José Urtubey to be UIA president

A pulp plant CEO, representative of Salta’s industries and brother of Salta Governor Juan Manuel Urtubey, José Urtubey, was proposed as the choice of the Blue and White list to succeed José Ignacio de Mendiguren as the leader of the Argentine Industrial Union (UIA). The group led by Héctor Méndez has high expectations for an Urtubey candidacy after a meeting was held between business leaders of that sector.

It was the Blue and White business group’s turn to choose the next UIA president, whose term will begin in April for a period of two years because of the alternating power-sharing agreement made between their list and the Industries bloc that the current UIA president belongs to.

The consagration of Urtubey as the UIA’s successor was supported by all the members of the Blue and White, especially Federico Nicholsan (of Ledesma), and Daniel Funes de Rioja (COPAL). Some Blue and White bloc members had voiced concern about the transition although it was clarified that the actual leader of the industrial entity had “not received any objections.” De Mendiguren stated that he had told the Industries bloc leader Ricardo Khayat of their decision in the afternoon. Once de Mendiguren returns from the Vatican, he will hold a meeting to draw up a list of candidates that will be chosen in the next vote.

The current UIA leader is at the moment attending the enthronement of Pope Francis, in a trip he went on with President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. The succession of the textile leader will be a challenge for the Blue and White list. De Mendiguren had been able to create strong relations with the Government House and had many achievements such as the pass of the ART industrial accidents bill (which gave security to small and medium-sized businesses) and the conferences with Presidents Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and Dilma Rousseff.

“José is a kid who will defend the interests of all the industries. We hope to have a dialogue with the government,” said Méndez.

The designation of Urtubey was not a surprise after he had presided as the president in the last UIA annual conference. With the designation of 38-year-old Urtubey as the conference president, it became clear that the other candidates wouldn’t be contenders for de Mendiguren’s position.

“We knew that this was a way of presenting him to society,” stated an industrial organization source.

Herald with Ambito.com