Hermes Binner
Encyclopedia
Hermes Juan Binner is an Argentine
medical doctor and a politician. He was elected Governor of Santa Fe
in 2007. Binner is the first Socialist
to become the governor of an Argentine province, and the first non-Justicialist to rule Santa Fe since 1983.
Binner was previously a Deputy of the Civic and Social Progressive Front, a Santa Fe party coalition including the Socialist Party
, the Radical Civic Union
and other left-wing parties, since the parliamentary elections of October 23, 2005.
, Santa Fe Province
. He attended primary school at St. Joseph's College, and then attended high school at the Rafaela National College, where he began his political activity through participation in the Student Center. At the time (1958) the need for public free non-religious education
was being hotly debated in Argentina.
Binner moved to Rosario
to study Medicine at the Universidad Nacional de Rosario. At 18 he become affiliated with the Argentine Socialist Party and continued to exercise an intense political activity, both as a member of the Student Center and at the institutional level in the Faculty of Medicine. After the 1966 coup d'etat, he participated in the movements resisting the military dictatorship of General Juan Carlos Onganía
, against a background of political and ideological persecution.
He graduated in 1970 and continued his militant activism as a Graduate Council Member at the University, as well as working as a union member at the Rosario Medical Association and the Physicians' College.
and Binner co-founded the Popular Socialist Party
(Partido Socialist Popular, PSP) in Buenos Aires
on April 23, 1972, a merger of the Argentine Socialist Party (PSA) with other left-wing groups.
He continued exercising his profession, taking up specialties in anesthesiology and occupational medicine, and starting studies in the field of public health
. On the last account he obtained the posts of Sub-Director and Director of public hospitals.
Following the 1989 economic crisis
that led to the early handover of power by President Raúl Alfonsín
to President-elect Carlos Menem
, the UCR
Mayor of Rosario Horacio Usandizaga
resigned in protest, forcing anticipated municipal elections to be held. The Socialist Héctor Cavallero
was elected, and he appointed Binner to the office of Public Health Secretary.
After Cavallero's term, in 1993, Binner was elected concejal (member of the City Council) for the PSP. From this platform he developed a trajectory that led him to present himself as a candidate for the municipal elections of 1995.
) caused the Socialist Party to lose the election to the Peronist Party.
The eight years of the Binner administration in Rosario were marked by several guidelines:
On December 8, 2003, months after the end of Binner's second term, the United Nations
acknowledged the people and the government of Rosario as a model of democratic governance among 257 Latin American cities (see Experiencia Rosario).
Hermes Binner was succeeded in office by one of his former municipal officials, Miguel Lifschitz
, who has continued and developed the policies outlined above, and was re-elected in 2007.
and the Secretary General of the Santa Fe Federation for the same. He is also the director of the Rosario's Municipal and Provincial Studies Center, an institution for political and academic formation with professionals of diverse disciplines debating current issues and policies.
(the Lower House of the Argentine Congress) for the Progressive, Civic and Social Front
, a Santa Fe political coalition (which includes the Socialist Party
(PS), members of the Radical Civic Union
(UCR), Support for an Egalitarian Republic
(ARI), Democratic Progressive Party
, Communist Party
and Peronist dissident) in the parliamentary elections of October 23, 2005. He won the seat, together with other six candidates of the Progressive Front, by a 10% margin over the list of candidates led by his closest competitor, the Justicialist Party
candidate Agustín Rossi
.
as vice-governor, against former chancellor and national deputy for Buenos Aires City Rafael Bielsa
(chosen in primaries by the Justicialist Front for Victory
). He was supported by the left-wing opposition leader Elisa Carrió
, head of the ARI.
Binner won the provincial election of September 2, 2007
, by a significant margin (by 48% to 38%) over Bielsa. He was sworn in on December 11, becoming the first Socialist governor in the history of Argentina, and the first non-Justicialist to rule Santa Fe since 1983.
Despite his opposition to the Peronist candidate, who was strongly supported by then-President Néstor Kirchner
, Governor Binner maintained a fluid relationship with Kirchner and his wife and successor, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
. Binner joined UCR Congressman Ricardo Alfonsín
in the Civic and Social Agreement
during the early stages of the 2011 general election
campaign. Their alliance ended in May, however, and on June 11, Binner formally announced his candidacy for President of Argentina
. He nominated Córdoba Province
Senator Norma Morandini
as his running mate on their Progressive Front ticket. Antonio Bonfatti
, the Minister of Government and State Reform during Binner's tenure and a longtime friend and ally from their Medical School days, was elected to succeed Binner as Governor of Santa Fe in elections on July 24.
Hermes Juan Binner (born June 5, 1943) is an Argentine
medical doctor and a politician. He was elected Governor of Santa Fe
in 2007. Binner is the first Socialist
to become the governor of an Argentine province, and the first non-Justicialist to rule Santa Fe since 1983.
Binner was previously a Deputy of the Civic and Social Progressive Front, a Santa Fe party coalition including the Socialist Party
, the Radical Civic Union
and other left-wing parties, since the parliamentary elections of October 23, 2005.
, Santa Fe Province
. He attended primary school at St. Joseph's College, and then attended high school at the Rafaela National College, where he began his political activity through participation in the Student Center. At the time (1958) the need for public free non-religious education
was being hotly debated in Argentina.
Binner moved to Rosario
to study Medicine at the Universidad Nacional de Rosario. At 18 he become affiliated with the Argentine Socialist Party and continued to exercise an intense political activity, both as a member of the Student Center and at the institutional level in the Faculty of Medicine. After the 1966 coup d'etat, he participated in the movements resisting the military dictatorship of General Juan Carlos Onganía
, against a background of political and ideological persecution.
He graduated in 1970 and continued his militant activism as a Graduate Council Member at the University, as well as working as a union member at the Rosario Medical Association and the Physicians' College.
and Binner co-founded the Popular Socialist Party
(Partido Socialist Popular, PSP) in Buenos Aires
on April 23, 1972, a merger of the Argentine Socialist Party (PSA) with other left-wing groups.
He continued exercising his profession, taking up specialties in anesthesiology and occupational medicine, and starting studies in the field of public health
. On the last account he obtained the posts of Sub-Director and Director of public hospitals.
Following the 1989 economic crisis
that led to the early handover of power by President Raúl Alfonsín
to President-elect Carlos Menem
, the UCR
Mayor of Rosario Horacio Usandizaga
resigned in protest, forcing anticipated municipal elections to be held. The Socialist Héctor Cavallero
was elected, and he appointed Binner to the office of Public Health Secretary.
After Cavallero's term, in 1993, Binner was elected concejal (member of the City Council) for the PSP. From this platform he developed a trajectory that led him to present himself as a candidate for the municipal elections of 1995.
) caused the Socialist Party to lose the election to the Peronist Party.
The eight years of the Binner administration in Rosario were marked by several guidelines:
On December 8, 2003, months after the end of Binner's second term, the United Nations
acknowledged the people and the government of Rosario as a model of democratic governance among 257 Latin American cities (see Experiencia Rosario).
Hermes Binner was succeeded in office by one of his former municipal officials, Miguel Lifschitz
, who has continued and developed the policies outlined above, and was re-elected in 2007.
and the Secretary General of the Santa Fe Federation for the same. He is also the director of the Rosario's Municipal and Provincial Studies Center, an institution for political and academic formation with professionals of diverse disciplines debating current issues and policies.
