Beatriz Argimón

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Argimón and the second or maternal family name is Cedeira.

Beatriz Argimón
Argimón in 2024
18th Vice President of Uruguay
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 March 2020
President	Luis Lacalle Pou
Preceded by	Lucía Topolansky
President of the National Party
In office 16 April 2018 – 9 March 2020
Preceded by	Luis Alberto Héber
Succeeded by	Pablo Abdala
Representative of Uruguay
In office 15 February 2000 – 15 February 2010
Constituency	Montevideo
Personal details
Born	Beatriz Argimón Cedeira (1961-08-14) 14 August 1961 (age 63) Montevideo, Uruguay
Political party	National Party
Spouse	Jorge Fernández Reyes ​ ​ (m. 2009)​
Children	María Belén Juan Santiago
Alma mater	University of the Republic

Beatriz Argimón Cedeira (born 14 August 1961) is a Uruguayan politician and notary of the National Party currently serving as the 18th Vice President of Uruguay since 1 March 2020, being the first woman to be elected in that position.^[1][2]

After graduating from the University of the Republic in 1989 with a degree in notarization, she also studied human rights, family law, and juvenile law. She served as a National Representative for the Montevideo Department between 2000 and 2010,^[3] and has been a member of the National Party Board since 2009.^[4] She is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Inter-Parliamentary Union since November 2020.^[5] She is an activist for women's rights, and was one of the founders of the "Network of Political Women" and of the "Bicameral Female Caucus" of the General Assembly.^[6][7]

Early life and education

Beatriz Argimón Cedeira was born in Montevideo on 14 August 1961 to Juan Carlos Argimón, a civil servant for the Herrerism political faction of the National Party, and María Esther Cedeira, a housewife.^[8] Her paternal grandmother had brothers who fought in battles alongside Aparicio Saravia, and her grandfather was a member of the National Movement of Rocha.^[9] The oldest child in a Catholic family of Catalan and Galician descent, she has one sister, Estela.^[10] She attended Primary School No. 8 República de Haití in Montevideo, and later high school at the José Pedro Varela National School.^[11][12]

When Argimón was in high school, her father, who worked as manager of the fishing terminal of Industrias Loberas y Pesqueras del Estado, was dismissed by the civic-military dictatorship, but was reinstated in the position once the regime ended.^[13] In 1989, Argimón graduated from the University of the Republic as a notary public, working in the field for ten years.^[14] She also studied human rights and family law. While she was studying, she began to work as an administrator for the National Administration of State Sanitary Works, a position to which she agreed after winning a public competition.^[15]

Argimón has also been active as a television personality. In 2007, she acted, together with Glenda Rondán and several Uruguayan actresses and public women, in the play Los monologues de la vagina, to benefit the Casa de la Mujer, a women's rights organization, in order to denounce gender violence against women.^[16] From 2008 to 2011, she served as a panelist on the Teledoce weekday program, Esta boca es mía.^[3] In addition, from 2015 to 2017, Argimón was the president of the Josefa Oribe Study and Training Center.^[17] She currently hosts a cable program called Diseñarte, along with María Noel Álvarez and Claudia Calace on Canal 5, which aims to promote nationally manufactured products.^[18]

Argimón is a founding member of the Álvarez Caldeyro Barcia Foundation, which helps the needs of premature children.^[19][20]

Political career

Luis Lacalle Pou (left) and Beatriz Argimón (right) during a rally.

Beatriz Argimón began her political activism at the age of 17 during the dictatorship.^[21] Four months after graduating from college, she was a candidate for Edila de Montevideo (member of the legislature of the capital) in the 1989 election. During Luis Alberto Lacalle's administration, she served as head of the National Institute of Minors.^[22] Together with the then first lady Julia Pou, Argimón founded the group "Acción Comunitaria", and was elected National Representative for Montevideo for the 45th Legislature (2000-2005) in the 1999 election.^[23] Later she joined the Wilsonist Current, being reelected to the position of the 46th Legislature (2005-2010).^[24] She became the first woman reelected consecutively in the history of the National Party.

Argimón in 2019

In the course of 2007, Argimón declared herself independent within the PN.^[24] In the 2009 presidential primaries, she presented her own ballot (list 2018) and endorsed Jorge Larrañaga for president.^[25][26] In the 2014 primaries, she endorsed Luis Lacalle Pou for president, having served as one of his alternates in the Senate.^[27]

On April 16, 2018, she took office as President of the National Party, being the first woman to hold the position in the 182-year history of the party.^[28] She succeeded Luis Alberto Héber and stated, "We must respect the times that each institution and each party have to make decisions of these characteristics."^[29] She remained in office until March 2020 because at that time she assumed the vice-presidency of the Republic.^[30]

Vice presidency

In the 2019 presidential primaries, Luis Lacalle Pou won by 53% of the votes, and named Argimón as his vice presidential running mate for the October general election.^[31]

Following the election of Lacalle Pou as President of Uruguay in the 2019 election, Argimón assumed office as vice president of Uruguay on 1 March 2020, becoming the first female vice president to be elected.^[32][33] On November 30, in her first speech as vice president-elect, Argimón reaffirmed her commitment to the fight for gender equality.^[34] She was sworn in before the General Assembly on March 1, 2020.^[35]

Personal life

Argimón married Jorge Fernández Reyes on 14 December 2009.^[36] She has two children from previous marriages, María Belén and Juan Santiago.^[3]

