Jose Manuel de la Sota
José Manuel de la Sota (Córdoba, November 28, 1949-Santa María Department, Córdoba Province, September 15, 2018) was an Argentine lawyer, professor, and politician belonging to the Justicialista Party and then to the Christian Democratic Party. He was one of the promoters of the movement calling itself "Peronist renewal" in the 1980s. He was a national deputy for Córdoba, ambassador to Brazil, national senator and three times governor of Córdoba.
He died in a car accident on National Route 36, after the van he was traveling in rear-ended a truck.
Biography
Beginnings
He attended secondary school at the Inmaculada Institute (Córdoba) and his higher studies at the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences of the National University of Córdoba, where he graduated as a lawyer and worked as a teacher.
Recently graduated from Law School, de la Sota joined the Peronist Lawyers Association. It was made up of Hugo Lafranconi (h), Enrique Ashber, Teodoro Funes (h) and Jorge Busti from Entre Ríos. They dedicated themselves to removing Peronist militants imprisoned for their proselytizing activities from police stations and barracks.
In 1972, he married Silvia Zanichelli, daughter of former Governor Arturo Zanichelli. The following year, the Justicialist Juan Carlos Ávalos is elected Mayor of Córdoba. De la Sota is appointed Administrative Secretary of the Deliberative Council of Córdoba by the head of the body, Miguel Flores.
Shortly after, internal divisions within Peronism in the Cordoba capital and poor health led to the departure of Ávalos and his replacement by councilor Flores, a friend and ally of Governor Obregón Cano. His overthrow, endorsed by the central power, produced the departure of Flores. On March 14, 1975, José Domingo Coronel assumed the mayorship of Córdoba and appointed de la Sota Secretary of Government. The coup d'état of March 24, 1976 triggered the careers of all these men and severely hit the Peronist youth of Córdoba, which included José Manuel de la Sota.
Return of democracy
Around 1983, Peronism in Córdoba recognized the existence of different internal groups. The labor movement, identified mainly with Peronism, was also divided into the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) -Córdoba Delegation- "Chacabuco" and "Rodríguez Peña", as well as two delegations of the 62 Peronist Organizations that responded to a and another trade union center.
In order to define the candidacies, internal elections were held, in which Raúl Bercovich Rodríguez and José Manuel de la Sota obtained first and second place respectively.
The formula for governor and vice president was defined by the provincial party congress and was made up of the winner in the internal elections, Raúl Bercovich Rodríguez; the second term of the formula was reserved -following a usual practice in Peronism- to a man belonging to the union branch, corresponding in this case to Alejo Simó, former leader of the local Metal Workers Union.
Renovating Peronism
Although the impact of the 1983 defeat was strong, there were no major questions -throughout 1984- towards the party leadership, and the main leaders of Peronism in Córdoba maintained a relative unity. There was widespread recognition of the figure of Raúl Bercovich Rodríguez: he was a leader with extensive experience and his efforts to achieve the unity of Peronism in Córdoba were considered important.
In the framework of the growing conflict between orthodoxy and renewal that was taking place at the national level, and that had the Peronists of the province of Buenos Aires as its main actors, positions were being defined in Córdoba. De la Sota was linked to the renewal while Bercovich Rodríguez maintained an ambiguous position; He was president of the Río Hondo Congress but also maintained important contacts with the official leadership of the party enshrined in the Odeón Theater and later with that which resulted from the La Pampa Congress. De la Sota was Secretary General of his party, elected by the Peronist Renewal in Río Hondo.
The party was divided to such an extent that it ended up being intervened. Within this framework, the parliamentary elections of November 3, 1985 meant a new failure for Justicialism. At the provincial level, the U.C.R. obtained 51.55% while FREJULI obtained 35.09% of the total votes. In the capital department the percentages were similar. Raúl Bercovich Rodríguez, José Manuel de la Sota, Ricardo Rojas and Enrique Sella were elected national deputies.
This defeat precipitated the formation of the opposition current to the official leadership of the party. In February 1986, the renewal current was established in Córdoba as an internal line of the Justicialista Party. They promoted the “urgent normalization of P.J. of the province, through elections that guarantee absolute and unrestricted respect for the will of the affiliates.” Likewise, the block of renovating Peronism was formed in the Chamber of Deputies of the province.