(the Lower House of the Argentine Congress) for the Progressive, Civic and Social Front
, a Santa Fe political coalition (which includes the Socialist Party
(PS), members of the Radical Civic Union
(UCR), Support for an Egalitarian Republic
(ARI), Democratic Progressive Party
, Communist Party
and Peronist dissident) in the parliamentary elections of October 23, 2005. He won the seat, together with other six candidates of the Progressive Front, by a 10% margin over the list of candidates led by his closest competitor, the Justicialist Party
candidate Agustín Rossi
.
as vice-governor, against former chancellor and national deputy for Buenos Aires City Rafael Bielsa
(chosen in primaries by the Justicialist Front for Victory
). He was supported by the left-wing opposition leader Elisa Carrió
, head of the ARI.
Binner won the provincial election of September 2, 2007
, by a significant margin (by 48% to 38%) over Bielsa. He was sworn in on December 11, becoming the first Socialist governor in the history of Argentina, and the first non-Justicialist to rule Santa Fe since 1983.
Despite his opposition to the Peronist candidate, who was strongly supported by then-President Néstor Kirchner
, Governor Binner maintained a fluid relationship with Kirchner and his wife and successor, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
. Binner joined UCR Congressman Ricardo Alfonsín
in the Civic and Social Agreement
during the early stages of the 2011 general election
campaign. Their alliance ended in May, however, and on June 11, Binner formally announced his candidacy for President of Argentina
. He nominated Córdoba Province
Senator Norma Morandini
as his running mate on their Progressive Front ticket. Antonio Bonfatti
, the Minister of Government and State Reform during Binner's tenure and a longtime friend and ally from their Medical School days, was elected to succeed Binner as Governor of Santa Fe in elections on July 24.
Hermes Juan Binner (born June 5, 1943) is an Argentine
medical doctor and a politician. He was elected Governor of Santa Fe
in 2007. Binner is the first Socialist
to become the governor of an Argentine province, and the first non-Justicialist to rule Santa Fe since 1983.
Binner was previously a Deputy of the Civic and Social Progressive Front, a Santa Fe party coalition including the Socialist Party
, the Radical Civic Union
and other left-wing parties, since the parliamentary elections of October 23, 2005.
, Santa Fe Province
. He attended primary school at St. Joseph's College, and then attended high school at the Rafaela National College, where he began his political activity through participation in the Student Center. At the time (1958) the need for public free non-religious education
was being hotly debated in Argentina.
Binner moved to Rosario
to study Medicine at the Universidad Nacional de Rosario. At 18 he become affiliated with the Argentine Socialist Party and continued to exercise an intense political activity, both as a member of the Student Center and at the institutional level in the Faculty of Medicine. After the 1966 coup d'etat, he participated in the movements resisting the military dictatorship of General Juan Carlos Onganía
, against a background of political and ideological persecution.
He graduated in 1970 and continued his militant activism as a Graduate Council Member at the University, as well as working as a union member at the Rosario Medical Association and the Physicians' College.
and Binner co-founded the Popular Socialist Party
(Partido Socialist Popular, PSP) in Buenos Aires
on April 23, 1972, a merger of the Argentine Socialist Party (PSA) with other left-wing groups.
He continued exercising his profession, taking up specialties in anesthesiology and occupational medicine, and starting studies in the field of public health
. On the last account he obtained the posts of Sub-Director and Director of public hospitals.
Following the 1989 economic crisis
that led to the early handover of power by President Raúl Alfonsín
to President-elect Carlos Menem
, the UCR
Mayor of Rosario Horacio Usandizaga
resigned in protest, forcing anticipated municipal elections to be held. The Socialist Héctor Cavallero
was elected, and he appointed Binner to the office of Public Health Secretary.
After Cavallero's term, in 1993, Binner was elected concejal (member of the City Council) for the PSP. From this platform he developed a trajectory that led him to present himself as a candidate for the municipal elections of 1995.
) caused the Socialist Party to lose the election to the Peronist Party.
The eight years of the Binner administration in Rosario were marked by several guidelines:
On December 8, 2003, months after the end of Binner's second term, the United Nations
acknowledged the people and the government of Rosario as a model of democratic governance among 257 Latin American cities (see Experiencia Rosario).
Hermes Binner was succeeded in office by one of his former municipal officials, Miguel Lifschitz
, who has continued and developed the policies outlined above, and was re-elected in 2007.
and the Secretary General of the Santa Fe Federation for the same. He is also the director of the Rosario's Municipal and Provincial Studies Center, an institution for political and academic formation with professionals of diverse disciplines debating current issues and policies.
(the Lower House of the Argentine Congress) for the Progressive, Civic and Social Front
, a Santa Fe political coalition (which includes the Socialist Party
(PS), members of the Radical Civic Union
(UCR), Support for an Egalitarian Republic
(ARI), Democratic Progressive Party
, Communist Party
and Peronist dissident) in the parliamentary elections of October 23, 2005. He won the seat, together with other six candidates of the Progressive Front, by a 10% margin over the list of candidates led by his closest competitor, the Justicialist Party
candidate Agustín Rossi
.
as vice-governor, against former chancellor and national deputy for Buenos Aires City Rafael Bielsa
(chosen in primaries by the Justicialist Front for Victory
). He was supported by the left-wing opposition leader Elisa Carrió
, head of the ARI.
Binner won the provincial election of September 2, 2007
, by a significant margin (by 48% to 38%) over Bielsa. He was sworn in on December 11, becoming the first Socialist governor in the history of Argentina, and the first non-Justicialist to rule Santa Fe since 1983.
Despite his opposition to the Peronist candidate, who was strongly supported by then-President Néstor Kirchner
, Governor Binner maintained a fluid relationship with Kirchner and his wife and successor, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
. Binner joined UCR Congressman Ricardo Alfonsín
in the Civic and Social Agreement
during the early stages of the 2011 general election
campaign. Their alliance ended in May, however, and on June 11, Binner formally announced his candidacy for President of Argentina
. He nominated Córdoba Province
Senator Norma Morandini
as his running mate on their Progressive Front ticket. Antonio Bonfatti
, the Minister of Government and State Reform during Binner's tenure and a longtime friend and ally from their Medical School days, was elected to succeed Binner as Governor of Santa Fe in elections on July 24.
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
medical doctor and a politician. He was elected Governor of Santa Fe
Governor of Santa Fe
The governor of the Argentine province of Santa Fe is the highest executive officeholder of the province.According to the provincial constitution , the governor is elected by the simple majority of the popular vote, along with a vice governor, for a four-year term, and cannot be reelected...
in 2007. Binner is the first Socialist
Socialist Party (Argentina)
The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in Argentina. The history of socialism in Argentina began in the 1890s, when a group of people, notably Juan B. Justo, expressed the need for a greater social focus....
to become the governor of an Argentine province, and the first non-Justicialist to rule Santa Fe since 1983.
Binner was previously a Deputy of the Civic and Social Progressive Front, a Santa Fe party coalition including the Socialist Party
Socialist Party (Argentina)
The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in Argentina. The history of socialism in Argentina began in the 1890s, when a group of people, notably Juan B. Justo, expressed the need for a greater social focus....
, the Radical Civic Union
Radical Civic Union
The Radical Civic Union is a political party in Argentina. The party's positions on issues range from liberal to social democratic. The UCR is a member of the Socialist International. Founded in 1891 by radical liberals, it is the oldest political party active in Argentina...
and other left-wing parties, since the parliamentary elections of October 23, 2005.
Education and background
Binner was born and raised in RafaelaRafaela
Rafaela is a city in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina, about 96 km from the provincial capital. It is the head town of the Castellanos Department. It has a population of 99,150 per the ....
, Santa Fe Province
Santa Fe Province
The Invincible Province of Santa Fe, in Spanish Provincia Invencible de Santa Fe , is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco , Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Santiago del Estero...
