Yerko Núñez

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In this
Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Núñez and the second or maternal family name is Negrette
.

Yerko Núñez
Minister of Public Works,
Services, and Housing
In office
13 November 2019 – 3 December 2019
PresidentJeanine Áñez
Preceded byOscar Coca [es]
Succeeded byIván Arias
Senator for Beni
In office
18 January 2015 – 13 November 2019
SubstituteBilgay Méndez
Preceded byCarlos Alberto Sonnenschein
Succeeded byBilgay Méndez
Personal details
Born
Yerko Martin Núñez Negrette

(1973-04-17) 17 April 1973 (age 51)
Rurrenabaque, Beni, Bolivia
Political partySocial Democratic Movement (2014–2020)
Other political
affiliations
Occupation
  • Agronomist
  • politician
SignatureCursive signature in ink

Yerko Martín Núñez Negrette (born 17 April 1973) is a Bolivian

minister of public works from November to December 2019. Throughout his ministerial tenure, Núñez was noted as a key person of influence in the transitional government and a "right-hand" to President Jeanine Áñez, a fellow Beni native. Prior to his appointment, he served as senator from Beni from 2015 to 2019 on behalf of the Democratic Unity coalition. As a member of Beni First, Núñez served as mayor of Rurrenabaque from 2010 to 2014; he previously held the position for two terms from 2000 to 2003 and 2005 to 2010 as part of the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement. Núñez's mayoral tenure saw strides made for Rurrenabaque's ecotourism
industry, which generated increased economic growth for the city.

Early life and career

Yerko Núñez was born on 17 April 1973 in Rurrenabaque, Beni, to Antonio Núñez Gamarra and Carmen Negrette Arce. Núñez's family was one of the most influential clans in Rurrenabaque; both his father and grandfather previously served as mayor of the city, owing to their alignment with the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (MNR). Núñez himself continued this legacy: from age 25, he participated in various political training courses abroad in locales such as Colombia, Peru, Germany, and the United States.[1][2]

In 1999, Núñez contested his first election, seeking a seat on the Rurrenabaque Municipal Council at the top of the MNR's electoral list.[α][2] He was narrowly successful, with the MNR nearly being displaced from the mayorship by the opposing Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR).[4] Upon assuming office in February 2000,[5] Núñez, aged 26, became the youngest mayor in the country at the time. His administration was characterized by generally transparent economic management and the implementation of policies promoting public participation in the planning and execution of citywide projects. After three years in office, Núñez resigned as mayor to serve as national director of the Secretariat of Popular Participation, a government body responsible for aiding and regulating municipal development.[1][6] A year later, in 2004, he worked as a public official in the National Congress, serving as the technical secretary of the Senate's Popular Participation Commission.[1]

Leading up to the 2004 municipal elections, Núñez returned to Rurrenabaque to seek a second mayoral term. While the previous year's significant social conflicts largely discredited the MNR as a national force, the party maintained a modicum of support in the eastern lowlands. Given this, instead of forming his own front like many other political leaders, Núñez maintained his allegiance to the MNR, again emerging victorious on the party's electoral list. By 2010, however, Núñez chose not to seek a third term with the MNR, instead joining Beni First, a newly established front combining former members of the MIR, MNR, and Nationalist Democratic Action (ADN) with support from regional trade unions.[2] Núñez handily won the election, attaining 3,476 votes; conversely, the MNR won just thirty.[7]

Núñez's mayoral terms accompanied the takeoff of tourism in the area. Efforts to promote travel to Rurrenabaque began in 2000, a year in which the city received six thousand tourists. By 2007, the city recorded a yearly average of approximately fifty thousand, split relatively evenly between foreign tourists and Bolivian nationals. The significant influx of visitors greatly aided Rurrenabaque's economic prospects, bringing the city between US$7 million and US$8 million per year and generating new sources of income for its inhabitants. The decision to promote tourism was first outlined in the city's municipal development plan—developed in coordination with the population itself—which also specified agriculture and forestry as key components of economic development.[8] In a 2012 interview with La Palabra del Beni, Núñez identified tourism as "the engine of the regional economy", with Rurrenabaque being "the epicenter of the tourist region".[9]

