Juan Pablo Schiavi

Juan Pablo Schiavi (born June 10, 1957 in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine agronomist and politician who has held a wide range of positions at the top of national and municipal government of Argentina.

Following the resignation of Raúl Jaime in 2009, Schiavi was appointed Argentina's Ministry of Transportation. He left the position after the Once Tragedy of 2012, a product of infrastructure problems that were widely believed to be the result of corruption and negligence in his ministry. He was sentenced to 8 years imprisonment for his responsibility in the accident.

In an account of Schiavi's history of political loyalties, the newspaper La Nación described him as having been, in turn, a “Grossista” (a disciple of Carlos Grosso) a “Macrista” (Mauricio Macri), a “Telermanista” (Jorge Telerman), a “Devidista” (Julio De Vido), and finally a “Cristinista” (Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner).

Early life and education At age 15, he was active in the Montoneros, a left-wing urban guerrilla group. He went on to become a member of the militant Peronist Youth and belonged to a group of “angry militant Peronists” who made headlines when they tried to force their way into the Casa Rosada on 16 December 1982.

Schiavi received a degree in agricultural engineering at the University of Buenos Aires in 1985. Between 1983 and 1985 he did laboratory and field experiments involving wheat and corn for the National Institute of Agricultural Economics.

Early career In 1985 he became managing partner of a long-distance carrier and directed a study of agricultural advisers. Schiavi developed a relationship with Julio De Vido, the national Secretary of Federal Planning. When Macri became Mayor of Buenos Aires in 2007, De Vido summoned Schiavi to head Administration (ADIF), a state company that was created to promote investments. He was replaced by Schiavi.

It was reported in February 2010 that Schiavi and Jaime were both being investigated, and had been subpoenaed, for illegally accepting free flights on airlines while they were working in the government. Schiavi had supposedly traveled without charge to Brazil with Jaime in September 2006, when Schiavi was Secretary of Planning and Public Works for Buenos Aires. Schiavi was still being investigated in 2012.

Once railway accident, resignation, and aftermath

On 22 February 2012, a train on the Sarmiento line in Buenos Aires crashed in the Once railway station, killing 51 people and injuring more than 700. It was the second-worst train disaster in Argentinian history. Schiavi was widely criticized by the public, as well as by both his own party and the opposition party, for saying on the day of the accident that the death toll would have been far lower if it had taken place a day earlier, during Carnaval, or on another public holiday.

The infrastructure deficiencies that made the disaster possible were blamed in large part on the corruption in the Ministry of Transportation. On 28 February, a news report described Schiavi as having been “caught in the eye of the storm since the train crash.” An account of a meeting between Schiavi and members of the press in the wake of the tragedy described the encounter as “just the latest example of a new norm in Argentina’s press life in which personalities call in the press to speak their truth and take no grilling.”

On 7 March, Schiavi handed in his resignation, stating in his letter that he was stepping down for medical reasons. “I am to be treated for a transluminal coronary angioplasty and another two simple angioplasties, which both require a minimum of sixty days of recovery time following medical advice,” he wrote. It was reported, however, that Schiavi had been forced out, and that his boss, de Vido, had phoned him and told him that the President had said he “had to go.” In October, Schiavi was among those indicted on various charges in connection with the accident.

Two years after the Once disaster, in March 2014, Schiavi, Jaime, and other officials went on trial for having played roles in the corruption, incompetence, and negligence that were said to have led to the incident. Judge Bonadio, who had conducted the investigation into the causes of the tragedy, attributed it to “sinister officials and trade unionists.” Testifying in April, Schiavi denied that he was not guilty of negligence and dissociated himself from the tragedy. “I will not take criminal responsibility for something I did not commit and did not cause,” he said.

Personal life His nickname is “Juampi” and La Nación has said that his main political asset seems to be his “versatility” or “gelatin-like quality.”