Eduardo Valdés

Eduardo Félix Valdés (born 16 February 1956) is an Argentine politician, currently serving as National Deputy elected in the Federal Capital. A member of the Justicialist Party, Valdés served as the Argentine ambassador to the Holy See during the presidency of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.

Eduardo Valdés
National Deputy
Assumed office
10 December 2019
ConstituencyCity of Buenos Aires
Ambassador of Argentina to the Holy See
In office
15 October 2014 – 10 December 2015
Preceded byJuan Pablo Cafiero
Succeeded byRogelio Pfirter
Legislator of the City of Buenos Aires
In office
7 August 2000 – 25 May 2003
Personal details
Born (1956-02-16) 16 February 1956
Córdoba, Argentina
Political partyJusticialist Party
Other political
affiliations		Front for Victory (2015–2017)
Frente de Todos (2019–present)
Alma materUniversity of Buenos Aires

In addition, Valdés also served as a member of the Mercosur Parliament from 2015 to 2019, as a member of the Buenos Aires City Legislature from 2000 to 2003, and as a member of the 1994 Constitutional Convention.

Early and personal life

Eduardo Félix Valdés was born on 16 February 1956 in Córdoba, though he was raised in Neuquén. He went to school at the Colegio Don Bosco of Neuquén.[1] Later on, he studied law at the University of Buenos Aires. Valdés counts with master's degrees on international relations from the Murcia and Georgetown University.[2]

Valdés is married and has two sons.[3] One of his sons, Juan Manuel, is active in politics and currently serves as a member of the Buenos Aires City Legislature.[4]

Valdés is a devout Roman Catholic, and various sources describe him as being a friend to Pope Francis, whom Valdés met when Francis was Archbishop of Buenos Aires.[5][6][7][8]

Career

Valdés's political career began in 1989, as secretary general of the Buenos Aires City Government during the mayorship of Carlos Grosso. In 1991, Valdés was appointed city councillor. Later, in 1994, he was elected as one of the representatives of the Federal Capital in the Constitutional Convention tasked with rewriting the Constitution of Argentina.[1]

In 1995, he founded the National School of Governance of the National Institute of Public Administration; he served as the school's director until 1998.[9]

In 2000, Valdés was elected to the Buenos Aires City Legislature, where he presided the Justicialist Front parliamentary bloc. In 2003, he was appointed chief of staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship, during the administration of Rafael Bielsa.[3] He stepped down from that post upon then-president Néstor Kirchner's request, following a diplomatic spat with Cuba over Hilda Molina, the mother of a Cuban-born Argentine resident who was denied the right to leave the island.[10][11]

Following his resignation from the Foreign Ministry, Valdés turned to the private sector and worked as an independent lawyer. As an attorney, Valdés represented one of the victims of former priest Julio César Grassi.[3]

Ambassador to the Holy See

In 2014, Valdés was appointed as Argentina's ambassador to the Holy See by President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, replacing Juan Pablo Cafiero. He was granted agrément on 15 October 2014 and confirmed by the Argentine Senate days later. As ambassador, Valdés organized the five meetings held between Fernández de Kirchner and Pope Francis in 2015.[12] He also organized the Pope's meetings with Diego Maradona and members of La Cámpora.[3][5]

He resigned from the post in December 2015 to take office as member of the Mercosur Parliament. His last official act as ambassador was the inauguration of a new building for the Argentine embassy in the Vatican, near St. Peter's Square.[13]

National Deputy

At the 2019 general election, Valdés was the 5th candidate in the Frente de Todos list to the Chamber of Deputies in the City of Buenos Aires.[14] Despite not being elected, Valdés took office on 10 December 2019 in place of Fernando Solanas, who never took his seat and instead became Argentina's representative before UNESCO.[15]

As a deputy, Valdés's position on the legalization of abortion was subject of much speculation by Argentine media ahead of the Chamber of Deputies vote on the Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy Bill on 11 December 2020.[16] Despite the bill counting with support from President Alberto Fernández, Valdés's faith and his closeness to the Vatican and to Pope Francis were highlighted as potential reasons for his opposition. In an open letter, Valdés was personally asked by his son, Juan Manuel, to vote in favor of the bill.[4] In the end, Valdés voted against the bill, becoming one of the 32 deputies out of 119 in the Frente de Todos to vote against.[17] [18]

In 2021, Valdés caused controversy when it was revealed he had been vaccinated against COVID-19 under improper conditions, suggesting favoritism by then-Health Minister Ginés González García.[19][20]

References
  1. Pepe, Gabriela (14 July 2019). ""Alberto y CFK son una buena síntesis; sería muy tonto tener problemas de egos"". Letra P (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  2. "Eduardo Valdés será el nuevo embajador argentino en el Vaticano". Télam (in Spanish). 14 October 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  3. Balaguer, Adriana (12 October 2014). "Eduardo Valdés, el mediador entre el Gobierno y el Papa que tendrá su premio en el Vaticano". La Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  4. "El hijo de un diputado le escribió una carta a su padre pidiéndole que vote a favor del aborto". Ámbito (in Spanish). 10 December 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  5. "Quién es Eduardo Valdés, el "punto a punto" entre CFK y Francisco". Minuto Uno (in Spanish). 15 October 2014. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  6. "Eduardo Valdés: El Papa "es el referente moral de la humanidad"". Télam (in Spanish). 4 October 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  7. "Eduardo Valdés: "El Papa no es kirchnerista y cuanto más cerca esté de Argentina es mejor"". Los Andes (in Spanish). 29 January 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  8. ""Te pido que pienses bien el voto que vas a emitir", la carta que recibió el diputado Eduardo Valdés de su hijo". La Nación (in Spanish). 10 December 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  9. "Quién es Eduardo Valdés, el operador K protagonista de las escuchas de la "Operación Puf"". Clarín (in Spanish). 27 May 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  10. "Kirchner echó a un asesor clave de Bielsa". La Nación (in Spanish). 18 December 2004. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  11. Granovsky, Martín (19 December 2004). "Bielsa perdió a su mano derecha". Página/12 (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  12. "El embajador Valdés se despidió del Papa con un balance "muy bueno"". Télam (in Spanish). 9 December 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  13. "Argentina inauguró su nueva embajada ante la Santa Sede". Télam (in Spanish). 3 December 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  14. Argento, Analía (2 July 2019). "La boleta del Frente de Todos: paridad de género, el logo del sol y las fotos de Néstor y Perón". Infobae (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  15. Pepe, Gabriela (22 November 2019). "Renunció Solanas y asume Valdés: un soldado para Fernández en Diputados". Letra P (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  16. "Eduardo Valdés: "Estoy en contra del aborto, pero no puedo pretender que vaya preso alguien que no piensa como yo"". A24 (in Spanish). 31 January 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  17. "Eduardo Valdés votará en contra en general pero apoyará artículos sobre despenalización". Télam (in Spanish). 11 December 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  18. Tarricone, Manuel (11 December 2020). "Aborto: cómo votaron los diputados por provincia y bloques". Chequeado (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  19. "Uno por uno, quiénes son los dirigentes y funcionarios que ya se aplicaron la vacuna contra el coronavirus". Infobae (in Spanish). 21 February 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  20. "La lista del vacunatorio VIP: políticos, un empresario y su entorno y médicos amigos". Clarín (in Spanish). 19 February 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
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