Discovery and investigation
Juan Carlos Pagotto, a national senator for La Rioja with La Libertad Avanza, was found dead in his home in the provincial capital on Tuesday. He was 74 years old. Judicial and police authorities took charge of the initial proceedings and are working to determine the circumstances of his death. No official cause has been released so far, although reports indicate he may have suffered a heart attack. Family members found the body during the early hours of Tuesday, according to Infobae. Pagotto had been hospitalized two weeks earlier for a heart condition, but no official link between that episode and his death has been established.[S1][S2][S3][S4][S5][S6]
The senator's body was discovered in his private residence in the Quebrada area of La Rioja, according to El Cronista. Police sources said the body was found at his home, and a strict operation was mounted at the scene to clarify the reasons for the death. Authorities have not released the results of the initial forensic examinations or further details about the exact circumstances. The news quickly caused shock in provincial political circles and in the upper house of Congress, where he was an active member.[S1][S5][S6]
A legal and political career
Pagotto was a lawyer and had been part of the defense team for former police commissioner Domingo Vera, who was sentenced to life in prison for the murders of priests Carlos de Dios Murias and Rogelio Gabriel Longueville in the Estrella case. He also worked in the sprawling Menéndez case, where he defended former federal judge of La Rioja Roberto Catalán and Roberto Ganemen in trials for crimes against humanity in Argentina. In 2024 he was involved in a controversy after the scandal over a visit by a group of deputies to imprisoned repressors, when he said he would have liked to take part in that meeting. He argued that anyone can visit whomever they wish and that legislators may visit any prison facility to see conditions and propose measures, adding that if the Senate had decided to form a commission he might have gone.[S1]
Pagotto arrived in the Senate in December 2023 as a representative of La Rioja for La Libertad Avanza. During nearly three years in the upper chamber he took on responsibilities related to justice and parliamentary operations. At the time of his death he chaired the Senate's Justice and Criminal Affairs Committee and the Permanent Bicameral Committee on Legislative Procedure, which handles the parliamentary treatment of decrees of necessity and urgency. His parliamentary activity was among his last public appearances: on September 24 he was in the chamber during debate on the reform of the Central Bank's charter, where he urged advancing the project and evaluating its functioning later. The reform was eventually approved by the Senate with modifications and returned to the Chamber of Deputies.[S1][S2][S3][S4][S6]
Long before becoming a national senator, Pagotto held an elected office in La Rioja. In 1993 he was elected provincial deputy for the Chilecito department, a role he held until 1997. More than two decades passed before his return to electoral politics. In the 2023 elections, the La Libertad Avanza list won 32.36% of the vote in the province and Pagotto secured a Senate seat. His substitute was Cruz Antúnez.[S2]
Reactions and the vacant seat
Presidential spokesman Adrián Ravier expressed the national government's condolences to the senator's family and loved ones. In a press conference from the Casa Rosada, he said the seat would be occupied by Claudia Cecilia López once the corresponding formal procedures were completed. Earlier, some speculation suggested Alejandro Cruz Antúnez, Pagotto's substitute on the 2023 La Libertad Avanza list, would take the seat. El Cronista reported that the shift criterion rather than parity would apply, meaning a man should replace a man, because Antúnez was a substitute and Pagotto entered the chamber for the minority. C5N noted that under the Gender Parity Law in Political Representation, the vacancy should go to substitute senator Alejandro Cruz Antúnez, also a lawyer linked to La Libertad Avanza, but Ravier confirmed Claudia Cecilia López would assume the seat.[S1][S2][S3][S6]
The death of the La Libertad Avanza legislator caused shock among political leaders, who began posting condolence messages on social media. Karina Milei, secretary general of the Presidency, wrote on X that she deeply regretted the death of our senator Juan Carlos Pagotto, calling him a fighter for freedom for La Rioja and our country, and sent a warm embrace to his family and loved ones. President Javier Milei shared his sister's message and added only the initials QEPD, meaning rest in peace. Patricia Bullrich, who heads the libertarian bloc in the Senate, posted that they received the news with great sadness and that his commitment and dedication were fundamental to advancing judicial vacancies and approving historic laws. The Senate's official account published an image of the legislator in the chamber with the years of his birth and death.[S1][S2][S4][S6]
Other senators also mourned him. Guillermo Andrada of Catamarca wrote that he was saying goodbye with enormous sadness to a friend, that politics can bring different ideas and positions but must never rise above respect and affection, and that discussions fade while friendship and memory remain. Radical Maximiliano Abad said they had shared seats and debates since the start of this term, with differences that left lessons and enormous respect, and expressed support for Pagotto's family and bloc colleagues. Chubut senator Edith Terenzi described him as a great scholar and above all a gentleman in every dimension.[S6]
