Roberto Lavagna

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Roberto Lavagna.

Roberto Lavagna is an Argentine economist, and was the former Minister of Economy and Production of Argentina until 28 November 2005, when he was replaced with Felisa Miceli, president of Banco de la Nación Argentina. Lavagna took office during the interim rule of President Eduardo Duhalde, in 2002, and had to manage the Argentine economic crisis. He was confirmed in his post by President Néstor Kirchner upon his taking charge on 25 May 2003.

Argentina's latest economic accomplishment, the exchange of more than 76% of the defaulted public debt bonds (worth about 93 thousand million dollars) for longer-term debt, with an important capital reduction, was primarily conducted by Lavagna.

Lavagna was ousted by President Kirchner on 28 November 2005, after a week or so of persistent rumors followed by official denials. He was replaced by Felisa Miceli, until then the President of the Nación Bank and a former student of Lavagna's. The reasons for the forced resignation of the Minister were not made public, though speculations ranged from the failures in fighting inflation to recent Lavagna's accusations of cartelization against certain private companies involved in contracts with the government, which were seen as an indirect attack against Julio De Vido, Minister of Public Works and personally close to the President. Lavagna only told the press that the President had decided his removal as part of a common post-election renewal. The next day, José Pampuro, former Minister of Defense, admitted that relations between Kirchner and Lavagna had become "complicated" since the elections, and that the situation was "tense" during the week before Lavagna's removal. Off-the-record sources also indicated that Lavagna's independence clashed with Kirchner's desire to have a homogeneous cabinet.

In 2006, press reports suggested that Lavagna would stand against Kirchner in the 2007 Presidential elections. Senior members of the Radical Civic Union, socialists and Peronist supporters of former President Duhalde have voiced support for a coalition behind Lavagna's candidacy, although this has been controversial in all three movements.