Alberto Iribarne, former justice minister under Néstor Kirchner, dies at 76

Alberto Iribarne, a longtime Peronist politician who served as justice minister under President Néstor Kirchner, died Saturday at the age of 76. Agustín Rossi, a lawmaker from Unión por la Patria, confirmed his death.

“Alberto Iribarne has died. He was always a defender of the Peronist cause, a consistent colleague with strong convictions, warmth and kindness. My embrace to his colleagues and family,” Rossi wrote on X.

Born on August 2, 1950, Iribarne studied at the Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires and earned a law degree from the University of Buenos Aires in 1974. He entered politics as a young man and worked as an adviser to Deolindo Bittel from 1976 to 1983. During that period, he helped draft a document denouncing human rights violations under Argentina’s last military dictatorship, which was presented to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in 1979.

His Peronist career included positions in the Capital Federal party organization, the Metropolitan Council and the national PJ congress. He served on the Justicialist Party’s national council leadership between 1996 and 1999. In public administration, he held senior Senate posts, served as a national lawmaker from 1989 to 1993 and participated in the 1994 constitutional convention in Santa Fe.

Iribarne later moved closer to Eduardo Duhalde after opposing Menem’s reelection and managed Duhalde’s 1999 presidential campaign. He became president of the national mint in 2002 and served as interior security secretary that year. Under Kirchner, he led the National General Audit Office from 2003 to 2004, served again as interior security secretary from 2004 to 2005, and became justice minister from July 2005 until December 2007.

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Alberto Iribarne has died. He was always a defender of the Peronist cause, a consistent colleague with strong convictions, warmth and kindness. My embrace to his colleagues and family.