Ariel Guarco

Early life

Guarcro was born in Coronel Pringles, a small Argentine town. He was raised inside a cooperative; his mother has worked in the Electric Cooperative of the town for 50 years.

Professional career

Guarco was trained into the public services cooperative movement, specifically the electric cooperative movement. He held various institutional positions until booming the President of COOPERAR, a leading organization in the Argentine cooperative movement. He is a member of the International Co-operative Alliance’s Global Board.

In 2008, Guarco was elected President of the Buenos Aires’ Cooperative Federation of Electricity and Public Services – FEDECOBA. He has been the President of the Cooperative Confederation of the Argentine Republic since 2011, and was unanimously ratified in this position for a new three-year period in July 2015. He has been amember of the International Co-operative Alliance’s Global Board since 2013 and Deputy Vice-President of Cooperatives of the Americas since 2014. In 2013 he met Pope Francis during an audience he held with leaders of ICA at the Vatican.

Guarco is a regular speaker in different Universities, Seminars, Conferences and Congresses related to the Solidary Economy sector both in his home country and in foreign countries.

Publications

Guarco is the author of the book, The Argentine Cooperative Movement – A hopeful Look into the Future.