. He attended primary school at St. Joseph's College, and then attended high school at the Rafaela National College, where he began his political activity through participation in the Student Center. At the time (1958) the need for public free non-religious education
State-Church relations in Argentina
The first conflicts between the Roman Catholic Church and the Argentine government can be traced to the ideas of the May Revolution of 1810. The Tribunal of the Inquisition was suppressed in the territories of the United Provinces of the River Plate on 1813-03-23, and on 4 June the General Assembly...
was being hotly debated in Argentina.
Binner moved to Rosario
Rosario
Rosario is the largest city in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the western shore of the Paraná River and has 1,159,004 residents as of the ....
to study Medicine at the Universidad Nacional de Rosario. At 18 he become affiliated with the Argentine Socialist Party and continued to exercise an intense political activity, both as a member of the Student Center and at the institutional level in the Faculty of Medicine. After the 1966 coup d'etat, he participated in the movements resisting the military dictatorship of General Juan Carlos Onganía
Juan Carlos Onganía
Juan Carlos Onganía Carballo was de facto president of Argentina from 29 June 1966 to 8 June 1970. He rose to power as military dictator after toppling, in a coup d’état self-named Revolución Argentina , the democratically elected president Arturo Illia .-Economic and social...
, against a background of political and ideological persecution.
He graduated in 1970 and continued his militant activism as a Graduate Council Member at the University, as well as working as a union member at the Rosario Medical Association and the Physicians' College.
Political trajectory
Guillermo Estévez BoeroGuillermo Estévez Boero
Guillermo Estévez Boero was an Argentine student activist, lawyer and Socialist politician.Estévez Boero was born in Rosario, Santa Fe Province, and studied Law at the National University of the Littoral, where he was a disciple of the Spanish criminal expert and President in exile of the Second...
and Binner co-founded the Popular Socialist Party
Popular Socialist Party (Argentina)
The Popular Socialist Party was a political party in Argentina formed in 1972 with the merger of the Argentine Socialist Party, the Movimiento de Acción Popular Argentino and other minor groups....
(Partido Socialist Popular, PSP) in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
on April 23, 1972, a merger of the Argentine Socialist Party (PSA) with other left-wing groups.
He continued exercising his profession, taking up specialties in anesthesiology and occupational medicine, and starting studies in the field of public health
Public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
. On the last account he obtained the posts of Sub-Director and Director of public hospitals.
Following the 1989 economic crisis
1989 riots in Argentina
The 1989 food riots were a series of riots and related episodes of looting in stores and supermarkets in Argentina, during the last part of the presidency of Raúl Alfonsín, between May and June 1989...
that led to the early handover of power by President Raúl Alfonsín
Raúl Alfonsín
Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín was an Argentine lawyer, politician and statesman, who served as the President of Argentina from December 10, 1983, to July 8, 1989. Alfonsín was the first democratically-elected president of Argentina following the military government known as the National Reorganization...
to President-elect Carlos Menem
Carlos Menem
Carlos Saúl Menem is an Argentine politician who was President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. He is currently an Argentine National Senator for La Rioja Province.-Early life:...
, the UCR
Radical Civic Union
The Radical Civic Union is a political party in Argentina. The party's positions on issues range from liberal to social democratic. The UCR is a member of the Socialist International. Founded in 1891 by radical liberals, it is the oldest political party active in Argentina...
Mayor of Rosario Horacio Usandizaga
Horacio Usandizaga
Horacio Daniel Usandizaga , also known informally as El Vasco, is an Argentine politician.Usandizaga studied to become a lawyer and entered political activity as a member of the Radical Civic Union in 1961. He was first a councillor and then Mayor of Rosario from 11 December 1983 to 10 December 1987...
resigned in protest, forcing anticipated municipal elections to be held. The Socialist Héctor Cavallero
Héctor Cavallero
Héctor Cavallero , nicknamed El Tigre, "The Tiger", is an Argentine politician, who was mayor of Rosario and a member of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies for the province of Santa Fe ....
was elected, and he appointed Binner to the office of Public Health Secretary.
After Cavallero's term, in 1993, Binner was elected concejal (member of the City Council) for the PSP. From this platform he developed a trajectory that led him to present himself as a candidate for the municipal elections of 1995.
Mayor of Rosario
Binner was elected Mayor of Rosario in 1995 and then re-elected in 1999, ending his second four-year term in 2003. He was candidate to the governorship of the province of Santa Fe, obtaining a larger percentage of the popular vote than any of the other candidates, but the controversial voting system in place at the time (Ley de LemasLey de Lemas
||The ley de lemas is the Spanish name of the double simultaneous voting system which is, or has been, used in elections in Argentina, Uruguay and Honduras...
) caused the Socialist Party to lose the election to the Peronist Party.
The eight years of the Binner administration in Rosario were marked by several guidelines:
- DecentralizationDecentralization__FORCETOC__Decentralization or decentralisation is the process of dispersing decision-making governance closer to the people and/or citizens. It includes the dispersal of administration or governance in sectors or areas like engineering, management science, political science, political economy,...
and emphasis on the citizen's rule: The city was divided into several large districtsDistricts of RosarioThe districts of the city of Rosario, province of Santa Fe, Argentina are administrative divisions created to decentralise the workings of the municipal government....
, moving the bureaucratic structure from the Municipality to the peripheral barrioBarrioBarrio is a Spanish word meaning district or neighborhood.-Usage:In its formal usage in English, barrios are generally considered cohesive places, sharing, for example, a church and traditions such as feast days...
s (neighbourhoods), and implementing mechanisms of direct democracy. - Emphasis on the public sphere (health, education, cultural activities) and public welfare. The administration's Health Plan was acknowledged by the Pan-American Health Organization as a model for the rest of Latin AmericaLatin AmericaLatin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
. - Positioning of Rosario as a strategically placed metropolis with a vast area of economic and geopolitical influence. Binner was a Founding Member and Executive Secretary of Mercociudades (cities of the MercosurMercosurMercosur or Mercosul is an economic and political agreement among Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Founded in 1991 by the Treaty of Asunción, which was later amended and updated by the 1994 Treaty of Ouro Preto. Its purpose is to promote free trade and the fluid movement of goods, people,...
), President of the Ibero-American Center for Urban Strategic Development (CIDEU), and President of the Argentine Municipalities Federation.
On December 8, 2003, months after the end of Binner's second term, the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
acknowledged the people and the government of Rosario as a model of democratic governance among 257 Latin American cities (see Experiencia Rosario).
Hermes Binner was succeeded in office by one of his former municipal officials, Miguel Lifschitz
Miguel Lifschitz
Roberto Miguel Lifschitz , is the current mayor of the city of Rosario, province of Santa Fe, Argentina.He obtained his degree at the Engineering Faculty of the National University of Rosario in 1979, and worked in the private sector until 1989, when he became Director-General of the Public Housing...
, who has continued and developed the policies outlined above, and was re-elected in 2007.
Other activities
Binner is a member of the National Table of the Socialist PartySocialist Party (Argentina)
The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in Argentina. The history of socialism in Argentina began in the 1890s, when a group of people, notably Juan B. Justo, expressed the need for a greater social focus....
and the Secretary General of the Santa Fe Federation for the same. He is also the director of the Rosario's Municipal and Provincial Studies Center, an institution for political and academic formation with professionals of diverse disciplines debating current issues and policies.
National Deputy
Binner was a candidate for a seat in the National Chamber of DeputiesArgentine Chamber of Deputies
The Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Argentine National Congress. This Chamber holds exclusive rights to create taxes, to draft troops, and to accuse the President, the ministers and the members of the Supreme Court before the Senate....
(the Lower House of the Argentine Congress) for the Progressive, Civic and Social Front
Progressive, Civic and Social Front
The Progressive, Civic and Social Front is a provincial centre-left coalition in Argentina, based in Santa Fe Province. It is made up of the Socialist Party, the Support for an Egalitarian Republic , a faction of the Radical Civic Union, the Democratic Progressive Party , local factions of the...
