Nilda Garré

Nilda Garré (born November 3, 1945), a former leftist militant, is the current Minister of Security of Argentina, and the former Minister of Defense since 2005. She was the first woman to hold each office in the country.

Career

Garré was born in San Telmo Buenos Aires in 1945. She was elected a deputy in the Argentine Chamber of Deputies in 1973 for the Frente Justicialista de la Liberación, a militant Peronist movement, serving until the dissolution of Congress in 1976. In 1995, having joined FrePaSo with other left-wing Justicialists, she became a deputy once again, stepping down in 2000 to become a junior minister in the government of Radical Fernando de la Rúa who was backed by FrePaSo. She returned to the Chamber of Deputies in 2001, serving until 2005.

In 2005 Garré shortly served as ambassador to Venezuela but was recalled to join the government of President Néstor Kirchner as defense minister replacing José Pampuro. However her administration implemented several outstanding changes as the jointness (in Argentine slang conjuntez) and emphasizing the civilian leading of the national Defense. Until then each one of the armed forces had complete autonomy on budget, purchase, organisation and deployment.

Garré is often mentioned in the same context as other South American women who have recently assumed leadership positions traditionally held by men. This group includes Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and Garré's compatriot Felisa......
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