Rudy Ulloa

Rudy Fernando Ulloa Igor (born 1 April 1960 in Puerto Natales Chile) is an Argentinian politician, businessman, and media entrepreneur who was born in Chile of Chilean parents. His youthful friendship with Nestor Kirchner, who would later become the president of Argentina, helped the poor and uneducated Ulloa to rise into a position of wealth and influence. During Kirchner’s presidency, Ulloa was described as “one of the most influential operators in the presidential entourage”; during the presidency of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, he was part of her “inner circle.”

Criticized during the administration of Nestor Kirchner as a “dark character…whose activities have characterized the worst side of the president in his native province,” Ulloa has been implicated in some of the allegedly criminal activity surrounding the Kirchner administration that has come to be known as the “K money trail,” and in this connection has been charged with illicit enrichment, drug trafficking, and money laundering.

Ulloa was born 1 April 1960 in Puerto Natales, Chile, “a small village of fishermen with metal housing painted in primary colors.” When he was a boy, he moved with his mother, Omnia Igor; his brother, Paloma; and his stepfather, José Heriberto Sánchez, to El Carmen, a neighborhood of tin-roofed houses in Río Gallegos, Santa Cruz, Argentina. He attended the AGE School, funded by Sofía Vicic de Cepernic.

When he was a young man, Ulloa met and befriended Néstor Carlos Kirchner, who was then a lawyer, ten years his senior. Despite his "humble family, rough manners, crude language, and basic education," Ulloa became "indispensable" to Kirchner, who considered him "another member of his household," a sort of "godson" or "younger brother." As Kirchner moved into politics, Ulloa served as his "private secretary," organizing events, arranging campaign appearances, mobilizing voters, and helping to establish “Los Muchachos Peronistas,” a youth group that spawned many notable Argentinians which still exists today. At one rally he turned out "more than 1,000 people" in the "Patagonian cold" and "led chants" against an opposition politician.

Kirchner became Mayor of Rio Gallegos in 1987 and Governor of Santa Cruz in 1991, and appointed Ulloa to the Technical Secretariat, under the command of Jorge Chavez. During these years, "the relationship between Kirchner and Rudy never weakened. Quite the contrary." In time, Ulloa also became the "protector" of Kirchner’s eldest son, Max. It has been reported that when Kirchner was mayor, Ulloa sent out club-wielding "hooligans" and "thugs" to disperse a demonstration.

After Kirchner's party, the Justicialist Party, regained control of Rio Gallegos in 1999, and Hector Aburto became Mayor, Ulloa, although not occupying an official position, took part in cabinet meetings and influenced budget decisions. Amidst corruption allegations, Aburto resigned in 2001 and was replaced by Juan Carlos Villafane, one of the "Peronist boys." In August 2001, an unauthorized biography of Ulloa was published. The book revealed how Ulloa had appropriated the Carmen FM radio station and presented details of his management of a community center in the barrio of El Carmen. It also reported that he had an account in the Banco Provincia de Santa Cruz containing over $1.3 million. An investigation followed, with Ulloa testifying that the money did not belong to him but to “the boss.”

Ulloa began publishing a newspaper called El Periódico. During Kirchner’s third term as governor, Ulloa was placed in charge of a broadcast TV channel, Channel 5 Community; later he also gained control of the “superstation” Channel 2 Rio Gallegos. Although the newspaper was free, it was highly profitable because it carried a great deal of advertisements by government entities. Ulloa was now a “multimedia entrepreneur.” In Rio Gallegos, his and Kirchner’s homes were 50 meters apart, and he had “a magnetic card to enter the Casa Rosada.”

Ulloa later became president of a multimedia business that included a daily newspaper, an FM radio station, a production company, and a local TV channel. In the first half of 2012, he received from the national government alone a total of over $2.8 million in advertising revenues.

As of 2013, Ulloa was a subject of an ongoing investigation into money laundering allegedly committed by him, Nestor Kirchner, entrepreneur Lázaro Báez, and others.

In May 2013, in testimony given before Federal Judge Julian Ercolini and prosecutor Gerardo Pollicita, Miriam Quiroga, former Secretary of Government Documentation, testified in court that both Ulloa and Báez had maintained a relationship with the late president whereby he regularly “gave them instructions regarding works and investments.” Quiroga specifically said that Kirchner had instructed Ulloa to buy media properties.

In response to the money-laundering charges, Ulloa said, “They won’t forgive me for my success. They won’t forgive me for being someone who started out shining shoes and delivering newspapers and who now has about 200 employees and a nice house," he told the Spanish daily El Pais. He described Kirchner as his “best friend” from whom he “learned to be a good person” and whom he missed more every day.

Also in May 2013, journalist Jorge Lanata revealed that Ulloa owned a mansion in Rio Gallegos, “a fleet of nine high-end cars,” and other expensive property. In April 2014, Ulloa bought a $2 million farm that included a heated pool, soccer field, and a small theater. According to Clarin, at this point he already owned four houses in Rio Gallegos. In 2009, he had purchased a $700,000 mansion in Lomas de San Isidro, a $150,000 field in San Pedro, and an expensive property in the gated Pilar del Este district. The Clarin report stated that at least one source of his wealth was the income from the government’s advertising in his media properties, from which he had earned over $22 million during the “Kirchner decade.” Clarin reported that even after it folded, “El Periódico continued to receive government advertising.”

It was reported in 2013 that Ulloa had collected campaign funds for Nestor Kirchner from the firm San Isidro, owned by Raul "Cacho" Espinosa, who in return for his donations was promised fishing permits by Ulloa.