Rudy Ulloa
| Rudy Ulloa | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Rudy Fernando Ulloa Igor April 1, 1960 Puerto Natales |
| Occupation | media proprietor |
Rudy Fernando Ulloa Igor (born 1 April 1960 in Puerto Natales Chile) is an Argentinian politician, businessman, and media entrepreneur who was born in Chile of Chilean parents. His youthful friendship with Nestor Kirchner, who would later become the president of Argentina, helped the poor and uneducated Ulloa to rise into a position of wealth and influence. During Kirchner’s presidency, Ulloa was described as “one of the most influential operators in the presidential entourage”; during the presidency of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, he was part of her “inner circle.”
Criticized during the administration of Nestor Kirchner as a “dark character…whose activities have characterized the worst side of the president in his native province,” Ulloa has been implicated in some of the allegedly criminal activity surrounding the Kirchner administration that has come to be known as the “K money trail,” and in this connection has been charged with illicit enrichment, drug trafficking, and money laundering.
Ulloa was born 1 April 1960 in Puerto Natales, Chile, “a small village of fishermen with metal housing painted in primary colors.” When he was a boy, he moved with his mother, Omnia Igor; his brother, Paloma; and his stepfather, José Heriberto Sánchez, to El Carmen, a neighborhood of tin-roofed houses in Río Gallegos, Santa Cruz, Argentina. He attended the AGE School, funded by Sofía Vicic de Cepernic.
When he was a young man, Ulloa met and befriended Néstor Carlos Kirchner, who was then a lawyer, ten years his senior. Despite his "humble family, rough manners, crude language, and basic education," Ulloa became "indispensable" to Kirchner, who considered him "another member of his household," a sort of "godson" or "younger brother." As Kirchner moved into politics, Ulloa served as his "private secretary," organizing events, arranging campaign appearances, mobilizing voters, and helping to establish “Los Muchachos Peronistas,” a youth group that spawned many notable Argentinians which still exists today. At one rally he turned out "more than 1,000 people" in the "Patagonian cold" and "led chants" against an opposition politician.
Kirchner became Mayor of Rio Gallegos in 1987 and Governor of Santa Cruz in 1991, and appointed Ulloa to the Technical Secretariat, under the command of Jorge Chavez. During these years, "the relationship between Kirchner and Rudy never weakened. Quite the contrary." In time, Ulloa also became the "protector" of Kirchner’s eldest son, Max. It has been reported that when Kirchner was mayor, Ulloa sent out club-wielding "hooligans" and "thugs" to disperse a demonstration.
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Wikipedia