Other projects of Núñez's mayoral tenure included the development of a municipal housing program, which funded the construction of more than 150 homes in the city. Basic sanitation was also fully implemented during his term, with the additional establishment of ten health posts and the city's first municipal hospital.[10] Núñez's achievements in promoting economic development, ecological tourism, and environmental regulation were lauded by various national and international institutions. His administration was recognized by the national government as number one in transparency and efficiency in Beni and fourth in the country as a whole. During his final two terms, Núñez also served as president of the Board of Directors of the Association of Municipalities of Beni and as secretary of the Autonomous Council of Beni.[1][11]

Chamber of Senators

Election

Further information: 2014 Bolivian general election

Nearing the end of this third term, Núñez's political track record led him to be profiled as a viable candidate for higher office. In late 2012, Beni First presented Núñez and Carmelo Lenz [es] as possible contenders to face Jessica Jordan for the departmental governorship in a special gubernatorial election.[12] Núñez faced ten other pre-candidates from various allied parties—collectively known as the Broad Front—in a regional poll aimed at consolidating a single opposition candidacy for the election. Ultimately, Lenz was found to have the most support among the populace and received the alliance's nomination.[13] Notwithstanding, Núñez was later invited by former governor Ernesto Suárez [es] to be the Social Democratic Movement (MDS)'s candidate for senator as part of the Democratic Unity (UD) coalition.[14][15][16] Throughout the campaign, Núñez expressed his confidence that UD would win the election, taking all nineteen of Beni's municipalities with it.[17] Ultimately, his prediction proved partially correct; UD lost the election, winning only one of the nine departments: Beni. The alliance took just over fifty percent of the vote in that department, electing two senators: Núñez and Jeanine Áñez. The former mayor became the first inhabitant of Rurrenabaque to attain a seat in the Senate.[18][19]

Refer to caption
Núñez holds up a document containing newly implemented legislation.

Tenure

Not long after entering the legislature, the Democratic Unity caucus quickly fractured, owing in large part to political disputes between its two leaders,

Supreme Electoral Tribunal, María Eugenia Choque [es], of ordering the suspension of the transmission of preliminary results in an attempt to rig the count and give the victory to President Evo Morales.[24] Ultimately, continued social unrest culminated in Morales's resignation, followed by that of Choque, who was subsequently arrested.[25]

Minister of the Presidency

On 12 November 2019, after two days of uncertainty, Morales was succeeded in the presidency by Jeanine Áñez.

development planning. As such, Áñez's appointment of Víctor Hugo Zamora and Carlos Melchor Díaz, respectively, occurred at his suggestion.[30] According to multiple former Áñez ministers, Núñez, alongside the ministers of government and defense, Arturo Murillo and Luis Fernando López, functioned as a "mini-cabinet" that formed the president's inner circle.[32][33]

During the initial stages of the transition, Núñez reiterated Áñez's earlier pledge that she would not present herself as a presidential candidate. Expanding on this, the minister stressed that the transitional government would also refrain from endorsing any contending campaigns, maintaining neutrality throughout the electoral process.[34][35] Nonetheless, in the early weeks of 2020, Núñez and several other ministers expressed their view that the president should seek election for a full term.[36] When Áñez did finally officialize her candidacy as part of the Juntos alliance, Núñez gave his "personal" endorsement.[37] Even so, the minister was later made to explain why government-funded programs had begun using the word juntos in their marketing. Núñez's claim that such occurrences were "mere coincidence" drew the ire of competing campaigns, with one opposing vice-presidential candidate accusing the minister of "underestimat[ing] the intelligence of Bolivians".[38][39] The government later switched out juntos in favor of unidos in all public works advertising.[40]

Nearing the election date, Áñez opted to withdraw her candidacy to prevent the return to power of Morales' party, the

Movement for Socialism (MAS-IPSP). Following the announcement, Núñez called on other fronts with little chance of winning to also remove themselves from contention.[41] Following the victory of Luis Arce in the presidential election, Núñez announced the establishment of a government commission to facilitate the transmission of power between the incoming and outgoing administrations.[42] The minister lauded the meetings held in this process as "historic" due to their transparent and orderly nature.[43] On 6 November 2020, two days before the formal inauguration of the new government, Núñez resigned from office, retiring to his residence in Rurrenabaque.[44]

