Ramón Eduardo Saadi (6 February 1949 – 8 February 2023) was an Argentine senator and governor for

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 ...

and a member of the

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 ...

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 ...

. He was a member of the Saadi family that has dominated Catamarca politics since the 1940s and a son of Vicente Saadi who first became governor of the province in 1949.

Life and career

Born in

San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca () is the capital and largest city in Catamarca Province in northwestern Argentina, on the Río Valle River, at the feet of the Cerro Ambato. The city name is normally shortened as Catamarca and is also kno ...

to a father 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 ...

descent, Saadi studied law 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 ...

, graduating in 1977. He was president of the

Peronist Peronism, also known as justicialism, is an Argentine ideology and movement based on the ideas, doctrine and legacy of Juan Perón (1895–1974). It has been an influential movement in 20th- and 21st-century Argentine politics. Since 1946, Pe ...

youth wing of Catamarca, and in 1982 was named editor of the newspaper ''La Voz''. Saadi was elected governor of Catamarca in 1983. In 1987, after his term expired, he was elected Senator and was succeeded as governor by his own father, Vicente Saadi. The elder Saadi died in 1988, however, and Ramón Saadi returned to Catamarca to be elected governor once again. The 1990 murder of María Soledad Morales by two youths whose fathers were linked to Governor Saadi led to a national outcry, and ultimately to the governor's removal by federal intervention on 28 April 1991. Saadi was, despite the controversy, 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 ...

that September, and was twice re-elected, serving until 2003. He was returned to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

that year, as part of 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 ...

caucus of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Néstor Kirchner Néstor Carlos Kirchner Ostoić (; 25 February 195027 October 2010) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the president of Argentina from 2003 to 2007. A member of the Justicialist Party, he previously served as Governor of Sa ...

, although having been previously an ally of

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 ...

. His term expired on 10 December 2009. Saadi died on 9 February 2023, at the age of 74.

External links

Senate profile

References

1949 births 2023 deaths People from Catamarca Province University of Buenos Aires alumni Argentine people of Lebanese descent Argentine people of Syrian descent Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Catamarca Members of the Argentine Senate for Catamarca Governors of Catamarca Province Justicialist Party politicians {{Argentina-politician-stub