Patricia Bullrich
Bullrich in 2016
Minister of Security
Assumed office
10 December 2023
PresidentJavier Milei
Preceded byAníbal Fernández
In office
10 December 2015 – 10 December 2019
PresidentMauricio Macri
Preceded byMaría Cecilia Rodríguez
Succeeded bySabina Frederic
National Deputy
In office
10 December 2007 – 10 December 2015
ConstituencyCity of Buenos Aires
In office
10 December 1993 – 10 December 1997
ConstituencyCity of Buenos Aires
Minister of Social Security
In office
31 October 2001 – 13 November 2001
PresidentFernando de la Rúa
Preceded by
  • Jorge Antonio San Martino
  • (Secretary of State)
Succeeded byJosé Gabriel Dumón
Minister of Labour, Employment and Human Resources
In office
6 October 2000 – 29 October 2001
PresidentFernando de la Rúa
Preceded byAlberto Flamarique
Succeeded byJosé Gabriel Dumón
Secretary of Criminal Policy and Penitentiary Affairs
In office
15 December 1999 – 5 October 2000
PresidentFernando de la Rúa
Preceded byJulio Enrique Aparicio
Succeeded byMariano Ciafardini
Personal details
Born (1956-06-11) 11 June 1956 (age 67)
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Political partyJusticialist Party (1983–1996)
New Leadership (1996–1999)
Union for Freedom (2002–2018)
Republican Proposal (since 2018)
Other political
affiliations		Alliance for Work, Justice and Education (1999–2001)
Civic Coalition (2007–2011)
PRO Union (2013–2015)
Juntos por el Cambio (since 2015)
Spouses
Marcelo Langieri
​
​
(m. 1975; div. 1982)​
Guillermo Yanco
​
(m. 1997)​
Children1
Alma materUniversity of Palermo
Signature

Patricia Bullrich (Latin American Spanish: [paˈtɾisja ˈβulritʃ] ⓘ; born 11 June 1956) is an Argentine professor and politician who is serving as Minister of Security since 2023 under president Javier Milei, having previously held the office under president Mauricio Macri from 2015 to 2019. She is the chairwoman of Republican Proposal.[1]

Born in Buenos Aires, Bullrich graduated from the University of Palermo, and as a young woman she was involved with the Peronist Youth. Following the election of Macri to the presidency in the 2015 Argentine general election, it was announced that Bullrich had been nominated the Minister of Security.[2]

Bullrich represented the hardest and most right-wing sector of the coalition Together for Change and the Republican Proposal party during the 2023 Argentine both primary and general elections as presidential candidate. Following her defeat in both of them, she decided to personally support Javier Milei on the second round. Later on, she was chosen to serve as Minister of Security by President Milei.

Early life

Bullrich was born on 11 June 1956 in Buenos Aires, daughter of Alejandro Bullrich, a cardiologist, and Julieta Luro Pueyrredón. She was the youngest of four siblings until her parents' separation, following which her father had three more children.[3]

Bullrich belongs to two wealthy families on each of her parents' sides. On her mother's side, she belongs to the Pueyrredón family, a traditional lineage of Spanish, French, and Irish descent whose members featured prominently in the early years of Argentine Independence (such as Juan Martín de Pueyrredón and Honorio Pueyrredón).[4] On her father's side, she descends from Adolfo Bullrich, a businessman and politician of German ancestry, who served as Mayor of Buenos Aires from 1898 to 1902.[5]

She became politically engaged from an early age, abandoning a potential career in field hockey to dedicate herself fully to political activism.[6] By the time she was 17, she was an active member of the Peronist Youth. She also worked at the Cheburger fast food joint and became a member of the food workers' union, encouraging coworkers to unionise as well.[3]

Peronist Youth years

She joined the Juventud Peronista, the youth wing of the Peronist movement, aged 17. On 20 June 1973, she joined the procession to Ezeiza to bear witness to Juan Perón's return to Argentina following his 18-year exile, but left before the Ezeiza Massacre took place that same day.[citation needed]

She was also present at the Plaza de Mayo on May Day 1974, when Perón, by then once again president of Argentina, expelled the Montoneros and the left-wing youth groups from the celebrations. Bullrich herself was a member of the Montoneros, active in the Columna Norte subgroup commanded by Rodolfo Galimberti.[7] Galimberti was also in a relationship with Bullrich's sister, Julieta.[8] Bullrich has denied being a Montoneros member.[9][10]

Following Perón's death in 1974, a period of political violence and persecution against Montoneros and other left-wing Peronists ensued. In 1975, Bullrich was arrested for spray-painting political messages on the entrance of the University of Buenos Aires Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, and spent six months in prison. Upon being released, she dropped out of her sociology degree at the University of Buenos Aires and enrolled at the Universidad de Belgrano to study law.[3]

Following the 1976 coup d'état, she went into exile with her partner at the time, Marcelo Langieri, first settling in Brazil, and later in Mexico and Spain.[11]

Political career

This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (August 2023)

After the return of democracy, she became Organisation Secretary of the Justicialist Party of Buenos Aires and was elected as a Peronist deputy in 1993.[12] In 1995, she was named the Legislator of the Year.

