Rodolfo Terragno

Rodolfo Terragno (born 16 November 1943) is an Argentine politician and lawyer, former Senator and journalist. From 2016 to 2019, he was Argentina's ambassador to UNESCO.

Life and times Terragno was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1943 and obtained a law degree from the University of Buenos Aires in 1967, founding the law firm of Terragno & Associates. He married Sonia Pascual Sánchez, with whom he had two children. He became a prestigious journalist, appointed editor-in-chief for the newsmagazine Confirmado between 1967 and 1968, was a columnist for La Opinión newspaper, and an editor in Cuestionario magazine. Terragno became adjunct professor of law at his alma mater in 1973. Intimidation by the dictatorship installed in 1976 led to his exile in Caracas, where he became editor-in-chief of El Diario de Caracas. In 1980, he was appointed researcher for the Institute of Latin American Studies in London and for the London School of Economics, posts he held until 1982. He remained in London as editor-in-chief of Letters, until 1987.

Affiliated to the centrist Radical Civic Union since 1961, he was appointed Minister of Public Works by President Raúl Alfonsín in 1987, whereby he initiated a modest program of privatizations. Terragno received the Ordre National du Mérite from French President François Mitterrand, in 1987. Elected Congressman in 1993, he campaigned against the Olivos Pact negotiated between UCR leader Raúl Alfonsín and President Carlos Menem, who sought the deal in a bid to amend the Argentine Constitution to allow himself reelection. He sought the UCR's vice-presidential nomination in a ticket with Federico Storani, but was defeated by Alfonsín's choice: Río Negro Province Governor Horacio Massaccesi. Loyal to the struggling UCR, he agreed to be Massaccesi's Chief of Staff-designate in March, a move that did not stave off defeat in the May 1995 elections.

Selected publications

La Simulación (2005) El Peronismo de los '70 (2005) Falklands/Malvinas (2002) Maitland & San Martín (1998) Bases para un Modelo de Crecimiento, Empleo y Bienestar (1996) El Nuevo Modelo (1994) Proyecto 95 (1993) La Argentina del Siglo 21 (1985) The Challenge of Real Development (1987). Muerte y Resurrección de los Políticos (1981) Memorias del Presente (1984) Contratapas (1976) Los 400 Días de Perón (1974) Los Dueños del Poder (1972)