Leonel Chiarella has been the mayor of Venado Tuerto since 2019, when he began his first term at just 30 years old. In 2023, he was re-elected with 83% of the vote, consolidating his local leadership within the Radical Civic Union based on fiscal management, public works, and security.
Chiarella became the youngest president in the 134-year history of Radicalism this Friday. On repeated occasions, he stated that he “denounces by name and surname those responsible for drug trafficking,” a problem he considers one of Argentina's main political challenges. In this context, he promoted the implementation of “Life Mailboxes” in Venado Tuerto, an anonymous reporting system linked to drug sales and human trafficking.
During his first term, his administration was recognized for strengthening security, improving urban infrastructure through paving projects and LED lighting installations, as well as for supporting entrepreneurs, vocational training, and boosting cultural activity.
His management includes the development of a network of early childhood gardens—including the country's only nighttime maternal and child garden—health centers, cultural and sports policies, and a strong public-private partnership with the main companies based in the city.
Like the governor of Santa Fe, Maximiliano Pullaro, whom he has politically accompanied since his student years in Rosario, Chiarella placed security and the fight against drug trafficking at the center of his administration.
His political journey began at the age of 15 at the Technical School No. 483 “El Industrial” in Venado Tuerto, where he participated in the creation of the Student Center, which he presided over in 2006. This political path paved the way for his election as mayor in 2019, making him the youngest mayor in the city's history and currently the youngest in the province of Santa Fe.
After returning to Venado Tuerto with his law degree, he was elected city councilor in 2015, a position he held until 2019. His performance on the City Council was characterized by closeness to residents, an emphasis on transparency, and the fight against crime.
In 2025, during an event in Panama, he was selected as one of the most innovative mayors in Latin America by the Local Innovation Network, which highlighted his leadership in innovation and the use of technology applied to municipal management.
Under his administration, Venado Tuerto was certified as an Efficient City, becoming the first in Santa Fe and the fifth in the country to achieve this distinction, in recognition of public policies oriented towards productive development and job creation.
Chiarella ended over two decades of Justicialist governments in Venado Tuerto in 2019. In parallel, he participated in various non-governmental organizations. He also joined the Radical Youth early on. He studied law in Rosario, where he was a member of the student group “Agrupación Estudiantil 1983,” served on the faculty's board of directors, and worked as a teaching assistant in Constitutional Law I and II for four years.