Disillusioned with the Peronist cause, Bullrich left Congress in 1997 and set up the UPT, originally as a vehicle for studying and campaigning on the subject of crime and security.[13] From 1996 to 1999, she was a member of Gustavo Béliz's New Leadership party.[14] She worked for the state government in Buenos Aires Province on security matters, developing a community policing project in Hurlingham, which became well known nationally and internationally.[12]

Bullrich with British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Argentina and the United Kingdom, in 2018.

In 1999, the UPT became part of the Alliance for Work, Justice and Education, which took Fernando de la Rúa to the Presidency. Bullrich was appointed to office in the Department of Criminal Policy and Penitentiary Matters. In 2001, she was made a cabinet minister, as Secretary of Labour, Employment and Human Resources and, later that year, as Secretary of Social Security.[12] During the 2001 economic crisis, she led the plan to substantially reduce the pay of state employees and the level of state pensions.[citation needed]

Following the collapse of the Alliance government of de la Rúa, Bullrich and her colleagues formally launched UPT as a political party on 6 March 2002.[13] The following year, the Party participated in the elections for Buenos Aires City, with Bullrich as the candidate for Head of Government for the Alianza Unión para Recrear Buenos Aires, working with the Recrear movement of Ricardo López Murphy. They came fourth with almost 10% of the vote.[citation needed]

In 2007, Bullrich led UPT into the Civic Coalition (2007–2011) alongside various opposition groups and social movements, principally ARI led by Elisa Carrió. The Coalition won several seats in the upper and lower houses of Congress and Bullrich herself was elected as National Deputy for Buenos Aires. Her centrist politics and polemical history as a government minister, however, contributed to the disenchantment of a group of left-wing members of ARI who left the Civic Coalition.[citation needed]

Following the election of Mauricio Macri to the presidency on 22 November 2015, it was announced on 25 November 2015 that Bullrich had been nominated the Minister of Security of the Nation.[2]

In the 2023 Argentine general election, she ran for president as the head of the liberal Juntos por el Cambio alliance and came third in the first round, losing to Sergio Massa and Javier Milei. On 25 October 2023, Bullrich officially endorsed Javier Milei for the runoff election.[15]

In December 2023, Patricia Bullrich returned to government as security minister in president Javier Milei's Cabinet.[16]

Political positions

Initially Patricia Bullrich belonged to the revolutionary peronist left, within the organizations Juventud Peronista and Montoneros, where Marxist and Peronist ideals were prevalent. Then, she gradually shifted to extreme right-wing positions.[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] Including right-wing populist ideals,[28][29][30] liberal and even ultra-liberal[31] economic thoughts, and hard-line conservative ideas on cultural matters.[32][33] Although in some cases not so conservative as the decriminalization of abortion.[34]

Controversies

Bullrich stated that she was in favor of arming of citizens, stating "whoever wants to be armed should be armed" after exiting a restaurant.[35]

D'Alessio extortion scandal

According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), Bullrich was implicated in the D'Alessio scandal, in which Marcelo D'Alessio was accused of extorting various individuals, using real evidence obtained through hidden cameras or otherwise obtained from their private lives, and/or planted evidence, in order to "force people to confess to crimes or implicate others". According to HRW, "intercepted communications suggest that Patricia Bullrich, the security minister, 'had links' and 'gave instructions' to D’Alessio."[36]

Electoral history

Executive

Electoral history of Patricia Bullrich
Election Office List Votes Result Ref.
Total % P.
2003 Chief of Government of Buenos Aires Union to Recreate Buenos Aires 171,765 9.76 4th Not elected [37]
2023 President of Argentina Juntos por el Cambio 6,379,023 23.81 3rd Not elected [38]

Legislative

Electoral history of Patricia Bullrich
Election Office List # District Votes Result Ref.
Total % P.
1993 National Deputy Justicialist Party 3 CABA 628,506 32.59% 1st[a] Elected [39]
2007 Civic Coalition 1 CABA 279,775 15.29% 1st[a] Elected [40]
2011 Civic Coalition 1 CABA 124,245 6.61% 5th[a] Elected [41]
  1. ^ a b c Presented on an electoral list. The data shown represents the share of the vote the entire party/alliance received in that constituency.

