On October 2, 2023, Buenos Aires Province Cabinet Chief Martín Insaurralde, running for councillor in Lomas de Zamora in October elections, resigned post and candidacy in scandal; Kirchnerite leader's girlfriend Sofía Clérici posted images from luxury trip online, prompting corruption allegations and criminal complaints.
On 27 October 2009, Rossi resigned his post for personal reasons, and Insaurralde replaced him as a caretaker mayor,[6] as a consequence of his being the top of the electoral list, and so the first in the line of succession.[1][7]
First term as mayor
After two years of being a caretaker mayor of Lomas de Zamora, Insaurralde was elected in the
2011 Argentine general election with 66.16% of the vote, against the 8.24% gained by the
Broad Progressive Front candidate; this was the highest percentage in the history of local elections in the partido.[8][9] Insaurralde also won the
primary elections in August 2011 with a large margin, obtaining 62.73% of the vote, against 10.2% for the nearest candidate from the
Popular Union.[10]
Insaurralde focused on infrastructure during his first term, calling it a "revolution of works", and describing the resultant costs as "not a spend, [but] an investment".[11] Over the course of his term, more than 1300
city blocks were newly
paved.[11][12] Significant improvements to the sewer network were made jointly with national government,[13] especially in connecting them into the Unamuno[14] and del Rey[15] streams, which the local government claimed would benefit 270,000 families.[16]
He remained in the role of mayor until 2013, at which point he resigned to become a member of the Chamber of Deputies.[5] He was replaced by Santiago Carasatorre.[17]
Chamber of Deputies
On 22 June 2013, Martín Insaurralde was confirmed as the first list candidate for member of the Chamber of Deputies, on the
Buenos Aires province list of the
Front for Victory for the August
primary elections.[18][5] Days later, on 26 June, the list he headed received support from the mayors of 78 municipalities of Buenos Aires,[19][20] and from the governor of the province,
Daniel Scioli.[21][22]
In the primary elections of 11 August 2013, Insaurralde's list gained 29.65% of the vote, putting the list in second place behind the
Renewal Front of the mayor of
Tigre PartidoSergio Massa, which gained 35.05%.[23][24] He subsequently spoke of his conviction that this result could be overturned by the time of the
legislative elections on 27 October.[25] During these elections, the Front for Victory list gained a greater percentage of the vote - 32.18% - but still remained roughly the same distance behind the Renewal Front, who won the elections with 43.92% of the vote.[26]
Second term as mayor
Insaurralde resigned his post as a member of the Chamber of Deputies to return as a candidate for mayor of Lomas de Zamora in the
2015 Argentine general election. He was replaced in the Chamber of Deputies by
Luis Cigogna.[27]
Insaurralde was re-elected in the October 2015 elections with 47.53% of the vote, against the 26.31% of his closest rival, Gabriel Mercuri of Cambiemos.[29] During the
2019 Argentine general election his mandate was re-confirmed, obtaining 59.16% of the vote, against 30.13% obtained by the
Together for Change candidate, who was closest.[30]
In April 2019, Insaurralde launched "Eco Lomas",[31][32] a programme with an aim of caring for the environment in Lomas de Zamora, and heading for "a greener city with a better quality of life".[33] As part of this programme, nine new recycling centres were built across the municipality,[34] and a scheme was set up to provide school pupils with bicycles to incentivise physical activity.[35]
On 19 September 2021, Insaurralde was tapped as the new Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers of Buenos Aires Province, under Governor
Axel Kicillof. He replaced Carlos Bianco as part of a cabinet reshuffle following the governing
Frente de Todos' defeat in the
2021 primary elections.[36]
Personal life
In 1993, Insaurralde married Liliana Toledo, with whom he had two children, Martín and Rodrigo; they divorced in 2000.[37] In 2005, he married
Carolina Álvarez, with whom he had a third child, Bautista; Insaurralde and Carolina also divorced, three years later.[37][38] In November 2014, Insaurralde married the actress and model
Jésica Cirio,[39] with whom he had another child, Chloé.[40][41]
During the 2011 election campaign, Insaurralde announced that he had been diagnosed with a
seminoma, a type of
testicular cancer.[42] He went through
surgical treatment for the cancer, and treatment including
chemotherapy.[43] On 10 September 2011, he said that the experience was "one of the most difficult" of his life, and that without the "company" of his constituents, it would have been more difficult.[8]
His father, Rodolfo Insaurralde, died in 2017. He was more than 80 years old at the time of his death.[44]
On 12 June 2020, during the
COVID-19 pandemic, Insaurralde announced that he had tested positive for the virus, and urged people to stay home to protect themselves.[45] He had recently been in contact with Argentine president
Alberto Fernández, who later went into voluntary self-isolation.[46] After nearly two weeks in hospital, as well as receiving a
blood transfusion, he was cleared to return to his home on 24 June.[47][48]
^"Escrutinio definitivo"(PDF). Junta Electoral de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. 7 October 2011. Archived from
the original(PDF) on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
^"ECO Lomas - Una ciudad más verde" [ECO Lomas - A greener city]. Municipio de Lomas de Zamora. Retrieved 30 June 2020. ECO LOMAS es un programa integral para cuidar nuestro medio ambiente y caminar hacia una ciudad más verde con mejor calidad de vida.