Roberto Iglesias

Who is Roberto Iglesias?

Roberto Raúl Iglesias is an Argentine Radical Civic Union politician, a former leader of the party and formerly a deputy and governor of Mendoza Province.

Iglesias was born in Mendoza, Argentina, and enrolled at the local campus of the National Technological University, earning a degree in construction engineering. He was elected City Councilman in 1991, and Mayor of Mendoza, in 1995. Joining an alliance between the UCR and FrePaSo, he was elected Governor of Mendoza Province in 1999. He stepped down in 2003, being elected to the Argentine Chamber of Deputies.

In December 2005, Iglesias succeeded Ángel Rozas as President of the national committee of the Radical Civic Union, effectively leader of the party. In gaining the position, he took a hard-line approach against Peronist President Néstor Kirchner, largely opposing efforts to re-align the Radicals alongside the left-wing Kirchner.

Iglesias had supported fellow UCR member, Julio Cobos, to succeed him as governor in 2003, but they subsequently fell out in a high-profile manner.