References

  1. ^ "Patricia Bullrich es formalmente la presidenta del Pro". Cba24n (in Spanish). 6 February 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Marcos Peña anunció los ministros que integrarán el Gabinete de Macri". Telam. Télam SE Agencia Nacional de Noticias. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  3. ^ a b c Bullrich, Patricia. Lazos de familia. El horizonte de la mirada política. Memorias de la acción. Conversaciones con Albino Gómez (in Spanish). Buenos Aires: Asociación Civil Centro de Estudios Sociales Ahora Argentina. p. 23. ISBN 987-20654-0-3.
  4. ^ Rouillon, Jorge (2 October 2000). "Los Pueyrredon preparan un encuentro de 18.000 parientes". La Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  5. ^ Schurman, Diego (22 October 2000). ""Nunca hice conspiración porque siempre crecí sola"". Página 12 (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  6. ^ "Los rugidos de Patricia Bullrich". Clarín (in Spanish). 24 July 2003. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  7. ^ Duzdevich, Aldo A. (13 September 2020). "Patricia, la montonera". Perfil (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  8. ^ Amato, Alberto (13 February 2002). "Murió Rodolfo Galimberti, un símbolo de los violentos años 70" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 22 November 2004.
  9. ^ "Patricia Bullrich contó cuál fue su relación con Montoneros". La Nación (in Spanish). 7 April 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  10. ^ "Patricia Bullrich hizo autocrítica por su militancia en la JP y afirmó: "Los Montoneros mataron al Padre Mugica"". Infobae (in Spanish). 4 October 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  11. ^ "Pebeta de tres apellidos". Clarín (in Spanish). 20 August 2000. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  12. ^ a b c CV, Argentine Chamber of Deputies. Accessed 11 April 2009.
  13. ^ a b Nuestra historia, Unión por Todos. Accessed 11 April 2009.
  14. ^ "9 January 2002". Clarín (in Spanish). 9 January 2002. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  15. ^ Politi, Daniel (25 October 2023). "Argentina's third-place presidential candidate Bullrich endorses right-wing populist Milei in runoff". ABC News. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  16. ^ "Bullrich returns to government as security minister in Milei's Cabinet | Buenos Aires Times". www.batimes.com.ar. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  17. ^ "Milei y Bullrich se disputan el voto de la ultraderecha argentina". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 21 August 2023. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  18. ^ "Bolivia alerta ante posible entrada de narco ecuatoriano, tras expulsión de familiares de Argentina". AP News (in Spanish). 19 January 2024. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  19. ^ Lacunza, Sebastián (18 November 2023). "Milei o Massa: unas elecciones que ponen en juego los límites de la democracia en Argentina". elDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  20. ^ "Opinion | Argentina's angry polarization is a warning for the United States". Washington Post. 17 August 2023. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  21. ^ Schutser, Mariano; Stefaroni, Pablo. "Direita radical causa terremoto político na Argentina". OpenDemocracy.
  22. ^ González, Cecilia (15 December 2023). "Entre la zozobra, alza de precios y recorte de gastos: la reacción social al duro ajuste de Milei en Argentina". Pie de Página (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  23. ^ Molina, Federico Rivas (16 July 2023). "Patricia Bullrich, Argentina's iron lady". EL PAÍS English. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  24. ^ Goñi, Uki (14 August 2023). "Far-right outsider takes shock lead in Argentina primary election". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  25. ^ Criales, José Pablo (9 August 2023). "Javier Milei holds mass rally in Argentina: 'The political caste is afraid; do you want to scare them a little more?'". EL PAÍS English. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  26. ^ Marsden, Harriet; published, The Week UK (16 August 2023). "Javier Milei: the 'tantric sex instructor' Trump fan who could be president". theweek. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  27. ^ "A Sharp Right Turn for Argentina? | Wilson Center". www.wilsoncenter.org. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  28. ^ "La izquierda latinoamericano se realinea en nuevo terreno político". NACLA. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  29. ^ "El paleolibertario que agita la política argentina | Nueva Sociedad". Nueva Sociedad | Democracia y política en América Latina. 23 March 2023. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  30. ^ "Más allá de la sorpresa - Semanario Brecha". brecha.com.uy. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  31. ^ Stefanoni, Pablo. "Argentina prepara elecciones en medio de una profunda crisis". OpenDemocracy.
  32. ^ Lacunza, Sebastián (24 October 2023). ""Inútiles radicales" y "viejos meados": el TikTok de Milei se le vuelve en contra para la segunda vuelta de las presidenciales argentinas". elDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  33. ^ "Argentinian far-right outsider Javier Milei posts shock win in primary election". CNN. Reuters. 14 August 2023. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  34. ^ Centenera, Mar (1 December 2023). "Bullrich consuma su alianza con Milei como ministra de Seguridad". El País Argentina (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  35. ^ "El que quiera estar armado que ande armado". Pagina 12. Pagina 12. 3 November 2018. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  36. ^ "Argentina: Inquiry Threatens Judicial Independence". Human Rights Watch. 19 March 2019. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  37. ^ "Elecciones 2003". tsjbaires.gov.ar (in Spanish). Tribunal Superior de Justicia de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  38. ^ "Elecciones 2023". electoral.gob.ar (in Spanish). Cámara Nacional Electoral. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  39. ^ "Elecciones 1993". argentina.gob.ar (in Spanish). Dirección Nacional Electoral. 5 February 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  40. ^ "Elecciones 2007". argentina.gob.ar (in Spanish). Dirección Nacional Electoral. 14 February 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  41. ^ "Elecciones 2011". argentina.gob.ar (in Spanish). Dirección Nacional Electoral. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
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