The intervention expressed the will to carry out the normalization of the party, for which it sanctioned, in 1986, a new Organic Charter and announced the call for internal elections. Internal elections were called four times between August and November 1986 and, for different reasons, they were postponed; which generated the opinion -among the renovators- that the intervention was intended to be perpetuated over time and that it was itself an obstacle to party normalization.
The holding of an election represented the opportunity to confront the relationship of forces. The government of the province promoted in 1986 the reform of the provincial Constitution, which is why the election of conventional constituents was called for December 14 of that year. At that time there was a broad identification between the intervention of the party, exercised by Alberto Serú García, and the sector of Bercovich Rodríguez, and the relations between these -which constituted the ruling party- with the renovators were increasingly tense.
The renovating Peronism decided to stand in the elections outside the official Justicialista Party and formed an alliance with the Christian Democrats. De la Sota explained this fact in the following way: "The men and women of the renewal never tried to fracture Peronism, but we have looked for different alternatives when we have been denied the path of the elections".
The U.C.R. he comfortably won the elections: he obtained 42.7% of the votes. The Christian Democracy-Peronism Renovador front was in second place with 24.8% of the votes and the Justicialista Party obtained third place with 17.7%.
This defeat marked the decline of the orthodox sector and the formation of a new dominant coalition, made up of men from the renewal. Given these results, the party's controller, Alberto Serú García, submitted his resignation and José Manuel de la Sota demanded the formation of an impartial party electoral board to call internal elections at the beginning of 1987. There was also a transfer of members of the orthodoxy to renewal. Indeed, a significant number of conventional constituents elected by the PJ appeared shortly after in the renewing list.
Controversial provincial reform
On December 29, 1986, de la Sota was sworn in as 1st Vice President of the Constituent Convention of the province of Córdoba. The presidency of the Convention was exercised by the radical lawyer Roberto Lousteau Bidaut, president of the Superior Court of Justice of Córdoba who requested a license to lead a constituent assembly called to reform article 101 of the provincial Constitution and thus allow the re-election of the Governor Angeloz.
During the Convention, the political negotiations initiated by the Secretary of the Convention, Luis Medina Allende, aimed at obtaining the necessary votes for the reform, ended up fracturing the PJ bloc. Finally, in the midst of complaints, incidents, physical attacks and rumors of vote buying, the reform had the support of the necessary majority (7 PJ conventionalists voted in favor).
First candidacy for governor (1987) and vice president (1989)
The new controller of the Justicialista Party of Córdoba, Julio Mera Figueroa, called for internal elections -to be held on March 29, 1987- for the nomination of candidate for governor, lieutenant governor and mayor of the city of Córdoba and for the normalization of the party Elections for the governorship of the province, the municipality and the renewal of the Chamber of Deputies of the nation and the province were scheduled for September 6 of that year.
Three lists were presented on the occasion: Peronismo Renovador, with José Manuel de la Sota, Enrique Gastaldi and Miguel Balestrini as candidates for governor, vice president and mayor, respectively; Third Position: with César Albrisi, Esteban Llamosas and Hugo Lafranconi; and Peronist Reconstruction, a list that only presented a candidate for mayor, Carlos Risso. The results of the internal elections consecrated the leadership of La Sota, since Peronismo Renovador obtained 86.98% of the votes for the candidate for governor and 82.35% for the candidate for mayor. Due to the triumph in the internal ones, José Manuel de la Sota was consecrated President of the Provincial Council of P.J.
At the national level, the advance of the renovators was significant. In the course of 1986 internal meetings were held in 16 districts to elect authorities and candidates for elective positions. The renovators achieved control of 50% of the justicialist districts but the national leadership continued in orthodox hands. The party congress held in Tucumán the first days of November consecrated Vicente Leonides Saadi president.
For the elections of September 6, 1987, the Justicialista Party and the Christian Democracy united again, constituting the Justicialista Renewal Front (FreJuRe). In Córdoba, the conformation of the lists of candidates evidenced two important innovations in Peronism. On the one hand, the displacement of union leaders in favor of politicians, a trend that had been insinuated since the 1985 elections. The appointment of Enrique Gastaldi as candidate for lieutenant governor also broke with an old tradition in the Peronism of Córdoba of reserving this place for a man from the labor movement. On the other hand, the economist Domingo Cavallo was incorporated in third place on the list of candidates for national deputies. The incorporation of this non-partisan candidate marked the beginning of a change of course in Peronism, as well as the development of a situational charismatic leadership process with national projection.