Flight from the country

Not long after leaving office, on 12 March 2021, the Prosecutor's Office issued an

Trinidad, where his 21-year-old son, Antonio, was arrested on suspicion that he knew his father's whereabouts. After eight hours in police custody, the younger Núñez was released from detention and was subsequently granted refuge by the Beni Civic Committee.[48] A migration alert to prevent Núñez from leaving the country by legal means was activated on 19 March.[49] By that point, the former minister had already declared himself in hiding, with a birthday message directed to his daughter indicating that he had likely left the country.[50][51] Per a report by La Razón, Núñez was able to elude law enforcement thanks to Marco Cossío, the then departmental prosecutor for La Paz, who allegedly tipped him off about the impending charges. Armed with this information, he fled on a small plane into Brazil.[52]

Electoral history

Electoral history of Yerko Núñez
Year Office Party Alliance Votes Result Ref.
Total % P.
1999 Mayor[α] Revolutionary Nationalist Movement None 758 28.91% 1st Won [53][β]
2004 Revolutionary Nationalist Movement None 1,279 36.82% 1st Won [54][β]
2010 Beni First None 3,476 51.73% 1st Won [55]
2014 Senator Social Democratic Movement Democratic Unity 91,855 51.44% 1st Won [56][β]
Source: Plurinational Electoral Organ | Electoral Atlas

References

Notes

  1. ^ a b Per Article 3 Section VI of the 1967 Constitution with amendments from 1995, individuals who appear at the top of a party's electoral list of councillors are also that party's candidate for mayor.[3] This practice was abandoned following the passage of the 2009 Constitution, with municipal elections since 2010 holding separate contests for mayor and municipal councillors.
  2. ^ a b c Presented on an electoral list. The data shown represents the share of the vote the entire party/alliance received in that constituency.

