Luis D'Elía
PEOPLE PROFILE is published every Tuesday and describes the professional background of key people emerging in the political and economic scenario.
Who Is Luis D'Elía? He is Argentina's main piquetero leader. The piqueteros are unemployed people who in 1996 began a form of protest known as "piquetes", which consisted of blocking streets in protest at a lack of employment opportunities, low salaries, and a lack of assistance for the unemployed. The piqueteros have also called on the government to stop criminalising their movement and to cut the nation's links to the IMF. D'Elía is head of the organisation Federación Tierra y Vivienda (FTV).
Why watch him? He is a moderate leader, who enjoys considerable support from the piqueteros. Now, thanks to a deal struck with President Néstor Kirchner when he came to power, the FTV is trying to create unemployment cooperatives so that piqueteros can receive thousands of pesos in subsidies that the government hands out each month in exchange for carrying out community work. D'Elía is opposed to two other piquetero organisations, led by trotskyite firebrands. The Piquetero movement has planned a mass protest for 20 December.
Born: 21 January 1957
Place of birth: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Education: He is a primary school teacher
Public life: He became known in early 2000 when he led thousands of unemployed
people to block major transport arteries in Buenos Aires to protest against
poverty and marginalisation. He was a councillor of the party FREPASO, that
formed the alliance that brought former President Fernando de La Rúa to power.
He is responsible for the Asociación Civil Fuerza de los Trabajadores por la
Tierra. He is married to Alicia Sánchez and his five children.
Timeline:
1980-1995: Trade union activist in the Sindicato Unificado de los Trabajadores
de la Educación de la Provincia de Buenos Aires.
1983-1990: He was an active member of the Democracia Cristiana party.
1990: Joins the Partido Justicialista, (currently in power under Néstor
Kirchner) as a regional coordinator in Gran Buenos Aires.
1999: Joins the list of councillors for La Matanza.
2000: Heads the first piquetero movements in Buenos Aires and, following the
example set by protesting oil workers in the provinces of Neuquén and Salta,
starts to erect roadblocks.
2001: Active participant in the piquetes and marches that lead to the ouster of
President De La Rúa on 20 December.
2002: Gains notoriety for leading hundreds of piquetes in the streets of Buenos
Aires.
2003: Courted by President Néstor Kirchner as a moderate leader, in the complex
map of piquetero groups and subgroups, some of them extremely radical and
unwilling to negotiate with the government.
Strong points: He is the only piquetero leader that has the support of Argentina's middle class. On the basis of this support and his negotiating skills, he oversees 50% of the subsidies that the government hands out to the piqueteros (under the official `heads of household' subsidy programme, the government hands out Arg$150 (about US$52) a month to each of 2m households. The funds are allocated by local piquetero bosses, who have each built up their own clientele).
Weak points: Although he has widespread support among piqueteros, he is in danger of getting too close to President Néstor Kirchner and suffering the inevitable repercussions. If the piquetero movement becomes more radical, D'Elía could be seen as a "traitor" within his own organisation.
Prospects: The Kirchner government has come under heavy pressure from the middle class to end the disruption caused by the piqueteros once and for all. D'Elía will play a central role in the resolution of the conflict between hardline and moderate piqueteros and the government.