The September 6 elections marked an important recovery of Justicialismo. Indeed, in the province the U.C.R. won 49.09% of the vote, compared to 44.45% for FreJuRe. Justicialism won the municipalities of the fourth and tenth cities of the Province -according to the 1980 Census-, San Francisco and Villa Dolores; also reducing the difference that Eduardo Angeloz had with Raúl Bercovich Rodríguez in 1983. On that occasion, Angeloz had prevailed by more than 230,000 votes; now the difference between the Radical votes and the Peronist votes was ten times smaller. The PJ took over four provinces in which the UCR had won in 1983: Buenos Aires, Mendoza, Entre Ríos and Misiones. Almost immediately, the figure of Cafiero, governor-elect of Buenos Aires and president of the National Justicialista Council, as a natural candidate for the presidency in 1989 was challenged by the governor of La Rioja Carlos Menem, who without wasting time filled the country with posters. promoting your candidacy.
The confrontation between Menem and Cafiero had been seen for the first time in the Tucumán Congress of 1986, when the participation of Menem and the congressmen from La Rioja and the rapprochement with the orthodox led Cafiero to refer to him as & #34;renodoxo". In this context, de la Sota integrated Antonio Cafiero's formula. However, both were defeated in the inmates on July 9, 1988 by the Menem-Duhalde duo, surrounded by orthodox figures such as Herminio Iglesias from Buenos Aires, marking the decline of renovating Peronism.
Ambassador in Brazil (1990-1992)
Menem was proclaimed candidate for the Presidency of the Nation by the Popular Justicialista Front (FREJUPO), a coalition of Justicialism with other minor parties. In the elections of May 14, 1989, he was elected President of the Nation with 47.49% of the votes, beating the candidate of the Radical Civic Union, Eduardo Angeloz, and then succeeding President Raúl Alfonsín, whom he had to replace six months before the end of his mandate due to the crisis caused by the hyperinflation that affected the country.
In that election, De la Sota was re-elected national deputy for Córdoba, but did not complete his term.
After the traumatic death of one of his daughters, he divorced his wife. On December 28, 1989, he married Olga Riutort, a national deputy for San Juan who was part of the Peronist renewal.
After Menem's triumph, several leaders of the renovating Peronism lined up behind the first president. Domingo Cavallo was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs first and then Minister of the Economy; Manzano remained at the head of the Block of Deputies, being appointed Minister of the Interior in 1991; Carlos Grosso received the mayorship of the City of Buenos Aires and De la Sota was appointed Ambassador to Brazil in 1990.
Second gubernatorial candidacy (1991)
In 1991, in the midst of a controversial interpretation of the transitory clauses of the provincial constitution reformed in 1987, Governor Angeloz decided to seek a new mandate. The bulk of the leaders of the Justicialista Party of Córdoba rallied behind deputy Humberto Roggero. However, the low popular support made him give up the candidacy in the middle of the campaign. In this context, and in the need to promote a well-known figure, de la Sota undertook his second attempt to be governor.
In 1991, amid a controversial constitutional interpretation, he ran for a third term as governor. He widely overcame the challenge presented by the Mayor of Córdoba, Ramón B. Mestre, in the internal elections of the radicalismo.
However, the campaign for the general elections of September 8, 1991, which began with an advantage for Angeloz, turned into an unexpectedly close contest. After the resignation of Humberto Roggero from Rio Cuarto, Cordoba Peronism once again took refuge in the candidacy of José Manuel de la Sota, ambassador to Brazil. This skillful politician got the support of the Minister of Economy of the Nation Domingo Cavallo, although he could not seduce President Menem.
On June 2, 1991, De la Sota presented his candidacy for governor at the General Paz Sports Center in the City of Córdoba. There he spoke of the need for a & # 34; prudent change & # 34; in Córdoba through a broader political space than justicialismo: "To beat radicalism, the lists will have more representatives of social sectors than political leaders".