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d "Ministro de la Presidencia: Yerko M. Núñez Negrette". presidencia.gob.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Ministry of the Presidency. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Romero Ballivián 2018, p. 413.
  3. ^ "Constitución Política del Estado de 1995". lexivox.org (in Spanish). La Paz. 6 February 1995. Archived from the original on 3 October 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  4. ^ Opiniones y Análisis 2000, p. 92.
  5. ^ "Concejales juran el sábado y posesionan el domingo el nuevo alcalde de La Paz" (in Spanish). La Paz. Agencia de Noticias Fides. 4 February 2000. Archived from the original on 30 June 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022. Este ... 5 de febrero jurarán los concejales elegidos de La Paz y, el domingo 6 será elegido el nuevo alcalde de la ciudad ... Similar programa se desarrollará en ... los más de 300 municipios del país.
  6. ^ Archondo 1997, p. 62.
  7. ^ "Atlas Electoral de Bolivia, Tomo II: Elecciones Municipales después de la Ley de Participación Popular" (PDF). oep.org.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Plurinational Electoral Organ. p. 388. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 June 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  8. ^ "Rurrenabaque y San Buenaventura, las puertas a la amazonía". Bolivia.com (in Spanish). La Paz. Agencia Boliviana de Información. 13 August 2007. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  9. ^ "Edición Especial: Rurrenabaque, la Perla Turística del Beni". La Palabra del Beni (in Spanish). Trinidad. 1 February 2012. p. 2. Retrieved 30 June 2022 – via Issuu.
  10. ^ "Lista de Candidatos: Unidad Demócrata" (in Spanish). La Paz. ERBOL. 14 July 2014. p. 4. Retrieved 30 June 2022 – via SlideShare.
  11. ^ Staff writer (11 July 2007). Written at Trinidad. "Alcalde de Rurrenabaque preside la asociación beniana de municipios" (in Spanish). La Paz. Agencia de Noticias Fides. Archived from the original on 1 July 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  12. ^ "Áñez se perfila como la rival de Jordan". La Razón (in Spanish). La Paz. 2 October 2012. Archived from the original on 1 February 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  13. ^ "Carmelo Lenz arraza en las encuestas y es el candidato de la oposición en Beni". Opinión (in Spanish). Cochabamba. 6 October 2012. Archived from the original on 2 February 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  14. ^ "Proponen como candidato a senador a alcalde Núñez" (in Spanish). La Paz. ERBOL. 25 June 2014. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  15. ^ Vacaflor, Nancy (28 June 2014). "Opositores alistan renuncias para candidatear en elecciones". Página Siete (in Spanish). La Paz. Archived from the original on 2 February 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2022. Página Siete conoció que los demócratas decidirán los candidatos, por ejemplo, en Santa Cruz y Beni.
  16. ^ Ariñez, Rubén (15 July 2014). "Al menos 89 autoridades cesan para ir a comicios". La Razón (in Spanish). La Paz. Archived from the original on 1 July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  17. ^ Toro, Édgar (4 September 2014). "Yerko Núñez Negrete : No existen Tuto ni Juan en Beni, la lucha será entre el MAS y UD". La Razón (in Spanish). La Paz. Archived from the original on 1 July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  18. ^ Ortega, Erick (13 October 2014). "Beni es el único departamento en el que triunfa la oposición". La Razón (in Spanish). La Paz. Archived from the original on 1 July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  19. ^ Ortega, Erick (13 October 2014). "Un candidato de Rurrenabaque llega por primera vez al Senado". La Razón (in Spanish). La Paz. Archived from the original on 1 July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  20. ^ Ortiz, Pablo (5 February 2019). "La bancada de Unidad Demócrata se desarma en el último año de mandato". El Deber (in Spanish). Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Archived from the original on 1 July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  21. ^ Mealla, Luis (6 February 2019). "Desbande, UN paga la factura más cara en la ruptura de UD". La Razón (in Spanish). La Paz. Archived from the original on 1 July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  22. ^ a b "Demócratas creen que ganarán a UN con sus militantes". Página Siete (in Spanish). La Paz. Agencia de Noticias Fides. 25 November 2018. Archived from the original on 1 July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  23. ^ Vegas Rondon, Leopoldo Jose (10 May 2020). "El círculo íntimo de la presidenta provocó una crisis política en el Gobierno durante la última semana". El Deber (in Spanish). Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Archived from the original on 23 September 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  24. ^ Rosales Melgar, Alvaro (30 October 2019). "Denuncian que María Eugenia Choque ordenó detener el sistema del TREP el 20 de octubre". El Deber (in Spanish). Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Archived from the original on 5 August 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  25. ^ "Arrestaron a la presidente del Tribunal Supremo Electoral de Bolivia". Infobae (in Spanish). Buenos Aires. 10 November 2019. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  26. France24 (in Spanish). Paris. Agence France-Presse. 13 November 2019. Archived