, a Santa Fe political coalition (which includes the Socialist Party
Socialist Party (Argentina)
The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in Argentina. The history of socialism in Argentina began in the 1890s, when a group of people, notably Juan B. Justo, expressed the need for a greater social focus....
(PS), members of the Radical Civic Union
Radical Civic Union
The Radical Civic Union is a political party in Argentina. The party's positions on issues range from liberal to social democratic. The UCR is a member of the Socialist International. Founded in 1891 by radical liberals, it is the oldest political party active in Argentina...
(UCR), Support for an Egalitarian Republic
Support for an Egalitarian Republic
Civic Coalition ARI is a social liberal Argentine political party, founded in 2001 by Elisa Carrió. It is a member of the Civic Coalition with centrist and centre-left parties.- Creation and political representation :...
(ARI), Democratic Progressive Party
Democratic Progressive Party (Argentina)
The Democratic Progressive Party is a provincial political party in Santa Fe, Argentina. It was founded by Lisandro de la Torre at the Savoy Hotel in Buenos Aires on December 14, 1914. One of its founders was the academic Dr...
, Communist Party
Communist Party of Argentina
The Communist Party of Argentina is a communist party from Argentina. It was founded in 1918.At the 2005 legislative elections, the Party joined the Encuentro Amplio with other left-wing parties in Buenos Aires and Buenos Aires Province...
and Peronist dissident) in the parliamentary elections of October 23, 2005. He won the seat, together with other six candidates of the Progressive Front, by a 10% margin over the list of candidates led by his closest competitor, the Justicialist Party
Justicialist Party
The Justicialist Party , or PJ, is a Peronist political party in Argentina, and the largest component of the Peronist movement.The party was led by Néstor Kirchner, President of Argentina from 2003 to 2007, until his death on October 27, 2010. The current Argentine president, Cristina Fernández de...
candidate Agustín Rossi
Agustín Rossi
Agustín Oscar Rossi , also known by his nickname El Chivo Rossi, is an Argentine Justicialist Party politician from the province of Santa Fe...
.
Governor of Santa Fe
Binner ran for governor of Santa Fe in 2007, together with former Santa Fe City federal prosecutor Griselda TessioGriselda Tessio
Griselda Rosa de las Mercedes Tessio is the Vice-Governor of the Argentine province of Santa Fe since 11 December 2007...
as vice-governor, against former chancellor and national deputy for Buenos Aires City Rafael Bielsa
Rafael Bielsa
Rafael Antonio Bielsa Caldera is an Argentine Justicialist Party politician from Rosario, province of Santa Fe. He is the brother of former Argentina national football team coach Marcelo Bielsa; both are well-known Newell's Old Boys supporters...
(chosen in primaries by the Justicialist Front for Victory
Front for Victory
The Front for Victory is a Peronist political party and electoral alliance in Argentina, although it is formally a faction of the Justicialist Party. Both the former President Néstor Kirchner and the current President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner belong to this party, located on the left-wing...
). He was supported by the left-wing opposition leader Elisa Carrió
Elisa Carrió
Elisa María Avelina Carrió is an Argentine politician, founder of the party initially known as Alternative for a Republic of Equals , now Civic Coalition ARI ....
, head of the ARI.
Binner won the provincial election of September 2, 2007
Argentine general election, 2007
Argentina held national presidential and legislative elections on October 28, 2007, and elections for provincial governors took place on staggered dates throughout the year. For the national elections, each of the 23 provinces and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires are considered electoral districts...
, by a significant margin (by 48% to 38%) over Bielsa. He was sworn in on December 11, becoming the first Socialist governor in the history of Argentina, and the first non-Justicialist to rule Santa Fe since 1983.
Despite his opposition to the Peronist candidate, who was strongly supported by then-President Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Carlos Kirchner was an Argentine politician who served as the 54th President of Argentina from 25 May 2003 until 10 December 2007. Previously, he was Governor of Santa Cruz Province since 10 December 1991. He briefly served as Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations ...
, Governor Binner maintained a fluid relationship with Kirchner and his wife and successor, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner , commonly known as Cristina Fernández or Cristina Kirchner is the 55th and current President of Argentina and the widow of former President Néstor Kirchner. She is Argentina's first elected female president, and the second female president ever to serve...
. Binner joined UCR Congressman Ricardo Alfonsín
Ricardo Alfonsín
Ricardo Alfonsín is an Argentine lawyer, academic and politician prominent in the Radical Civic Union. His father, Raúl Alfonsín, was the President of Argentina from 1983 to 1989.-Life and times:...
in the Civic and Social Agreement
Civic and Social Agreement
The Social and Civic Agreement is an active congressional alliance in Argentina, integrated by the Radical Civic Union and the Socialist Party , which acted as an umbrella national electoral alliance at the last 2009 Argentine legislative elections...
during the early stages of the 2011 general election
Argentine general election, 2011
Argentina held national presidential and legislative elections on 23 October 2011. Incumbent president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner secured a second term in office after the Front for Victory won just over half of the seats in the National Congress....
campaign. Their alliance ended in May, however, and on June 11, Binner formally announced his candidacy for President of Argentina
President of Argentina
The President of the Argentine Nation , usually known as the President of Argentina, is the head of state of Argentina. Under the national Constitution, the President is also the chief executive of the federal government and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.Through Argentine history, the...
. He nominated Córdoba Province
Córdoba Province (Argentina)
Córdoba is a province of Argentina, located in the center of the country. Neighboring provinces are : Santiago del Estero, Santa Fe, Buenos Aires, La Pampa, San Luis, La Rioja and Catamarca...
Senator Norma Morandini
Norma Morandini
Norma Elena Morandini is an Argentine journalist and politician. She was elected to the Argentine Senate in 2009, and was nominated as running mate by Progressive Front presidential candidate Hermes Binner for the 2011 campaign....
as his running mate on their Progressive Front ticket. Antonio Bonfatti
Antonio Bonfatti
Antonio Bonfatti is an Argentine physician and Socialist Party politician. He was nominated by his party to run for Governor of Santa Fe in 2011.-Life and times:...
, the Minister of Government and State Reform during Binner's tenure and a longtime friend and ally from their Medical School days, was elected to succeed Binner as Governor of Santa Fe in elections on July 24.
External links
- Official website
- Hermes Binner's CV
- Photos
- Mensajes
- Biography by CIDOB
- Election results
- Member of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies
- Municipality of Rosario
Hermes Juan Binner (born June 5, 1943) is an Argentine
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
medical doctor and a politician. He was elected Governor of Santa Fe
Governor of Santa Fe
The governor of the Argentine province of Santa Fe is the highest executive officeholder of the province.According to the provincial constitution , the governor is elected by the simple majority of the popular vote, along with a vice governor, for a four-year term, and cannot be reelected...
in 2007. Binner is the first Socialist
Socialist Party (Argentina)
The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in Argentina. The history of socialism in Argentina began in the 1890s, when a group of people, notably Juan B. Justo, expressed the need for a greater social focus....
to become the governor of an Argentine province, and the first non-Justicialist to rule Santa Fe since 1983.
Binner was previously a Deputy of the Civic and Social Progressive Front, a Santa Fe party coalition including the Socialist Party
Socialist Party (Argentina)
The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in Argentina. The history of socialism in Argentina began in the 1890s, when a group of people, notably Juan B. Justo, expressed the need for a greater social focus....
, the Radical Civic Union
Radical Civic Union
The Radical Civic Union is a political party in Argentina. The party's positions on issues range from liberal to social democratic. The UCR is a member of the Socialist International. Founded in 1891 by radical liberals, it is the oldest political party active in Argentina...
and other left-wing parties, since the parliamentary elections of October 23, 2005.
