South American Union of Italian Emigrants

Political party in Italy

The South American Union of Italian Emigrants (Italian: Unione Sudamericana Emigrati Italiani, USEI) is an Italian political party representing Italian minorities in South America, especially Argentina and Brazil.

Its leader is Eugenio Sangregorio [it], who was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in the 2018 general election.

History

USEI was founded in 2006 by Eugenio Sangregorio [it], a Calabrian-born entrepreneur.[3]

In the 2006 general election the party won 4.7% of the vote in the South American constituency of the Chamber of Deputies.[4] USEI did not participate in the 2008 general election,[5] but continued to be active and improve its network.

In the 2013 general election USEI won 13.3% of the vote in the South American constituency and elected Renata Bueno to the Chamber of Deputies.[6] Bueno was the daughter of Rubens Bueno,[7] a long-time member of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies for the Brazilian Socialist Party.[8][9] After the election, she formed a parliamentary alliance with the alternative Associative Movement Italians Abroad (MAIE) within the Mixed Group of the Chamber, that lasted for two and half years.[10]

Despite the fact that USEI's and Sangregorio's political orientation was broadly centre-right,[11][12] Bueno, due to her family's political upbringing, started to be supportive of the Democratic Party (PD), the country's main centre-left party, and, particularly, its leader Matteo Renzi,[13] who served as Prime Minister from February 2014 to December 2016.

Curiously enough, in November 2015, Bueno joined forces with Identity and Action (IdeA), a centre-right party opposed to Renzi.[14] Subsequently, she formed a sub-group, named after the USEI (and, later, "USEI–IdeA"), within the Mixed Group of the Chamber, along with Aniello Formisano of Italy of Values (IdV), a party traditionally affiliated to the centre-left, and Guglielmo Vaccaro of Unique Italy (IU).[10][11][15] Right after its formation, the sub-group was joined also by the other two IdeA deputies, Eugenia Roccella and Vincenzo Piso.[10] The USEI–IdeA sub-group was dissolved in May 2017.[10] After that, Bueno was affiliated with Civics and Innovators (CI) and Direction Italy (DI).[10] Sangregorio, who had opposed the constitutional reform proposed by Renzi with the 2016 constitutional referendum (Renzi lost and resigned from Prime Minister), was not willing to field Bueno again as a USEI candidate.[16]

In the 2018 general election the party won 18.7% of the vote in the South American constituency and Sangregorio was elected to the Chamber of Deputies, while Bueno led the Popular Civic List to 6.3% (compared to 0.5% in Italy) and was not elected. USEI ran also for the Senate, obtaining 20.4% and the election of Adriano Cario. In May 2018 Cario left the USEI and switched to MAIE.[17]

On 18 December 2019, USEI formed with the centrist allies of Forza Italia (Alliance of the Centre and Us with Italy) and the centre-right Cambiamo! the new sub-group within the Mixed Group "Noi con l'Italia-USEI-Cambiamo!-Alleanza di Centro".

Electoral results

Italian Parliament

Chamber of Deputies – Italians abroad
Election year # of
overall votes 		% of
overall vote 		# of
overall seats 		# of seats for
Italians abroad 		±
2006 14,205 1.46
0 / 630
0 / 12
 Steady 0
2013 44,024 4.5
1 / 630
1 / 12
 Increase 1
2018 68,291 6.08
1 / 630
1 / 12
 Steady 1
2022 73,389 6.76
0 / 400
0 / 8
 Decrease 1
Senate – Italians abroad
Election year # of
overall votes 		% of
overall vote 		# of
overall seats 		# of seats for
Italians abroad 		±
2006 12,552 1.41
0 / 315
0 / 6
 Steady 0
2013 38,223 4.3
0 / 315
0 / 6
 Steady 0
2018 68,233 6.61
1 / 315
1 / 6
 Increase 1
2022 55,523 5.09
0 / 200
0 / 4
 Decrease 1

References

  1. ^ "Eutanasia, Sangregorio (Usei): Fare legge che protegga la vita".
  2. ^ Lansford, Tom, ed. (2021). Political Handbook of the World 2020-2021. CQ Press. ISBN 9781544384733.
  3. ^ "Eugenio Sangregorio". www.usei-it.org. Retrieved Jan 22, 2020.
  4. ^ "Dipartimento per gli Affari Interni e Territoriali". elezionistorico.interno.gov.it. Retrieved Jan 22, 2020.
  5. ^ "Dipartimento per gli Affari Interni e Territoriali". elezionistorico.interno.gov.it. Retrieved Jan 22, 2020.
  6. ^ "Dipartimento per gli Affari Interni e Territoriali". Elezioni.interno.it. Retrieved 2013-10-05.
  7. ^ "Renata Bueno é eleita deputada na Itália". Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  8. ^ "Rubens Bueno". www.rubensbueno.com.br. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  9. ^ "Deputado RUBENS BUENO — Portal da Câmara dos Deputados". www.camara.leg.br. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  10. ^ a b c d e "Camera.it - XVII Legislatura - Deputati e Organi- Composizione gruppi Parlamentari". www.camera.it. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  11. ^ a b "Italiani all'estero, è ufficiale: nasce componente USEI (che pende a sinistra)". Italia chiama Italia. 1 December 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  12. ^ "Italiani all'estero, Eugenio Sangregorio regala l'USEI a Renata Bueno?". Jan 6, 2016. Retrieved Jan 22, 2020.
  13. ^ ItaliaChiamaItalia (12 December 2013). "Italiani all'estero, Bueno (USEI) a ItaliaChiamaItalia: 'Io indagata? Una storia inventata' - Italia chiama Italia". Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  14. ^ "Centrodestra: Quagliariello, ecco 'Idea' alternativa a Renzi". www.adnkronos.com. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  15. ^ "Italia Unica entra in Parlamento con Quagliariello e Vaccaro". 30 November 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  16. ^ Filosa, Ricky (Nov 15, 2017). "Italiani all'estero, in Sud America a caccia di voti: incontro al Senato tra Di Biagio (Ce) e Bueno (Misto). C'è anche Matarazzo". Retrieved Jan 22, 2020.
  17. ^ "Conte alla prova della fiducia. L'USEI dice no, il MAIE: "Lo sosterremo"". Retrieved Jan 22, 2020.

External links

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