Carlos Zannini

Alberto Carlos Zannini (born 27 August 1954) is an Argentine lawyer and politician who was the Legal and Technical Secretary of the Presidency under presidents Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner from 2003 to 2015.

Zannini was described as “one of Kirchner’s most trusted men” and as “the power behind the President.” It has been said that his key attribute was his ability “to interpret the decisions of Cristina Kirchner” and to take “the political decisions of Néstor and Cristina Kirchner throughout the ‘winning decade’ and translated them into decrees, resolutions, and bills.”

He is nicknamed “El Chino” (The Chinese) because of “his admiration during his youth for the policies of Mao Tse-tung (Mao Zedong) in the People's Republic of China.”

Early life Zannini was born in the small town of Villa Nueva, in eastern Córdoba Province. His father was a bricklayer and his mother was a housewife. In his childhood he was a serious tennis player.

He began to be active in politics in the 1970s, with the rise to power of Héctor Cámpora and the third presidency of Juan Perón. He considered himself a Maoist

After the 1976 coup because of his membership in the Communist Vanguard, Zannini was arrested and held in the prison of La Plata for four years. Eventually he was released and completed law school. In 1982, Zannini organized “the Peronist boys” in El Carmen.

He was invited by a friend, Roberto Arizmendi, to move to Río Gallegos. There he met Néstor Kirchner in 1984, who was then an emerging politician and lawyer, and Cristina Fernández.

He has been described as the “architect of two constitutional reforms in the Patagonian province,” one of which, in 1994, enabled Néstor Kirchner to run for a second term as governor of Santa Cruz, and the second of which, in 1998, established term limits and eliminated the consanguinity clause.

On 25 May 2003 Zannini was appointed the Legal and Technical Secretary of the Presidency of Argentina by President Néstor Kirchner. He was confirmed in this position in 2007 and 2011 by President Cristina Fernández. the “power in the shadows,” and “the most powerful functionary in the government.” Buenos Aires Province Governor Daniel Scioli, the front runner in the Kirchnerist Front for Victory primary for the nomination, named Zannini as his running mate in his campaign for the 2015 presidential election.

Zannini has also been described as being perhaps the one person most responsible for “the progress that has been made in building the Kirchner model.” He has allegedly succeeded in “cornering power” through methods drawn from Antonio Gramsci which “are much more effective than the armed struggle” that he and others engaged in during the 1970s.

Allegations of corruption

Zannini was prosecuted in 2012 of 38 counts of illegal enrichment, fraud, and other forms of corruption . However, the case was suspended for a time and has faced several roadblocks put up by members of the presidential cabinet and government . Recently he has granted the retirement Payments back to the Ex-vicepresident Amado Bodou creating a controversial point on Alberto Fernandez government, (AB:former VP was found Guilty of all charges for corruption and misslead of National foundings as well as lie on tax form exemptions)

Personal life He is the father of four children from two marriages. His first wife died in 1986, a few months after the birth of her second child. He is married to Patricia Alsúa, an attorney with whom he had two children.