Education and background
Binner was born and raised in RafaelaRafaela
Rafaela is a city in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina, about 96 km from the provincial capital. It is the head town of the Castellanos Department. It has a population of 99,150 per the ....
, Santa Fe Province
Santa Fe Province
The Invincible Province of Santa Fe, in Spanish Provincia Invencible de Santa Fe , is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco , Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Santiago del Estero...
. He attended primary school at St. Joseph's College, and then attended high school at the Rafaela National College, where he began his political activity through participation in the Student Center. At the time (1958) the need for public free non-religious education
State-Church relations in Argentina
The first conflicts between the Roman Catholic Church and the Argentine government can be traced to the ideas of the May Revolution of 1810. The Tribunal of the Inquisition was suppressed in the territories of the United Provinces of the River Plate on 1813-03-23, and on 4 June the General Assembly...
was being hotly debated in Argentina.
Binner moved to Rosario
Rosario
Rosario is the largest city in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the western shore of the Paraná River and has 1,159,004 residents as of the ....
to study Medicine at the Universidad Nacional de Rosario. At 18 he become affiliated with the Argentine Socialist Party and continued to exercise an intense political activity, both as a member of the Student Center and at the institutional level in the Faculty of Medicine. After the 1966 coup d'etat, he participated in the movements resisting the military dictatorship of General Juan Carlos Onganía
Juan Carlos Onganía
Juan Carlos Onganía Carballo was de facto president of Argentina from 29 June 1966 to 8 June 1970. He rose to power as military dictator after toppling, in a coup d’état self-named Revolución Argentina , the democratically elected president Arturo Illia .-Economic and social...
, against a background of political and ideological persecution.
He graduated in 1970 and continued his militant activism as a Graduate Council Member at the University, as well as working as a union member at the Rosario Medical Association and the Physicians' College.
Political trajectory
Guillermo Estévez BoeroGuillermo Estévez Boero
Guillermo Estévez Boero was an Argentine student activist, lawyer and Socialist politician.Estévez Boero was born in Rosario, Santa Fe Province, and studied Law at the National University of the Littoral, where he was a disciple of the Spanish criminal expert and President in exile of the Second...
and Binner co-founded the Popular Socialist Party
Popular Socialist Party (Argentina)
The Popular Socialist Party was a political party in Argentina formed in 1972 with the merger of the Argentine Socialist Party, the Movimiento de Acción Popular Argentino and other minor groups....
(Partido Socialist Popular, PSP) in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
on April 23, 1972, a merger of the Argentine Socialist Party (PSA) with other left-wing groups.
He continued exercising his profession, taking up specialties in anesthesiology and occupational medicine, and starting studies in the field of public health
Public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
. On the last account he obtained the posts of Sub-Director and Director of public hospitals.
Following the 1989 economic crisis
1989 riots in Argentina
The 1989 food riots were a series of riots and related episodes of looting in stores and supermarkets in Argentina, during the last part of the presidency of Raúl Alfonsín, between May and June 1989...
that led to the early handover of power by President Raúl Alfonsín
Raúl Alfonsín
Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín was an Argentine lawyer, politician and statesman, who served as the President of Argentina from December 10, 1983, to July 8, 1989. Alfonsín was the first democratically-elected president of Argentina following the military government known as the National Reorganization...
to President-elect Carlos Menem
Carlos Menem
Carlos Saúl Menem is an Argentine politician who was President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. He is currently an Argentine National Senator for La Rioja Province.-Early life:...
, the UCR
Radical Civic Union
The Radical Civic Union is a political party in Argentina. The party's positions on issues range from liberal to social democratic. The UCR is a member of the Socialist International. Founded in 1891 by radical liberals, it is the oldest political party active in Argentina...
Mayor of Rosario Horacio Usandizaga
Horacio Usandizaga
Horacio Daniel Usandizaga , also known informally as El Vasco, is an Argentine politician.Usandizaga studied to become a lawyer and entered political activity as a member of the Radical Civic Union in 1961. He was first a councillor and then Mayor of Rosario from 11 December 1983 to 10 December 1987...
resigned in protest, forcing anticipated municipal elections to be held. The Socialist Héctor Cavallero
Héctor Cavallero
Héctor Cavallero , nicknamed El Tigre, "The Tiger", is an Argentine politician, who was mayor of Rosario and a member of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies for the province of Santa Fe ....
was elected, and he appointed Binner to the office of Public Health Secretary.
After Cavallero's term, in 1993, Binner was elected concejal (member of the City Council) for the PSP. From this platform he developed a trajectory that led him to present himself as a candidate for the municipal elections of 1995.
Mayor of Rosario
Binner was elected Mayor of Rosario in 1995 and then re-elected in 1999, ending his second four-year term in 2003. He was candidate to the governorship of the province of Santa Fe, obtaining a larger percentage of the popular vote than any of the other candidates, but the controversial voting system in place at the time (Ley de LemasLey de Lemas
||The ley de lemas is the Spanish name of the double simultaneous voting system which is, or has been, used in elections in Argentina, Uruguay and Honduras...
) caused the Socialist Party to lose the election to the Peronist Party.
The eight years of the Binner administration in Rosario were marked by several guidelines:
- DecentralizationDecentralization__FORCETOC__Decentralization or decentralisation is the process of dispersing decision-making governance closer to the people and/or citizens. It includes the dispersal of administration or governance in sectors or areas like engineering, management science, political science, political economy,...
and emphasis on the citizen's rule: The city was divided into several large districtsDistricts of RosarioThe districts of the city of Rosario, province of Santa Fe, Argentina are administrative divisions created to decentralise the workings of the municipal government....
, moving the bureaucratic structure from the Municipality to the peripheral barrioBarrioBarrio is a Spanish word meaning district or neighborhood.-Usage:In its formal usage in English, barrios are generally considered cohesive places, sharing, for example, a church and traditions such as feast days...
s (neighbourhoods), and implementing mechanisms of direct democracy. - Emphasis on the public sphere (health, education, cultural activities) and public welfare. The administration's Health Plan was acknowledged by the Pan-American Health Organization as a model for the rest of Latin AmericaLatin AmericaLatin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
. - Positioning of Rosario as a strategically placed metropolis with a vast area of economic and geopolitical influence. Binner was a Founding Member and Executive Secretary of Mercociudades (cities of the MercosurMercosurMercosur or Mercosul is an economic and political agreement among Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Founded in 1991 by the Treaty of Asunción, which was later amended and updated by the 1994 Treaty of Ouro Preto. Its purpose is to promote free trade and the fluid movement of goods, people,...
), President of the Ibero-American Center for Urban Strategic Development (CIDEU), and President of the Argentine Municipalities Federation.
On December 8, 2003, months after the end of Binner's second term, the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
acknowledged the people and the government of Rosario as a model of democratic governance among 257 Latin American cities (see Experiencia Rosario).
Hermes Binner was succeeded in office by one of his former municipal officials, Miguel Lifschitz
Miguel Lifschitz
Roberto Miguel Lifschitz , is the current mayor of the city of Rosario, province of Santa Fe, Argentina.He obtained his degree at the Engineering Faculty of the National University of Rosario in 1979, and worked in the private sector until 1989, when he became Director-General of the Public Housing...
, who has continued and developed the policies outlined above, and was re-elected in 2007.
Other activities
Binner is a member of the National Table of the Socialist PartySocialist Party (Argentina)
The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in Argentina. The history of socialism in Argentina began in the 1890s, when a group of people, notably Juan B. Justo, expressed the need for a greater social focus....
and the Secretary General of the Santa Fe Federation for the same. He is also the director of the Rosario's Municipal and Provincial Studies Center, an institution for political and academic formation with professionals of diverse disciplines debating current issues and policies.