A coalition quickly formed around P.J. called the "Unión de Fuerzas Sociales", and made up of the Action for Change party - led by the architect Hugo Taboada, former mayor of Córdoba during the Onganía military government- and the Christian Democrats. With the same criteria as in 1987, he chose the vice-president of the Argentine Rural Confederation, Carlos Briganti, as his candidate for lieutenant governor. The list of national deputies was headed by businessman Carlos Crostelli, from the Minetti Group. The list of provincial legislators included the Democratic leader Sofanor Novillo Corvalán, the Dean of the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences of the National University of Córdoba, Rafael Vaggione, and the former president of the Israeli Association of Córdoba, Arnoldo Lamisovsky.
"We are repeating in Córdoba the model of the Popular Concentration of Ramón J. Cárcano. A model that was useful to give Córdoba a great government and to beat radicalism very well", repeated De la Sota in his idea of taking the banners of local conservatism represented by the former Democratic leader.
In the "open" of the City of Córdoba, held on Sunday, July 1, where people not affiliated with any party could participate for the first time, Hugo Taboada defeated Miguel Balestrini and became a candidate for mayor of the country's second city at the time.
The electoral campaign of the UFS produced a great impact in terms of communication. Advised by the Brazilian publicist Duda Mendonça, they made a commercial that featured a defenseless canary in a cage surrounded by a cat: it was a brutal metaphor for the feeling of insecurity that existed due to the succession of kidnappings for extortion throughout the country.
In Córdoba, they kidnapped the son of the president of the Industrial Union, Juan Carlos Negrini, and Shirley Dadone de Unzueta, the wife of a well-known grain collector who was a candidate for mayor for the radicalism of Pueblo Italiano, a small inland city From Cordoba. But just 48 hours before the elections, both people reappeared and Angeloz closed his exultant campaign: "the cat no longer appears, it has an effeminate voice and I castrated it on time".
Despite the fact of having the support of Minister Cavallo, the circle of people close to De la Sota suspected a pact between Menem and Angeloz. First, the desertion of many Menemista leaders from the candidate lists in Córdoba; then, the meeting between the Minister of the Interior Manzano and Governor Angeloz. In the election of September 8, 1991, Governor Angeloz obtained 52.03% of the votes compared to 36.49% of the Peronist coalition. The justicialismo retained the Intendancy of San Francisco and won that of Río Tercero, at that time the fourth and fifth cities of the Province. On that occasion he said: & # 34; Abraham Lincoln lost many elections before he became president of the United States. In politics there are never permanent defeats or victories".
Political displacement
The electoral defeat of 1991 reduced support among his own followers. Many considered him the "eternal loser" or "marshal of defeat".
Menemism, expressed in Córdoba by the Minister of Social Action of the Nation Julio C. Aráoz, decided to challenge the leadership of De la Sota and confront him in the 1993 parliamentary election. But he was not the only one.
Minister Cavallo, fully immersed in Cordoba politics, promoted the formation of the Cordovan Justicialista Front, made up of the Nation's Secretary of Industry, Juan Schiaretti, and former Lasotista leaders Humberto Roggero, Miguel D'Alessandro, Oscar Félix González and Miguel Balestrini.
In the internal elections of July 1993, and in the midst of controversies over the management of the electoral rolls, De la Sota suffered his first internal defeat in Córdoba. However, the campaign of denunciations against fraud that he initiated dragged the list of national deputies of P.J. in the general vote on October 3, which managed to retain four seats in the lower house of the National Congress.
National Senator (1995-1999)
In a unity agreement, the presidency of the Justicialista Party of Córdoba was left in the hands of deputy Humberto Roggero. Cordovan Peronism made Judge Guilleromo Johnson its candidate for governor in 1995, who would later be defeated by the radical Ramón Mestre, and De la Sota a national senator representing the first minority.
On Monday, September 11, 1995 at three in the afternoon, the Legislative Assembly chaired by Lieutenant Governor Luis Molinari Romero, appointed the radical Angeloz (90 votes) and de la Sota (77 votes) as national senators for Córdoba.
