Raúl Fernando Sendic Rodríguez

Family background and early life

Raúl Sendic was born in Paysandú, Uruguay in 1962. Sendic's mother was Nilda Rodríguez and his father was Raúl Sendic, a leader of the Uruguayan Tupamaro movement.

Sendic grew up in Uruguay, visiting his father in prison, then moved to Cuba from 1980 to 1984, and traveled to Switzerland, France, and Brazil before returning to Uruguay.

Sendic worked as a journalist.

Education

Raúl Sendic has declared that he studied medicine at the University of Havana, in Cuba, for five years (1980 to 1984 inclusive) without finishing the degree. He has also claimed to have completed a short course on human genetics for future teachers.

In February 2016, Sendic's educational credentials became the subject of controversy since his official biographies list him as having a degree in human genetics but, so far, no document appears to support this claim (see § Controversies - Educational Degree below).

Political career

On his return to Uruguay, Raúl Sendic became politically active in the March 26 Movement. Following his loss in the election of 2004, Sendic helped form the electoral list "Compromiso Frenteamplista, lista 711".

Raúl Sendic served as a representative in the national congress for the five year term from 2000 to 2005. Sendic failed to gain a second term in the elections of 2004.

Raúl Sendic served on the board of directors, as vice-president, and as president of ANCAP, the Uruguayan national petroleum monopoly. He was named to the board in 2005 and was vice president of ANCAP in 2007. He was president of ANCAP from 2008 to 2013, except during his stint in the government in 2009–2010.

Raúl Sendic served, from 2009 to 2010, as Minister of Industry, Energy, and Mining in the last part of the Frente Amplio Government of President of Uruguay Tabaré Vázquez.

On March 1, 2015, Raúl Sendic took office as Vice President of Uruguay; he was elected in 2014 alongside President Tabaré Vázquez, who began his second term as President.

Ideology

Raúl Sendic's ideological background is Marxist. In recent years, Frente Amplio administrations have embraced market economics; while they have been in the habit of making rhetorical appeals to the memory of the Cuban Revolution and class revolutionary discourse, Frente Amplio leaders also exercise considerable pragmatism with regard to economic policies.

ANCAP

In the first months of the second presidency of Tabaré Vásquez in 2015, the financial situation of the state owned oil monopoly ANCAP was discovered to be dire. On August 4, 2015, the Senate of Uruguay voted to form an investigatory committee to elucidate the causes and find if there was any illegal activity in the management of the company between 2000 and 2015 . At the end of 2015, the government presented legislation to refinance the state owned oil monopoly ANCAP and forgive a debt of around $622 million, the largest capitalization in the history of the country. .

The role of Raúl Sendic in the management of ANCAP during his tenure was widely criticized both by journalists and by opposition politicians. Sendic never admitted to having any responsibility for the situation blaming instead the monetary policy of the government, and notably blaming the minister of the economy, saying it prevented him from further raising prices to account for new expenses. This despite the price of gasoline in Uruguay being among the highest in the world.

Educational degree

Sendic's official web pages for his political list and for his political party claims he received a degree in 'Human Genetics' from the University of Havana, adding he received a gold medal. Sendic also identified himself as 'Lic. Raúl Sendic' in official government documents, in interviews, and in the official annual reports of the state owned petroleum monopoly, ANCAP.

In an interview with the Uruguayan newspaper El Observador, on February 24, 2016, Sendic admitted that he never received a degree in 'Human Genetics'. However, in the following days, Sendic reiterated his claim to have received a degree and stated that he had asked for documents to support his claim from Cuba. Sendic has not yet produced any documents proving his educational claims. An independent effort to find documents related to Sendic's education failed to find any record of his studies.