National Deputy
Binner was a candidate for a seat in the National Chamber of DeputiesArgentine Chamber of Deputies
The Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Argentine National Congress. This Chamber holds exclusive rights to create taxes, to draft troops, and to accuse the President, the ministers and the members of the Supreme Court before the Senate....
(the Lower House of the Argentine Congress) for the Progressive, Civic and Social Front
Progressive, Civic and Social Front
The Progressive, Civic and Social Front is a provincial centre-left coalition in Argentina, based in Santa Fe Province. It is made up of the Socialist Party, the Support for an Egalitarian Republic , a faction of the Radical Civic Union, the Democratic Progressive Party , local factions of the...
, a Santa Fe political coalition (which includes the Socialist Party
Socialist Party (Argentina)
The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in Argentina. The history of socialism in Argentina began in the 1890s, when a group of people, notably Juan B. Justo, expressed the need for a greater social focus....
(PS), members of the Radical Civic Union
Radical Civic Union
The Radical Civic Union is a political party in Argentina. The party's positions on issues range from liberal to social democratic. The UCR is a member of the Socialist International. Founded in 1891 by radical liberals, it is the oldest political party active in Argentina...
(UCR), Support for an Egalitarian Republic
Support for an Egalitarian Republic
Civic Coalition ARI is a social liberal Argentine political party, founded in 2001 by Elisa Carrió. It is a member of the Civic Coalition with centrist and centre-left parties.- Creation and political representation :...
(ARI), Democratic Progressive Party
Democratic Progressive Party (Argentina)
The Democratic Progressive Party is a provincial political party in Santa Fe, Argentina. It was founded by Lisandro de la Torre at the Savoy Hotel in Buenos Aires on December 14, 1914. One of its founders was the academic Dr...
, Communist Party
Communist Party of Argentina
The Communist Party of Argentina is a communist party from Argentina. It was founded in 1918.At the 2005 legislative elections, the Party joined the Encuentro Amplio with other left-wing parties in Buenos Aires and Buenos Aires Province...
and Peronist dissident) in the parliamentary elections of October 23, 2005. He won the seat, together with other six candidates of the Progressive Front, by a 10% margin over the list of candidates led by his closest competitor, the Justicialist Party
Justicialist Party
The Justicialist Party , or PJ, is a Peronist political party in Argentina, and the largest component of the Peronist movement.The party was led by Néstor Kirchner, President of Argentina from 2003 to 2007, until his death on October 27, 2010. The current Argentine president, Cristina Fernández de...
candidate Agustín Rossi
Agustín Rossi
Agustín Oscar Rossi , also known by his nickname El Chivo Rossi, is an Argentine Justicialist Party politician from the province of Santa Fe...
.
Governor of Santa Fe
Binner ran for governor of Santa Fe in 2007, together with former Santa Fe City federal prosecutor Griselda TessioGriselda Tessio
Griselda Rosa de las Mercedes Tessio is the Vice-Governor of the Argentine province of Santa Fe since 11 December 2007...
as vice-governor, against former chancellor and national deputy for Buenos Aires City Rafael Bielsa
Rafael Bielsa
Rafael Antonio Bielsa Caldera is an Argentine Justicialist Party politician from Rosario, province of Santa Fe. He is the brother of former Argentina national football team coach Marcelo Bielsa; both are well-known Newell's Old Boys supporters...
(chosen in primaries by the Justicialist Front for Victory
Front for Victory
The Front for Victory is a Peronist political party and electoral alliance in Argentina, although it is formally a faction of the Justicialist Party. Both the former President Néstor Kirchner and the current President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner belong to this party, located on the left-wing...
). He was supported by the left-wing opposition leader Elisa Carrió
Elisa Carrió
Elisa María Avelina Carrió is an Argentine politician, founder of the party initially known as Alternative for a Republic of Equals , now Civic Coalition ARI ....
, head of the ARI.
Binner won the provincial election of September 2, 2007
Argentine general election, 2007
Argentina held national presidential and legislative elections on October 28, 2007, and elections for provincial governors took place on staggered dates throughout the year. For the national elections, each of the 23 provinces and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires are considered electoral districts...
, by a significant margin (by 48% to 38%) over Bielsa. He was sworn in on December 11, becoming the first Socialist governor in the history of Argentina, and the first non-Justicialist to rule Santa Fe since 1983.
Despite his opposition to the Peronist candidate, who was strongly supported by then-President Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Carlos Kirchner was an Argentine politician who served as the 54th President of Argentina from 25 May 2003 until 10 December 2007. Previously, he was Governor of Santa Cruz Province since 10 December 1991. He briefly served as Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations ...
, Governor Binner maintained a fluid relationship with Kirchner and his wife and successor, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner , commonly known as Cristina Fernández or Cristina Kirchner is the 55th and current President of Argentina and the widow of former President Néstor Kirchner. She is Argentina's first elected female president, and the second female president ever to serve...
. Binner joined UCR Congressman Ricardo Alfonsín
Ricardo Alfonsín
Ricardo Alfonsín is an Argentine lawyer, academic and politician prominent in the Radical Civic Union. His father, Raúl Alfonsín, was the President of Argentina from 1983 to 1989.-Life and times:...
in the Civic and Social Agreement
Civic and Social Agreement
The Social and Civic Agreement is an active congressional alliance in Argentina, integrated by the Radical Civic Union and the Socialist Party , which acted as an umbrella national electoral alliance at the last 2009 Argentine legislative elections...
during the early stages of the 2011 general election
Argentine general election, 2011
Argentina held national presidential and legislative elections on 23 October 2011. Incumbent president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner secured a second term in office after the Front for Victory won just over half of the seats in the National Congress....
campaign. Their alliance ended in May, however, and on June 11, Binner formally announced his candidacy for President of Argentina
President of Argentina
The President of the Argentine Nation , usually known as the President of Argentina, is the head of state of Argentina. Under the national Constitution, the President is also the chief executive of the federal government and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.Through Argentine history, the...
. He nominated Córdoba Province
Córdoba Province (Argentina)
Córdoba is a province of Argentina, located in the center of the country. Neighboring provinces are : Santiago del Estero, Santa Fe, Buenos Aires, La Pampa, San Luis, La Rioja and Catamarca...
Senator Norma Morandini
Norma Morandini
Norma Elena Morandini is an Argentine journalist and politician. She was elected to the Argentine Senate in 2009, and was nominated as running mate by Progressive Front presidential candidate Hermes Binner for the 2011 campaign....
as his running mate on their Progressive Front ticket. Antonio Bonfatti
Antonio Bonfatti
Antonio Bonfatti is an Argentine physician and Socialist Party politician. He was nominated by his party to run for Governor of Santa Fe in 2011.-Life and times:...
, the Minister of Government and State Reform during Binner's tenure and a longtime friend and ally from their Medical School days, was elected to succeed Binner as Governor of Santa Fe in elections on July 24.
External links
- Official website
- Hermes Binner's CV
- Photos
- Mensajes
- Biography by CIDOB
- Election results
- Member of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies
- Municipality of Rosario
Hermes Juan Binner (born June 5, 1943) is an Argentine
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
medical doctor and a politician. He was elected Governor of Santa Fe
Governor of Santa Fe
The governor of the Argentine province of Santa Fe is the highest executive officeholder of the province.According to the provincial constitution , the governor is elected by the simple majority of the popular vote, along with a vice governor, for a four-year term, and cannot be reelected...
in 2007. Binner is the first Socialist
Socialist Party (Argentina)
The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in Argentina. The history of socialism in Argentina began in the 1890s, when a group of people, notably Juan B. Justo, expressed the need for a greater social focus....
to become the governor of an Argentine province, and the first non-Justicialist to rule Santa Fe since 1983.