Both men were going through a politically difficult time. 70% of Cordoba were opposed to the appointment of the ex-radical governor and 40% to that of his adversary. De la Sota asserted: "For the last eleven years I have been the voice of the opposition in Córdoba and I ask those who voted for Angeloz and today do not want him as a senator, to think that the vote does not go unpunished and it also holds the issuer responsible".
From his seat in the Chamber of Senators of the Argentine Nation, de la Sota promoted several projects with a single objective: to reach the governorship of Córdoba in 1999.
The first project he presented sought to repeal the parliamentary immunity provided for in articles 69 and 70 of the National Constitution, through a constitutional reform called for 1997. In the fundamentals of the project it stated: "Certain illicit behaviors, generically included in the term corruption,.[citation required]have been frequent in our recent political life, in some cases becoming a contributing cause of deep crises of some provincial states" in reference to ex-governor Angeloz who refused to abandon his jurisdiction to submit to justice.
Their projects were in tune with the social demand for greater transparency in public management and their initiatives were oriented in that direction.[citation required]
In July 1996, he presented a proposal to establish a special regime for the development of olive growing in Cruz del Eje, Córdoba, within the framework of a road blockade promoted by the inhabitants of the area who were claiming unemployment. [citation required]
The Fiscal Convertibility Law
In March 1998, de la Sota presented his most ambitious bill: the Fiscal Convertibility Law. The initiative, which had the support of almost the entire Justicialist Senators Bloc, aimed at balancing the income and expenditures of the national State to curb the fiscal deficit and control public spending. The Executive Branch could not increase spending beyond the increase in the Gross Domestic Product, nor use current resources to pay interest on the public debt; those that should be financed with new credits, sale of public assets, privatizations or current fiscal surplus.
The project placed him on the national political scene in a position close to Menemism. Among the fundamentals of his project he stated: "Many political analysts have interpreted the result of the 1997 elections as a demand from the population to have a more efficient public sector. We want to focus the kickoff for second generation reforms in the public sector through a set of three laws that will interact with each other: channeling public spending and indebtedness; accompany this with a fundamental tax reform, and make the management of public affairs transparent to reach a crystalline state".
In order to gain the confidence of investor groups, conservative fiscal measures are required that allow for some planning. In this sense, de la Sota proposed not to increase, for a period of ten years, the four main national taxes that go to the Federal Tax Sharing. To complete the project, he proposed a comprehensive reform of the national tax system that would contemplate the creation of a Final Sales Tax with a rate of no more than 15%, an increase in Income Tax, the implementation of a tax on net worth of people and the abolition of the Value Added Tax (VAT).
The Congress of the Argentine Nation soon sanctioned the Fiscal Convertibility Law with many modifications, although it never promoted the fiscal reform. When Fernando de la Rúa took office, the fiscal deficit threatened to get out of control and economy minister José Luis Machinea applied a reverse policy to Senator de la Sota's proposal: he increased taxes and reduced wages, causing further economic contraction.
First term as Governor of Córdoba (1999-2003)
Throughout 1998 he managed to get the Justicialista Party to endorse him again for a third candidacy for governor of the province. With an effective proselytizing campaign, which included a 30% reduction in provincial taxes as a central proposal, on December 20, 1998, de la Sota overthrew the radical hegemony in Córdoba by winning the general election. His victory against the radical Ramón Mestre, who was betting on re-election, was consolidated in more than 9 points of advantage (49.49 percent of the valid votes cast compared to 40.47% of the U.C.R.), taking office on July 12, 1999.
The context of the first period of his government was not one of order and progress. As the operating margins of the provinces deteriorated due to lower economic growth, the need to reduce current expenses and take on debt grew. The bad policies of the federal government had repercussions in the subnational governments. The deterioration of public finances from January 2000, altered the fiscal equation of the Province. De la Sota appealed to the issuance of quasi-currency -the Letters of Cancellation of Obligations of Córdoba (Lecor)- so as not to fall into cessation of payments. The provincial administration used a million-dollar loan assistance from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to achieve the balance of the 2002 budget, in the midst of the economic and financial chaos the country was going through, and the rescue of the LECOR -125 million dollars-.
