Oscar Raúl Aguad (born May 7, 1950) is an Argentine politician who served as the

Minister of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

from 2017 to 2019, serving in the cabinet of President

Mauricio Macri Mauricio Macri (; born 8 February 1959) is an Argentine businessman and politician who served as President of Argentina from 2015 to 2019. He has been the leader of the Republican Proposal (PRO) party since its founding in 2005. He previously ...

. He was a member of 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 ...

from 2005 to 2015, where he became chief of the UCR bloc.

Personal life

Aguad was born in Córdoba to Hilda Beily and Raúl Aguad, in 1950. His family is of

Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

origin. His father had, in the 1930s, established the first

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

retailer in Córdoba and later opened an

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The long ...

. He 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 a

law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Some law degrees are professional degrees that are prerequisites or serve as preparation for legal careers. These generally include the Bachelor of Civil Law, Bachelor of Laws, an ...

with a specialization in

corporate A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as "born out of s ...

tax A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to regulate and reduce negative externalities. Tax co ...

, and

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and Well-being, welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal l ...

. He married María Dolores Albarenque in 1976, and they had five daughters.

Career

He was brought on as an associate by José Severo Caballero, a Córdoba jurist who would be appointed president of the Argentine Supreme Court in 1983 by 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 ...

. Following elections that year in which the UCR swept both national and Córdoba offices, Aguad was appointed Chief of Staff by Córdoba Mayor Ramón Mestre. Aguad served in the board of directors of '' La Voz del Interior'' (the leading Córdoba news daily), as well as of the University of Córdoba Foundation. He established ''Amparo Legal'' (Legal Recourse), a legal assistance office, in 1994, and later a law office. Ramón Mestre would be both a friend and political mentor to Aguad. Mestre was appointed to head a

Federal intervention Federal intervention () is a power attributed to the federal government of Argentina, by which it takes control of a province in certain extreme cases. Intervention is declared by the President with the assent of the National Congress. Article 6 ...

of politically troubled

Corrientes Province Corrientes (, ‘currents’ or ‘streams’; ), officially the Province of Corrientes (; ) is a Provinces of Argentina, province in northeast Argentina, in the Mesopotamia, Argentina, Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by (from the north, cl ...

by President

Fernando de la Rúa Fernando de la Rúa (15 September 19379 July 2019) served as the President of Argentina from 1999 until his resignation in 2001. A member of the Radical Civic Union, he previously served as national senator for Buenos Aires across non-consecuti ...

in 1999, and recommended Aguad for the post of mayor of Corrientes. The former was transferred to the post of Interior Minister by the President in March 2001, and Aguad was named as his successor. He presided over new provincial elections, and on December 10, was succeeded by a duly elected governor. Aguad 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 ...

in 2005, and in 2007, his UCR colleagues elected him president of their caucus. He was a vocal opponent of Resolution 125, which would have raised export

tariff A tariff or import tax is a duty (tax), duty imposed by a national Government, government, customs territory, or supranational union on imports of goods and is paid by the importer. Exceptionally, an export tax may be levied on exports of goods ...

s on a range of agricultural raw materials, and advocated greater

revenue sharing Revenue sharing is the distribution of revenue, the total amount of income generated by the sales, sale of goods and services among the stakeholder (corporate), stakeholders or Benefactor (law), contributors. It should not be confused with profit ...

benefits for the

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

. He was one of five Congressmen honored with a Parliamentary Prize in 2008 by ''Semanario Parlamentario'' (''Parliamentary Weekly''), and during the 2009–10 congress, was the body's most frequent speaker. His tenure as Mayor of Corrientes led to controversy, however, when Aguad took a US$60 million loan to cancel Cecacor bonds previously issued by the province. The bonds, which had declined to junk status, could not ultimately be redeemed by the city government, and in 2009, Aguad was indicted for

misfeasance Misfeasance, nonfeasance, and malfeasance are types of failure to discharge public obligations existing by common law, custom, or statute. The Carta de Logu caused Eleanor of Arborea to be remembered as one of the first lawmakers to set up ...

related to their handling. Aguad was elected First Vice President of the Chamber of Deputies (the body's second-highest ranking post) by his colleagues in December 2010. He obtained his party's nomination for Governor of Córdoba ahead of provincial elections on August 7. He was defeated, however, by former Governor José Manuel de la Sota.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aguad, Oscar 1950 births Living people Politicians from Córdoba, Argentina Argentine people of Arab descent Argentine people of Syrian descent National University of Córdoba alumni 20th-century Argentine lawyers Mayors of Corrientes Governors of Corrientes Province Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Córdoba Radical Civic Union politicians Defense ministers of Argentina Argentine deputies 2005–2007 Argentine deputies 2007–2009 Argentine deputies 2009–2011 Argentine deputies 2011–2013 Argentine deputies 2013–2015 Macri administration cabinet members