Binner was previously a Deputy of the Civic and Social Progressive Front, a Santa Fe party coalition including the Socialist Party
Socialist Party (Argentina)
The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in Argentina. The history of socialism in Argentina began in the 1890s, when a group of people, notably Juan B. Justo, expressed the need for a greater social focus....
, the Radical Civic Union
Radical Civic Union
The Radical Civic Union is a political party in Argentina. The party's positions on issues range from liberal to social democratic. The UCR is a member of the Socialist International. Founded in 1891 by radical liberals, it is the oldest political party active in Argentina...
and other left-wing parties, since the parliamentary elections of October 23, 2005.
Education and background
Binner was born and raised in RafaelaRafaela
Rafaela is a city in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina, about 96 km from the provincial capital. It is the head town of the Castellanos Department. It has a population of 99,150 per the ....
, Santa Fe Province
Santa Fe Province
The Invincible Province of Santa Fe, in Spanish Provincia Invencible de Santa Fe , is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco , Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Santiago del Estero...
. He attended primary school at St. Joseph's College, and then attended high school at the Rafaela National College, where he began his political activity through participation in the Student Center. At the time (1958) the need for public free non-religious education
State-Church relations in Argentina
The first conflicts between the Roman Catholic Church and the Argentine government can be traced to the ideas of the May Revolution of 1810. The Tribunal of the Inquisition was suppressed in the territories of the United Provinces of the River Plate on 1813-03-23, and on 4 June the General Assembly...
was being hotly debated in Argentina.
Binner moved to Rosario
Rosario
Rosario is the largest city in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the western shore of the Paraná River and has 1,159,004 residents as of the ....
to study Medicine at the Universidad Nacional de Rosario. At 18 he become affiliated with the Argentine Socialist Party and continued to exercise an intense political activity, both as a member of the Student Center and at the institutional level in the Faculty of Medicine. After the 1966 coup d'etat, he participated in the movements resisting the military dictatorship of General Juan Carlos Onganía
Juan Carlos Onganía
Juan Carlos Onganía Carballo was de facto president of Argentina from 29 June 1966 to 8 June 1970. He rose to power as military dictator after toppling, in a coup d’état self-named Revolución Argentina , the democratically elected president Arturo Illia .-Economic and social...
, against a background of political and ideological persecution.
He graduated in 1970 and continued his militant activism as a Graduate Council Member at the University, as well as working as a union member at the Rosario Medical Association and the Physicians' College.
Political trajectory
Guillermo Estévez BoeroGuillermo Estévez Boero
Guillermo Estévez Boero was an Argentine student activist, lawyer and Socialist politician.Estévez Boero was born in Rosario, Santa Fe Province, and studied Law at the National University of the Littoral, where he was a disciple of the Spanish criminal expert and President in exile of the Second...
and Binner co-founded the Popular Socialist Party
Popular Socialist Party (Argentina)
The Popular Socialist Party was a political party in Argentina formed in 1972 with the merger of the Argentine Socialist Party, the Movimiento de Acción Popular Argentino and other minor groups....
(Partido Socialist Popular, PSP) in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
on April 23, 1972, a merger of the Argentine Socialist Party (PSA) with other left-wing groups.
He continued exercising his profession, taking up specialties in anesthesiology and occupational medicine, and starting studies in the field of public health
Public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
. On the last account he obtained the posts of Sub-Director and Director of public hospitals.
Following the 1989 economic crisis
1989 riots in Argentina
The 1989 food riots were a series of riots and related episodes of looting in stores and supermarkets in Argentina, during the last part of the presidency of Raúl Alfonsín, between May and June 1989...
that led to the early handover of power by President Raúl Alfonsín
Raúl Alfonsín
Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín was an Argentine lawyer, politician and statesman, who served as the President of Argentina from December 10, 1983, to July 8, 1989. Alfonsín was the first democratically-elected president of Argentina following the military government known as the National Reorganization...
to President-elect Carlos Menem
Carlos Menem
Carlos Saúl Menem is an Argentine politician who was President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. He is currently an Argentine National Senator for La Rioja Province.-Early life:...
, the UCR
Radical Civic Union
The Radical Civic Union is a political party in Argentina. The party's positions on issues range from liberal to social democratic. The UCR is a member of the Socialist International. Founded in 1891 by radical liberals, it is the oldest political party active in Argentina...
Mayor of Rosario Horacio Usandizaga
Horacio Usandizaga
Horacio Daniel Usandizaga , also known informally as El Vasco, is an Argentine politician.Usandizaga studied to become a lawyer and entered political activity as a member of the Radical Civic Union in 1961. He was first a councillor and then Mayor of Rosario from 11 December 1983 to 10 December 1987...
resigned in protest, forcing anticipated municipal elections to be held. The Socialist Héctor Cavallero
Héctor Cavallero
Héctor Cavallero , nicknamed El Tigre, "The Tiger", is an Argentine politician, who was mayor of Rosario and a member of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies for the province of Santa Fe ....
was elected, and he appointed Binner to the office of Public Health Secretary.
After Cavallero's term, in 1993, Binner was elected concejal (member of the City Council) for the PSP. From this platform he developed a trajectory that led him to present himself as a candidate for the municipal elections of 1995.
Mayor of Rosario
Binner was elected Mayor of Rosario in 1995 and then re-elected in 1999, ending his second four-year term in 2003. He was candidate to the governorship of the province of Santa Fe, obtaining a larger percentage of the popular vote than any of the other candidates, but the controversial voting system in place at the time (Ley de LemasLey de Lemas
||The ley de lemas is the Spanish name of the double simultaneous voting system which is, or has been, used in elections in Argentina, Uruguay and Honduras...
) caused the Socialist Party to lose the election to the Peronist Party.
The eight years of the Binner administration in Rosario were marked by several guidelines:
- DecentralizationDecentralization__FORCETOC__Decentralization or decentralisation is the process of dispersing decision-making governance closer to the people and/or citizens. It includes the dispersal of administration or governance in sectors or areas like engineering, management science, political science, political economy,...
and emphasis on the citizen's rule: The city was divided into several large districtsDistricts of RosarioThe districts of the city of Rosario, province of Santa Fe, Argentina are administrative divisions created to decentralise the workings of the municipal government....
, moving the bureaucratic structure from the Municipality to the peripheral barrioBarrioBarrio is a Spanish word meaning district or neighborhood.-Usage:In its formal usage in English, barrios are generally considered cohesive places, sharing, for example, a church and traditions such as feast days...
s (neighbourhoods), and implementing mechanisms of direct democracy. - Emphasis on the public sphere (health, education, cultural activities) and public welfare. The administration's Health Plan was acknowledged by the Pan-American Health Organization as a model for the rest of Latin AmericaLatin AmericaLatin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
. - Positioning of Rosario as a strategically placed metropolis with a vast area of economic and geopolitical influence. Binner was a Founding Member and Executive Secretary of Mercociudades (cities of the MercosurMercosurMercosur or Mercosul is an economic and political agreement among Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Founded in 1991 by the Treaty of Asunción, which was later amended and updated by the 1994 Treaty of Ouro Preto. Its purpose is to promote free trade and the fluid movement of goods, people,...
), President of the Ibero-American Center for Urban Strategic Development (CIDEU), and President of the Argentine Municipalities Federation.
On December 8, 2003, months after the end of Binner's second term, the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
acknowledged the people and the government of Rosario as a model of democratic governance among 257 Latin American cities (see Experiencia Rosario).