In terms of taxes, the governor fulfilled his electoral promise to cut provincial taxes by 30% -Urban and Rural real estate, Gross Income and Stamps- with the signing of Decree No. 1538/99. As for the Rural Real Estate Tax, de la Sota maintained the tax valuation in force since 1993 without variations.
In terms of public works, through a loan of 215 million dollars granted by the IDB in the year 2000, the construction of 12,000 homes for deprived sectors and 244 new schools were financed; with a repayment period of 20 years. While, through another loan granted by the World Bank (WB), the expansion and improvement of 4,500 kilometers of provincial roads not granted under concession was carried out through the Provincial Roads II Program.[citation required]
In terms of administrative reform, new rights were promoted for the inhabitants of the province through the enactment of the Citizen's Bill of Rights -Law no. 8835/00- which, among other things, recognizes the protection of collective interests and diffuse interests; and creates the Public Services Regulatory Entity (ERSEP), to regulate the quality of services in the Province; the expansion of the number of ministries and the unification and digitization of the entry and exit table system of the Province; the incorporation of private capital to Banco Provincia de Córdoba; and the rationalization of the personnel of the provincial public administration through the reduction of retirement ages (Law no. 9045/02) and the creation of the Voluntary Early Passivity Regime (Law no. 8836/00), facts that Although they contributed to the release of specialized jobs -Health and Education- lowering the Government's operating costs, they increased the deficit of the pension system.
Regarding the structure of the Provincial Public Administration, he promoted the reopening and extension of restricted public services under Governor Mestre's Public Emergency Law. Schools were reopened at all levels of education, hospital care networks were expanded, and services provided by the Provincial Institute of Medical Care (IPAM) -the third largest state social work in the country-.
In constitutional matters, he promoted the reform of the Constitution of the province of Córdoba in 2001 that established a new legislative representation mechanism -established the Unicameral Parliamentary System-, modified the form of nomination of candidates for elective public office and the suppression of parliamentary privileges.
Government Cabinet
De la Sota appointed the following cabinet upon taking office:
 José Manuel de la Sota | ||
|---|---|---|
| Portfolio | Owner | Period |
| Minister of Government | Oscar González | 10 December 1999 - |
| Minister of Finance | José María las Heras | 10 December 1999 - |
| Minister of Education | Juan Carlos Maqueda | 10 December 1999 - |
| Minister of Public Works | Carlos Caserio | 10 December 1999 - |
| Minister of Production | Juan Schiaretti | 10 December 1999 - |
| Minister of Solidarity | Herman Oliver | 10 December 1999 - |
| Minister of Health | Héctor Villafañe | 10 December 1999 - |
| Minister of Justice | Carlos Lascano | 10 December 1999 - |
| General Secretariat of the Government | Olga Riutort | 10 December 1999 - |
| State Prosecutor ' s Office | Domingo Carbonetti | 10 December 1999 - |
Second term as Governor of Córdoba (2003-2007)
Although he failed to reach the candidacy for the presidency of the Nation by justicialism, his management as governor of Córdoba was then supported in the general election of June 8, 2003. There, the Sota formula - Juan Schiaretti It was imposed with 51.84% of the votes valid to the Radical Binomial Oscar Aguad - Antonio Rins, which reaped 37.23% of the accessions.
As of 2004, with the deterioration of remittances by federal tax co -participation, the " special funds " arose; to compensate for the fiscal impact of the tax reduction of 30 percent. These non -tax funds were constituted by specific rates on certain production activities or certain consumption of public services, and are not co -participate to the municipalities of Córdoba.
In its more than eight years of government, De la Sota consolidated as a maker of public works with a low -tax economic policy in alliance with the agricultural sector of Córdoba. [ citation required ]
Government Cabinet
of the Sota appointed the following cabinet at the time of assuming:
José Manuel de la Sota | ||
|---|---|---|
| Portfolio | Owner | Period |
| Minister of Government | Eduardo Accastello | 10 December 2003 - 10 December 2005 |
| Minister of Finance | Angel Mario Elettore | 10 December 2003 - |
| Minister of Education | Amelia López | 10 December 2003 - |
| Minister of Public Works and Services | Oscar Santarelli | 10 December 2003 - |
| Minister of Production and Labour | Adriana Nazario | 10 December 2003 - |
| Minister of Security | Carlos Alesandri | 10 December 2003 - |
| Minister of Health | Roberto Chuit | 10 December 2003 - |
| Secretary of Justice | Hector David | 10 December 2003 - |
| General Secretariat and Public Information | Marcelo Falo | 10 December 2003 - |
| State Prosecutor ' s Office | Felix Antonio López Amaya | 10 December 2003 - |
Third term as Governor of Córdoba (2011-2015)
In 2007, he supported the candidacy for Governor of Juan Schiaretti, who triumphed in the elections on September 2 of that year over the independent candidate Luis Juez. After a hectic electoral process, with allegations of fraud by his opponents, on December 10, 2007 he ended his last term as Governor of Córdoba, his successor being Accountant Juan Schiaretti.