    from the original on 27 November 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  27. ^ "Áñez arma su primer gabinete con gente de Unidad Demócrata y cercanos a Camacho". El Deber (in Spanish). Santa Cruz de la Sierra. 14 November 2019. Archived from the original on 11 June 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  28. ^ Melendres Galvis, Miguel Angel (1 December 2019). "Yerko Núñez Negrete: 'BoA no está generando recursos. No había transparencia en el manejo'". El Deber (in Spanish). Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Archived from the original on 30 June 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  29. ^ Alanoca, Jesus (3 December 2019). "Áñez saca a Jerjes Justiniano del Ministerio de la Presidencia y en su lugar asume Yerko Núñez". El Deber (in Spanish). Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  30. ^ a b Revollo P., Melissa (7 December 2019). "Hay siete personas que deciden en el Gobierno transitorio de Áñez". Opinión (in Spanish). Cochabamba. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  31. ^ de Torres, Miguel V. (13 February 2020). "Rumbo al 3M: De la rosca beniana al papel de Camacho". El País (in Spanish). Tarija. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  32. ^ "Exministros aseguran que Añez tenía un 'minigabinete' liderado por Murillo". El Diario (in Spanish). La Paz. 15 June 2021. Archived from the original on 16 June 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  33. ^ Sanabria, Ghilka (16 June 2021). "Exministro Díaz dice que Áñez tenía un minigabinete y 'seguro trabajaba mucho más de cerca con ellos'". La Razón (in Spanish). La Paz. Archived from the original on 20 June 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  34. ^ Carranza Jiménez, Diego (6 December 2019). Written at Bogotá. "Jeanine Áñez dice que no será candidata a las elecciones presidenciales en Bolivia". Anadolu Agency (in Spanish). Ankara. Archived from the original on 6 February 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  35. ^ "Jeanine Áñez no será candidata a presidenta, según el Gobierno de transición". El Deber (in Spanish). Santa Cruz de la Sierra. EFE. 5 December 2019. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  36. ^ "Gobierno interino de Bolivia promociona candidatura de Áñez". El Tiempo Latino (in Spanish). Washington, D.C. 23 January 2020. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  37. ^ Cuiza, Paulo (24 January 2020). "Áñez lanza su candidatura Presidencial y presenta su alianza 'Juntos'". La Razón (in Spanish). La Paz. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  38. ^ "Gobierno dice que es una "coincidencia" el uso de la palabra 'juntos' en gestión". Página Siete (in Spanish). La Paz. 27 February 2020. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  39. ^ "Pedraza dice que Núñez menosprecia la inteligencia de los bolivianos". Página Siete (in Spanish). La Paz. 28 February 2020. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022. [Pedraza] criticó las palabras de Núñez, 'el ministro menosprecia la inteligencia de los bolivianos ...'.
  40. ^ "De 'Juntos' a 'Unidos', el Gobierno cambia su eslogan de gestión". Página Siete (in Spanish). La Paz. 28 February 2020. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  41. ^ "Futuro de la alianza Juntos se define la próxima semana". El Diario (in Spanish). La Paz. 19 September 2020. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  42. ^ "Gobierno crea comisión para transmisión de mando y autoriza transición administrativa" (in Spanish). La Paz. ERBOL. 26 October 2020. Archived from the original on 17 May 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  43. ^ "Proceso de transición es histórico para el país". El Diario (in Spanish). La Paz. 30 October 2020. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  44. ^ "En un clima hostil, gobierno de Añez deja sus funciones antes de entregar el mando". Página Siete (in Spanish). La Paz. 7 November 2020. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  45. ^ "¿Quiénes son los 10 exfuncionarios que tienen órdenes de aprehensión?". Página Siete (in Spanish). La Paz. 12 March 2021. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  46. ^ "Áñez y Núñez denuncian 'persecución' y 'cacería' por los hechos de 2019" (in Spanish). La Paz. ERBOL. 12 March 2021. Archived from the original on 16 March 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  47. ^ "Denuncian que 20 policías irrumpieron en la casa de la madre de Yerko Núñez". Opinión (in Spanish). Cochabamba. Urgente.bo. 12 March 2021. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  48. ^ Rosales Melgar, Alvaro (19 March 2021). "Hijo de Yerko Núñez dice que no había orden de aprehensión en su contra y que cualquier cosa que le pase a su familia es responsabilidad del Gobierno". El Deber (in Spanish). Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Archived from the original on 19 March 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  49. ^ Staff writer (19 March 2021). Written at La Paz. "Activan alerta migratoria en contra del exministro Yerko Núñez". Correo del Sur (in Spanish). Sucre. Agencia de Noticias Fides. Archived from the original on 20 March 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  50. ^ "Yerko Núñez se declara en la clandestinidad por la desmedida 'persecución política' de Evo" (in Spanish). La Paz. Agencia de Noticias Fides. 17 March 2021. Archived from the original on 18 March 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  51. ^ Chuquimia, Marco Antonio (15 March 2021). "Núñez publica felicitación a su hija en Facebook y desliza que no está en Rurrenabaque". El Deber (in Spanish). Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Archived from the original on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  52. ^ Pérez, Karina; Atahuichi, Rubén (24 August 2021). "Áñez tenía lista una avioneta para fugar, Núñez se le adelantó". La Razón (in Spanish). La Paz. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  53. ^ "Elecciones Municipales 1999 | Atlas Electoral". atlaselectoral.oep.org.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Plurinational Electoral Organ. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  54. ^ "Elecciones Municipales 2004 | Atlas Electoral". atlaselectoral.oep.org.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Plurinational Electoral Organ. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  55. ^ "Elecciones Municipales 2010 | Atlas Electoral". atlaselectoral.oep.org.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Plurinational Electoral Organ. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  56. ^ "Elecciones Generales 2014 | Atlas Electoral". atlaselectoral.oep.org.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Plurinational Electoral Organ. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2022.

Bibliography

External links

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