Ricardo Antonio Merlo (born 25 May 1962 in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the Capital city, capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata ...

) is an Italian politician, leader of the

Associative Movement Italians Abroad The Associative Movement of Italians Abroad ( it, Movimento Associativo Italiani all'Estero, MAIE) is an Italian political party representing Italians abroad. Based in Argentina and active mainly in South America, the MAIE is a centrist party. H ...

. Born and resident in Argentina, he acquired Italian citizenship through

Jus sanguinis ( , , ; 'right of blood') is a principle of nationality law by which citizenship is determined or acquired by the nationality or ethnicity of one or both parents. Children at birth may be citizens of a particular state if either or both of t ...

Biography

Graduated in Political Science at the University of Salvador in Buenos Aires, Ricardo Antonio Merlo completed his studies in Italy at the

University of Padua The University of Padua ( it, Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) is an Italian university located in the city of Padua, region of Veneto, northern Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from ...

. Between 1998 and 2003, he was elected member of the General Council of Italians Abroad in Buenos Aires and then, in 2004, he was elected president of COMITES in Buenos Aires. In 2005, he served as president of the Intercomites Argentina. In the Italian general election of 2006 he was elected deputy for the first time in the foreign constituency of the Chamber with the Italian Associations in South America (AISA), a political movement founded by Luigi Pallaro in 2005. In 2007 he founded the

(MAIE), through which he was re-elected deputy in the general elections of

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

and

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

. In the general election of 2018 he was elected senator and voted the confidence to the

Conte Cabinet The first Conte government was the 65th government of the Italian Republic. It was led by Giuseppe Conte, an independent, and it was in office from 1 June 2018 to 5 September 2019. The cabinet was formed by a coalition between the Five Star Mo ...

, so on 12 June 2018 he was appointed Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.Governo, nominati sei viceministri e 39 sottosegretari. A Conte delega ai Servizi
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Honours and awards

* : Commander Grand Cross of the

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim. The Order of ...

(13 November 2018)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merlo, Ricardo 1962 births Living people People from Buenos Aires Universidad del Salvador alumni Senators of Legislature XVIII of Italy Deputies of Legislature XVII of Italy Deputies of Legislature XVI of Italy Deputies of Legislature XV of Italy