Héctor Icazuriaga

Héctor Icazuriaga (born January 9, 1955) is the Secretary of Intelligence of Argentina since 2003.

Icazuriaga was born in Chivilcoy, Buenos Aires Province to Basque Argentine parents (his Basque descent inspired his nickname, El vasco, though he is also known as Pancho and El Chango). He enrolled at the University of La Plata, and earned a juris doctor; he later married and had two children.

He relocated to Santa Cruz Province, where he was elected to the Provincial Legislature on the Justicialist Party ticket. Icazuriaga was elected Vice President of the Legislature by his peers, and upon Vice Governor Sergio Acevedo's election to the Argentine Chamber of Deputies in 1999, he was nominated as Governor Néstor Kirchner's running mate, taking office as Vice Governor on December 10.

Kirchner's own election to the Presidency in April 2003 led to Icazuriaga's appointment as governor. Acevedo, who had been named President Kirchner's first Intelligence Secretariat Director, became a candidate for the post later that year, however, and upon the latter's election, Icazuriaga was named to replace him, effective December 10. He served President Néstor Kirchner, as well as his wife and successor, Cristina Kirchner, as Director of Intelligence, becoming among the longest-serving officeholders in the post's history. Icazuriaga has enjoyed a relatively good working relationship with both Presidents Kirchner, though his Deputy Director, Francisco Larcher, is reportedly closer to the couple than the Director himself.