Arturo Colombi

Who is Arturo Colombi?

Arturo Colombi is an Argentine Radical Civic Union politician, and former governor of Corrientes Province.

Born in Mercedes, Corrientes, and educated at the National University of the Northeast with a degree in civil engineering, Colombi served as provincial Minister of Public Works in the administration of then-governor, his cousin Ricardo Colombi. He was elected governor of the province in 2005, when Ricardo Colombi resigned to stand for a seat in the Argentine Chamber of Deputies.

Colombi was a leading UCR supporter of Peronist President Néstor Kirchner, and led the Frente de Todos coalition between the UCR and justicialists in the October 2005 elections, supported by Kirchner. In 2007, he successfully led the Corrientes Province party list supported by presidential candidate Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in elections to congressional seats, but was opposed by his cousin and former ally, Ricardo Colombi.

Like his ally, Vice-President Julio Cobos, Colombi became estranged from the Kirchners during the 2008 Argentine government conflict with the agricultural sector. His bid to for re-election as governor in 2009 was in opposition to both Kirchnerism and to the UCR, which nominated Ricardo Colombi. Amid both family and political acrimony, the latter won the election in the second round, and Arturo Colombi left office without attending his successor's inaugural.