Hermes Binner was succeeded in office by one of his former municipal officials, Miguel Lifschitz
Miguel Lifschitz
Roberto Miguel Lifschitz , is the current mayor of the city of Rosario, province of Santa Fe, Argentina.He obtained his degree at the Engineering Faculty of the National University of Rosario in 1979, and worked in the private sector until 1989, when he became Director-General of the Public Housing...
, who has continued and developed the policies outlined above, and was re-elected in 2007.
Other activities
Binner is a member of the National Table of the Socialist PartySocialist Party (Argentina)
The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in Argentina. The history of socialism in Argentina began in the 1890s, when a group of people, notably Juan B. Justo, expressed the need for a greater social focus....
and the Secretary General of the Santa Fe Federation for the same. He is also the director of the Rosario's Municipal and Provincial Studies Center, an institution for political and academic formation with professionals of diverse disciplines debating current issues and policies.
National Deputy
Binner was a candidate for a seat in the National Chamber of DeputiesArgentine Chamber of Deputies
The Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Argentine National Congress. This Chamber holds exclusive rights to create taxes, to draft troops, and to accuse the President, the ministers and the members of the Supreme Court before the Senate....
(the Lower House of the Argentine Congress) for the Progressive, Civic and Social Front
Progressive, Civic and Social Front
The Progressive, Civic and Social Front is a provincial centre-left coalition in Argentina, based in Santa Fe Province. It is made up of the Socialist Party, the Support for an Egalitarian Republic , a faction of the Radical Civic Union, the Democratic Progressive Party , local factions of the...
, a Santa Fe political coalition (which includes the Socialist Party
Socialist Party (Argentina)
The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in Argentina. The history of socialism in Argentina began in the 1890s, when a group of people, notably Juan B. Justo, expressed the need for a greater social focus....
(PS), members of the Radical Civic Union
Radical Civic Union
The Radical Civic Union is a political party in Argentina. The party's positions on issues range from liberal to social democratic. The UCR is a member of the Socialist International. Founded in 1891 by radical liberals, it is the oldest political party active in Argentina...
(UCR), Support for an Egalitarian Republic
Support for an Egalitarian Republic
Civic Coalition ARI is a social liberal Argentine political party, founded in 2001 by Elisa Carrió. It is a member of the Civic Coalition with centrist and centre-left parties.- Creation and political representation :...
(ARI), Democratic Progressive Party
Democratic Progressive Party (Argentina)
The Democratic Progressive Party is a provincial political party in Santa Fe, Argentina. It was founded by Lisandro de la Torre at the Savoy Hotel in Buenos Aires on December 14, 1914. One of its founders was the academic Dr...
, Communist Party
Communist Party of Argentina
The Communist Party of Argentina is a communist party from Argentina. It was founded in 1918.At the 2005 legislative elections, the Party joined the Encuentro Amplio with other left-wing parties in Buenos Aires and Buenos Aires Province...
and Peronist dissident) in the parliamentary elections of October 23, 2005. He won the seat, together with other six candidates of the Progressive Front, by a 10% margin over the list of candidates led by his closest competitor, the Justicialist Party
Justicialist Party
The Justicialist Party , or PJ, is a Peronist political party in Argentina, and the largest component of the Peronist movement.The party was led by Néstor Kirchner, President of Argentina from 2003 to 2007, until his death on October 27, 2010. The current Argentine president, Cristina Fernández de...
candidate Agustín Rossi
Agustín Rossi
Agustín Oscar Rossi , also known by his nickname El Chivo Rossi, is an Argentine Justicialist Party politician from the province of Santa Fe...
.
Governor of Santa Fe
Binner ran for governor of Santa Fe in 2007, together with former Santa Fe City federal prosecutor Griselda TessioGriselda Tessio
Griselda Rosa de las Mercedes Tessio is the Vice-Governor of the Argentine province of Santa Fe since 11 December 2007...
as vice-governor, against former chancellor and national deputy for Buenos Aires City Rafael Bielsa
Rafael Bielsa
Rafael Antonio Bielsa Caldera is an Argentine Justicialist Party politician from Rosario, province of Santa Fe. He is the brother of former Argentina national football team coach Marcelo Bielsa; both are well-known Newell's Old Boys supporters...
(chosen in primaries by the Justicialist Front for Victory
Front for Victory
The Front for Victory is a Peronist political party and electoral alliance in Argentina, although it is formally a faction of the Justicialist Party. Both the former President Néstor Kirchner and the current President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner belong to this party, located on the left-wing...
). He was supported by the left-wing opposition leader Elisa Carrió
Elisa Carrió
Elisa María Avelina Carrió is an Argentine politician, founder of the party initially known as Alternative for a Republic of Equals , now Civic Coalition ARI ....
, head of the ARI.
Binner won the provincial election of September 2, 2007
Argentine general election, 2007
Argentina held national presidential and legislative elections on October 28, 2007, and elections for provincial governors took place on staggered dates throughout the year. For the national elections, each of the 23 provinces and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires are considered electoral districts...
, by a significant margin (by 48% to 38%) over Bielsa. He was sworn in on December 11, becoming the first Socialist governor in the history of Argentina, and the first non-Justicialist to rule Santa Fe since 1983.
Despite his opposition to the Peronist candidate, who was strongly supported by then-President Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Carlos Kirchner was an Argentine politician who served as the 54th President of Argentina from 25 May 2003 until 10 December 2007. Previously, he was Governor of Santa Cruz Province since 10 December 1991. He briefly served as Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations ...
, Governor Binner maintained a fluid relationship with Kirchner and his wife and successor, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner , commonly known as Cristina Fernández or Cristina Kirchner is the 55th and current President of Argentina and the widow of former President Néstor Kirchner. She is Argentina's first elected female president, and the second female president ever to serve...
. Binner joined UCR Congressman Ricardo Alfonsín
Ricardo Alfonsín
Ricardo Alfonsín is an Argentine lawyer, academic and politician prominent in the Radical Civic Union. His father, Raúl Alfonsín, was the President of Argentina from 1983 to 1989.-Life and times:...
in the Civic and Social Agreement
Civic and Social Agreement
The Social and Civic Agreement is an active congressional alliance in Argentina, integrated by the Radical Civic Union and the Socialist Party , which acted as an umbrella national electoral alliance at the last 2009 Argentine legislative elections...
during the early stages of the 2011 general election
Argentine general election, 2011
Argentina held national presidential and legislative elections on 23 October 2011. Incumbent president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner secured a second term in office after the Front for Victory won just over half of the seats in the National Congress....
campaign. Their alliance ended in May, however, and on June 11, Binner formally announced his candidacy for President of Argentina
President of Argentina
The President of the Argentine Nation , usually known as the President of Argentina, is the head of state of Argentina. Under the national Constitution, the President is also the chief executive of the federal government and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.Through Argentine history, the...
. He nominated Córdoba Province
Córdoba Province (Argentina)
Córdoba is a province of Argentina, located in the center of the country. Neighboring provinces are : Santiago del Estero, Santa Fe, Buenos Aires, La Pampa, San Luis, La Rioja and Catamarca...
Senator Norma Morandini
Norma Morandini
Norma Elena Morandini is an Argentine journalist and politician. She was elected to the Argentine Senate in 2009, and was nominated as running mate by Progressive Front presidential candidate Hermes Binner for the 2011 campaign....
as his running mate on their Progressive Front ticket. Antonio Bonfatti
Antonio Bonfatti
Antonio Bonfatti is an Argentine physician and Socialist Party politician. He was nominated by his party to run for Governor of Santa Fe in 2011.-Life and times:...
, the Minister of Government and State Reform during Binner's tenure and a longtime friend and ally from their Medical School days, was elected to succeed Binner as Governor of Santa Fe in elections on July 24.