With the interregnum of one term, he ran again as a candidate for governor of Córdoba for Unión por Córdoba, the coalition of parties formed by de la Sota in 1998. He managed to reinvent his image as a moderate and dialogue-oriented leader, in contrast to the confrontational and controversial style of Senator Judge, under a successful television ad entitled "I learned" and the slogan "the change that follows". Behind his candidacy, he managed to unify all sectors of Peronism for the moment; prevailing in the election of August 7, 2011 in 25 of the 26 departments of the province, with 42.61% of the votes over the candidates of the Civic and Social Front, Luis Juez, and of the Radical Civic Union, Oscar Aguad.
On December 10, 2011, upon taking office as Governor of Córdoba, he issued decree no., teachers and assistants of the three educational levels.
Secondly, it launched the Provincial Medicines Program, through decree no. 2597/11, aimed at providing prescribed medicines to outpatients from public healthcare establishments, without social coverage.
Regarding artistic promotion actions, de la Sota signed decree no. and/or musical, artistic and circus shows that take place in the Province of Córdoba. It was later ratified by two provincial laws.
His attitude towards the Facebook group “1,000 people to put a bat-signal on the bicentennial lighthouse” was criticized for considering that a governor should not notice or face something so banal. The discord gave the group value by integrating it into Cordoba's popular culture.
In May 2012, the provincial Legislature approved one of its most controversial measures, through a law that ordered the closure of all brothels in the province of Córdoba, a measure that De la Sota justified as part of the fight against trafficking of people.
Government Cabinet
De la Sota appointed the following cabinet upon taking office:
José Manuel de la Sota | ||
|---|---|---|
| Portfolio | Owner | Period |
| Chief of Staff | Oscar González | 10 December 2011 - |
| Minister of Finance | Angel Mario Elettore | 10 December 2011 - |
| Minister of Education | Walter Grahovac | 10 December 2011 - |
| Minister of Public Works | Hugo Testa | 10 December 2011 - |
| Minister of Agriculture | Néstor Scalerandi | 10 December 2011 - |
| Minister of Transport | Dante Heredia | 10 December 2011 - |
| Minister of Security | Alejo Paredes | 10 December 2011 - |
| Minister of Industry | Jorge Lawson | 10 December 2011 - |
| Minister of Water and Energy | Manuel Calvo | 10 December 2011 - |
| Minister of Planning | Héctor Paglia | 10 December 2011 - |
| Minister of Science | Roger Illanes | 10 December 2011 - |
| Minister of Health | Carlos Simon | 10 December 2011 - |
| Minister for Social Development | Daniel Passerini | 10 December 2011 - |
| Minister of Justice | Graciela Chayep | 10 December 2011 - |
| Minister of Labour | Omar Dragún | 10 December 2011 - |
| Minister of Administration | Mónica Zornberg | 10 December 2011 - |
| State Prosecutor ' s Office | Jorge Córdoba | 10 December 2011 - |
Candidacy for the presidency (2014)
On December 1, 2014, in an act in the City of Buenos Aires, he was proclaimed as presidential candidate by the Christian Democratic Party with the presence of his ally, the rural trade unionist Gerónimo "Momo" Venegas from the FE Party, Julio Bárbaro, the national deputy (former duhaldista) Carlos Brown, Carlos Campolongo, among others.