References

1. "Uruguay's new center-right president sworn in". au.news.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on 1 March 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
2. ElPais (28 November 2019). "Beatriz Argimón se convirtió en la primera mujer electa como vicepresidenta en Uruguay". Diario EL PAIS Uruguay (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 24 July 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
3. "Beatriz Argimón". LaRed21 (in Spanish). 15 May 2011. Archived from the original on 14 June 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
4. Maldonado, Lista 20 (5 July 2019). "Conoce a Beatriz Argimón. Presidente del Directorio del Partido Nacional y flamante candidata a Vice". Lista 20 Maldonado (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 22 March 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
5. "Elección de la Sra. Vicepresidenta de la República, Beatriz Argimón, como miembro del Comité Ejecutivo de la UIP". Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 10 March 2022. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
6. "Bancada Bicameral Femenina: una herramienta política que rompe con los esquemas tradicionales y une a las mujeres legisladoras más allá de sus diferencias partidarias". la diaria (in Spanish). 8 March 2021. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
7. "Una historia distinta de la Bancada Bicameral Femenina" [A Varied History of the Women's Bicameral Caucus]. La República (in Spanish). 7 April 2014. Archived from the original on 11 July 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
8. "Noticias | Beatriz Argimón, una mujer que hace historia". noticias.perfil.com. Archived from the original on 4 December 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
9. "Un adelanto exclusivo de Beatriz Argimón, Aquí y ahora, la biografía de la vicepresidenta". Revista Galeria de Busqueda en Montevideo Portal (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 4 December 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
10. Observador, El. "Jutep archiva la denuncia por pase en comisión de la hermana de la vicepresidenta Beatriz Argimón". El Observador. Archived from the original on 28 January 2022. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
11. "Noticias | Beatriz Argimón, una mujer que hace historia". noticias.perfil.com. Archived from the original on 4 December 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
12. ElPais (22 April 2018). "Argimón, una feminista de linaje blanco preocupada por la unidad". Diario EL PAIS Uruguay (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
13. "Un adelanto exclusivo de Beatriz Argimón, Aquí y ahora, la biografía de la vicepresidenta". Revista Galeria de Busqueda en Montevideo Portal (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 4 December 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
14. Observador, El. "Beatriz Argimón, una mujer a la cabeza del partido de Oribe". El Observador. Archived from the original on 10 August 2022. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
15. ElPais (22 April 2018). "Argimón, una feminista de linaje blanco preocupada por la unidad". Diario EL PAIS Uruguay (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
16. La República (23 August 2007). ""Monólogos de la vagina": un discurso desde las entrañas". Uruguay. Archived from the original on 13 March 2011. Retrieved 21 June 2010.
17. "El centro de estudios y formación Josefa Oribe elige nuevas autoridades" [The Josefa Oribe Study and Training Center Chooses New Authorities] (in Spanish). National Party. Archived from the original on 18 January 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
18. "Diseñarte y Drapart". El País (in Spanish). 4 July 2016. Archived from the original on 18 January 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
19. FACB. "Miembros Fundadores". Uruguay. Archived from the original on 29 May 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
20. La Diaria (15 February 2012). "Espacio reservado". Uruguay. Archived from the original on 29 May 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
21. "Mujeres en espacios de poder: Beatriz Argimón,"No voy a permitir que avancen los negacionistas del feminismo"". ONU Mujeres | América Latina y el Caribe (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 3 June 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
22. "Que nadie se escape" [Let No One Escape]. La Diaria (in Spanish). 4 August 2015. Archived from the original on 11 July 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
23. "González: 'El tema del alejamiento de Proyecto XXI de Alianza Nacional fue el de los ministerios y los cargos'" [González: 'The Issue of the Removal of Project XXI From the National Alliance Was That of the Ministries and the Charges']. LaRed21 (in Spanish). 10 May 2000. Archived from the original on 11 July 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
24. "Argimón se aleja de Correntada Wilsonista" [Argimón Moves Away From Wilsonist Current] (in Spanish). El Espectador. 3 December 2007. Archived from the original on 11 July 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
25. historico.espectador.com. "Argimón lanzó la Lista 2018". HISTORICO.ESPECTADOR.COM (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 4 December 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
26. Álvarez, Cecilia (8 July 2011). "Sin que me echen" [Without Being Thrown Out]. La Diaria (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 11 July 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
27. "Lista de consenso al Directorio blanco" [Consensus List for the White Directorate]. El País (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 11 July 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
28. ElPais (22 April 2018). "Argimón, una feminista de linaje blanco preocupada por la unidad". Diario EL PAIS Uruguay (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
29. "Beatriz Argimón asumió como nueva presidenta del Partido Nacional". Montevideo Portal (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 29 May 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
30. ElPais (9 March 2020). "Argimón renunció a la presidencia del Partido Nacional y Abdala asumirá en el cargo ad hoc". Diario EL PAIS Uruguay (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
31. "Lacalle Pou surprised announced his partner for the October elections" (in Spanish). El País. 11 August 2019. Archived from the original on 25 November 2020. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
32. ElPais (28 November 2019). "Beatriz Argimón se convirtió en la primera mujer electa como vicepresidenta en Uruguay". Diario EL PAIS Uruguay (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 24 July 2021. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
33. "Luis Lacalle Pou y Beatriz Argimón juraron como presidente y vicepresidenta de la República". Uruguay Presidencia (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 10 March 2022. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
34. diaria, la (29 November 2019). "Luis Lacalle Pou dijo que a partir el 1° de marzo no se puede cambiar una mitad del país por la otra". la diaria (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 23 April 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
35. "Luis Lacalle Pou y Beatriz Argimón juraron como presidente y vicepresidenta de la República". Uruguay Presidencia (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 10 March 2022. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
36. "Se casó Beatriz Argimón" [Beatriz Argimón Gets Married] (in Spanish). Montevideo Portal. 14 December 2009. Archived from the original on 4 December 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2018.

External links

• Official website at the Wayback Machine (archived 11 July 2009)

Beatriz Argimón on Twitter Beatriz Argimón on Instagram