Ofelia Fernández (born 14 April 2000) is an Argentine politician and political activist. She is the youngest member of the Buenos Aires City Legislature, having been elected on 27 October 2019, at 19 years of age.[3]

Ofelia Fernández
Legislator of the City of Buenos Aires
In office
10 December 2019 – 10 December 2023
Personal details
Born (2000-04-14) 14 April 2000 (age 24)
Buenos Aires, Argentina[1]
Political partyPatria Grande Front (2019–present)[2]
Other political
affiliations
Frente de Todos (2019–2023)
Union for the Homeland (2023–present)
ResidenceCaballito, Buenos Aires

Early life and education

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Ofelia Fernández was born on 14 April 2000,[4] as the daughter of a musician father and a bureau de change employee mother.[5] She attained her high school degree at the Escuela Superior de Comercio Carlos Pellegrini.[6][7] At High school she became the school's youngest president of the student body and the first one to be re-elected.[4] As a student body president she got often involved in student strikes.[8]

Political career

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An activist and feminist, Fernández participated in the demonstrations in support of the legalization of abortion in Argentina,[9] and spoke at the commission-level debate during the treatment of the 2018 bill at the National Congress.[10] Fernandez was also the youngest speaker at the G20 counter-summit organized by the Latin American Council of Social Sciences in November 2018.[11]

Fernández was the third candidate in the Peronist Frente de Todos coalition's party list for the City Legislature 2019 election.[12] She cast her first vote during the Primary elections in August.[10] She was elected to the city legislature on 27 October 2019,[3] commencing her legislative term on 10 December of the same year.[13] Following her election to the legislature, Fernández was then highlighted by various sources as "the youngest legislator in Latin America."[10][13]

Fernández is a member of Vamos, a left-wing group organized within the Patria Grande Front.[2] Within the City Legislature, she sits in the Frente de Todos parliamentary bloc.[14]

During the 2023 election, she supported Juan Grabois for the presidency in the Unión por la Patria primary. Juan Grabois and Sergio Massa agreed a common list for national and citywide legislators and Fernández was left out. [15]

Electoral history

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Electoral history of Ofelia Fernández
Election Office List # District Votes Result Ref.
Total % P.
2019 City Legislator Frente de Todos 3 City of Buenos Aires 667,732 33.88% 2nd[a] Elected [16]
  1. ^ Presented on an electoral list. The data shown represents the share of the vote the entire party/alliance received in that constituency.

References

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  1. ^ "Ofelia Fernández: ¿quién es la legisladora más joven de América?". MDZ Online (in Spanish). 4 November 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  2. ^ a b Piscetta, Juan (3 November 2019). "Juan Grabois y el Frente Patria Grande consiguieron 11 cargos electivos en su primera experiencia electoral". Infobae (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Ofelia Fernández, la legisladora más joven de la región: "Ganamos todos"" (in Spanish). Filo. 28 October 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  4. ^ a b Subiela, Imanol (7 August 2019). "Ofelia Fernández: la candidata más joven de las elecciones en Argentina" [Ofelia Fernández: the youngest candidate in the elections in Argentina]. Playgroundmag.net (in Spanish).
  5. ^ Piscetta, Juan (13 June 2018). "Ofelia Fernández, la voz adolescente que gritó por el aborto en el Congreso". Infobae (in Spanish).
  6. ^ Provéndola, Juan Ignacio (5 July 2019). "Ofelia, una voz para la pibada". Página/12.
  7. ^ "Es falso que Ofelia Fernández no terminó el secundario y va a cobrar 300 mil pesos La legisladora porteña electa fue criticada en redes sociales por ambas cuestiones. Sin embargo, Reverso constató que ese no será su sueldo y que sí culminó sus estudios". Infobae (in Spanish). 30 October 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  8. ^ "Quién es Ofelia Fernández, la legisladora más joven de la historia de Argentina". www.airedesantafe.com.ar (in European Spanish). Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  9. ^ Sánchez Díez, María (18 October 2019). "She's 19 and lives with her mother: Meet the feminist teenager running for office in Argentina". The Washington Post.
  10. ^ a b c "Conoce a Ofelia Fernández, la legisladora más joven en la historia de Latinoamérica". La República. 29 October 2019.
  11. ^ "Noticias | la colegiala K que impactó en la contracumbre del G20".
  12. ^ "Confirmado: los candidatos del Frente de Todos en la Ciudad". Ámbito Financiero. 22 June 2019.
  13. ^ a b "Buenos Aires tendrá la legisladora más joven de la historia latinoamericana". El Litoral. 28 October 2019.
  14. ^ Paladini, Eduardo (6 December 2020). "Incluyeron a Ofelia Fernández en una encuesta con otros 21 dirigentes: sólo le ganó a Hugo Moyano". Clarín (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  15. ^ "Ofelia Fernández y Pedro Rosemblat quedaron fuera de la carrera electoral en Unión por la Patria". La Nación. 25 June 2023.
  16. ^ "Elecciones 2019" (PDF). eleccionesciudad.gob.ar (in Spanish). Tribunal Superior de Justicia de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
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