...“All life I have been a Democrat, and I am and will be a Christian, so I feel at home. I am one more of you and I ask you to accompany me to the Presidency of the Nation." (EXTRACT OF THE DISCURSE AGAINST PRESIDENTIAL PRECANDATURAL PROCLAMATION OF PDC)José Manuel de la Sota
On April 29, 2015, José Manuel de la Sota announced the agreement between the Christian Democratic Party that proclaimed him as a presidential candidate for 2015 and the Renewal Front led by Sergio Massa, to compete against each other in the National Simultaneous and Compulsory Open Primaries (PASO) that will take place on August 9, under the motto "United Argentina".
Candidates for the presidential elections will be chosen first at the party level and then in primary elections at the country level (PASO) in August. In order to participate in PASO 2015, the Christian Democratic Party is part of the transitory electoral alliance UNA (United for a New Alternative) made up, in addition to the PDC, of: the Federal Renewal Party (Sergio Massa), Celeste and Blanca (Francisco de Narváez), Unión Popular, MID, and Third Position (Graciela Camaño).
Death
At approximately 8:00 p.m. on September 15, 2018, de la Sota was driving his truck, a Volvo XC60, along a straight line on the Córdoba-Río Cuarto highway bound for the city of Córdoba. Upon reaching kilometer 781 of the aforementioned road, his vehicle collided with the rear of a truck that was traveling in the same direction (three kilometers before the intersection of Alto Fierro with Provincial Route C 45). The crash was very violent and the front of the truck was literally disintegrated. The forensic division of the Provincial Police confirmed that José Manuel de la Sota had died on the spot.
His funeral was held at the Civic Center of the provincial capital, attended by a large number of people. For two days, the ex-governor's body was fired by his family, friends, local and national political leaders. Present, among other political personalities, were the Minister of the Interior, Rogelio Frigerio, the Minister of Defense, Oscar Aguad, as well as the leader of the Renewal Front, Sergio Massa, and the acting governor Juan Schiaretti; who expressed: "I know that from heaven you will be watching over the people of Cordoba and that there is union among the Argentines."
Personal life
He began dating Silvia Zanichelli, daughter of ex-radical governor Arturo Zanichelli, in the late 1960s. The couple married in 1972 and had three daughters: Candelaria, Natalia, and Agustina. Agustina died in 1987, at the age of five years old, drowning in the swimming pool at home.
In December 1989, he married Olga Riutort, a former national legislator for San Juan, with whom he formed a conjugal and political alliance. Ruitort accompanied him during his first term in office, occupying the position of General Secretary of the Interior. In 2004 they separated and shortly after they divorced.
From 2005 until his death he was in a relationship with Adriana Nazario, who had been his Minister of Production.
Electoral history
Election results
- 30/10/1983 Election for mayor of Córdoba
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ramon B. Mestre | Radical Civic Union | 301.194 | 54.9 per cent |
| José Manuel de la Sota | Justice Party | 214.490 | 39% |
| Hugo F. Taboada | Mov. de Int. y Desarrollo | 20.349 | 3.7 per cent |
- 06/09/1987 Election for governor and vice
| Formula | Party/Alliance | Votes | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Angeloz - Negri | Radical Civic Union | 729.927 | 49.09% |
| De la Sota - Gastaldi | Front Justicialista Renovador | 661.016 | 44.45% |
- 08/09/1991 election for governor and vice
| Formula | Party/Alliance | Votes | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Angeloz - Grosso | Radical Civic Union | 781.884 | 52.03% |
| De la Sota - Briganti | Justice Party | 548.272 | 36.49% |
- 20/12/1998 election for governor and vice
| Formula | Party/Alliance | Votes | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| De la Sota - Kammerath | Union by Córdoba | 793.916 | 49.59% |
| Mestre - Abella | Partnership | 615.578 | 40.47% |
- 08/06/2003 election for governor and vice
| Formula | Party/Alliance | Votes | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| De la Sota - Schiaretti | Union by Córdoba | 819.90 | 51.84% |
| Aguad - Rins | Radical Civic Union | 588.932 | 37.23% |
- 08/08/2011 Election for Governor and Vice
| Formula | Party/Alliance | Votes | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| From the Sota - Pregno | Union by Córdoba | 747.110 | 42.61% |
| Judge - Gatica | Civic Front | 517.181 | 29.49% |
| Aguad - Roulet | Radical Civic Union | 402.311 | 22.94% |