Alberto Weretilneck
Alberto Weretilneck is an Argentine politician currently serving as Senator for Río Negro Province. Previously, from 2012 to 2019, he was the province's governor.Biography
Born in El Bolsón, Río Negro, he joined the center-left Broad Front, and was elected mayor of Cipolletti, Río Negro Province, in 2007. He became a supporter of Kirchnerism and was elected Vicegovernor in 2011; he was also named Vice President of the Broad Front on December 17, serving with Adriana Puiggrós.
Weretilneck joined Justicialist Party nominee Carlos Soria in December 2010 as his running mate for the 2011 gubernatorial campaign; while they belonged to different parties, their coalition was endorsed by both Weretilneck's Broad Front and President Cristina Kirchner's Front for Victory. Elected with Soria that September in a landslide, Weretilneck became governor on January 1, 2012, after the sudden death of Governor Soria.
Weretilneck's administration worked closely with the opposition UCR in the Provincial Legislature, while also participating in housing plans funded by the Federal Government which allowed the construction of 2,600 homes. During his first term the Viedma Riverwalk was built, as well as the repavement of Routes 3 and 251. He also inaugurated 22 new primary schools and extended the school; among the new schools opened was the Lucerinta Cañumil Elementary School, the first officially bilingual Mapudungun/Spanish school in the province.
Governor Weretilneck was comfortably reelected to a second term in 2015. His Juntos Somos Río Negro alliance defeated the Front for Victory candidate, Senator Miguel Ángel Pichetto, by 53% to 34%.
