamarca () is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. The province had a population of 429,556 as per the , and covers an area of 102,602 km2. Its literacy rate is 95.5%. Neighbouring provinces are (clockwise, f ...
), was published in 1991. She hosted an interview program on the TN news network, ''Temas & Debates'', from 1992, and earned a
Martín Fierro Award Martin may refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land
* Port Martin, Adelie Land
* Point Martin, South Orkney Islands
Europe
* Martin, Croatia, a village
* Martin, Slovakia, a city
* Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain
* Mart ...
for her work in the program in 1994, as well as two Broadcasting Awards.
She established a short lived
women's magazine
This is a list of women's magazines from around the world. These are magazines that have been published primarily for a readership of woman, women.
Currently published
*''10 Magazine (UK), 10 Magazine'' (UK – distributed worldwide)
*''Al Jam ...
, ''Mujeres & Compañía'', in 1995, and left her post as Argentine correspondent for ''Cambio 16'' in 1998, after which she contributed
columns
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...
for '' Clarín'' until 2006, as well as for ''Rumbos'' (the Sunday magazine published by ''
La Voz del Interior
''La Voz del Interior'' is a daily Spanish language newspaper edited and published in Córdoba, capital of the province of Córdoba, Argentina and the second-largest city in the country. The newspaper is the leading daily in Córdoba, and one ...
'' in Córdoba). She published ''El Harén'' (''The Harem'') in 1998, which examined the growing role of
Arab Argentine
Arab Argentine refers to Argentine citizens or residents whose ancestry traces back to various waves of immigrants, largely of Arab ethnic, cultural and linguistic heritage and/or identity originating mainly from what is now Lebanon and Syria ( ...
s in business and politics. Her work as host of ''Tierra de Periodistas'' (''Land of Journalists'') earned her a second Martín Fierro in 2000, and in 2001, she produced the
documentary
A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
''Operación Aries'' (in reference to the military code name of 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 ...
) for the 25th anniversary of the event. She later hosted ''Paradojas y Código N'' on
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 ...
.
Morandini was elected to 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 ...
on the Civic Front ticket in 2005, and in 2009, joined former Córdoba Mayor
Luis Juez
Luis Alberto Juez (born 13 September 1963) is an Argentine politician who served as Mayor of the City of Córdoba and was later elected to the Senate. Since 2019 he has been a National Deputy.
Life and times Early life and career
Luis Juez was ...
ticket
Ticket or tickets may refer to:
Slips of paper
* Lottery ticket
* Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start)
* Toll ticket, a slip of paper used to indicate where vehicles entered a to ...
that resulted in the election of both to the
Argentine Senate
The Honorable Senate of the Argentine Nation () is the upper house of the National Congress of Argentina.
Overview
The National Senate was established by the Argentine Confederation on July 29, 1854, pursuant to Articles 46 to 54 of the 185 ...
. She was appointed
ranking member
In United States politics, a ranking member is the most senior member of a congressional or state legislative committee from the minority party. On many committees the ranking minority member, along with the Chair, serve as ''ex officio'' members ...
of the Committee on the Environment and Sustainable Growth during her tenure in the Senate, and on 11 June 2011, Santa Fe Governor and
Socialist
Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
presidential candidate
Hermes Binner
Hermes Juan Binner (June 5, 1943 − June 26, 2020) was an Argentine physician and politician who served as Governor of Santa Fe from 2007 to 2011.Broad Progressive Front
The Broad Progressive Front (, FAP) was a legislative, electoral and governmental coalition of Centre-left politics, centre-left and Left-wing politics, leftist political parties in Mexico. The FAP was founded after the 2006 Mexican general electi ...