Enrique Ruiz Guiñazú (14 October 1882 – 13 November 1967) was an Argentine politician who is best remembered for his spell as

Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship This is the list of all the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship of the Argentine Republic ( es, Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores, Comercio Internacional y Culto) since 1822. The Minister presides over the Ministry of Fo ...

in the 1940s. His daughter is

Magdalena Ruiz Guiñazú María Magdalena Teresa Ruiz Guiñazú (15 February 1931 – 6 September 2022) was an Argentine writer and journalist. She worked in the National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons. She received many Martín Fierro Awards including the ...

, an Argentine writer and journalist.

Rise to prominence

Ruiz Guiñazú served as both a professor and a banker before into the diplomatic service, with his roles including chief delegate to the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

and ambassador to Switzerland. He was serving as ambassador to the

Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...

when President

Ramón Castillo Ramón Antonio Castillo Barrionuevo (November 20, 1873 – October 12, 1944) was a conservative Argentine politician who served as President of Argentina from June 27, 1942 to June 4, 1943. He was a leading figure in the period known as t ...

recalled him to take up the post of Foreign Minister. Even before the entry of the United States into the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Ruiz Guiñazú had already accrued a reputation as a

fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

sympathiser in that country, with his frequent praising of

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

and

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...

leading American diplomat

Sumner Welles Benjamin Sumner Welles (October 14, 1892September 24, 1961) was an American government official and diplomat in the Foreign Service. He was a major foreign policy adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and served as Under Secretary of State ...

to write that Ruiz Guiñazú was "one of the stupidest men ever to hold office in Argentina's proud history". Having previously served as ambassador to Spain, where he had been impressed by

falangism Falangism ( es, falangismo) was the political ideology of two political parties in Spain that were known as the Falange, namely first the Falange Española de las JONS, Falange Española de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FE de la ...

, Ruiz Guiñazú advocated both neutrality in the Second World War and ''

Hispanidad ''Hispanidad'' (, en, Hispanicity,) is a Spanish term alluding to the group of people, countries, and communities that share the Spanish language and Hispanic culture. The term can have various, different implications and meanings depending on ...

'' as Foreign Minister.

Pro-Axis activity

At the Pan-American conference held in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

in January 1942, Ruiz Guiñazú pushed a pro-

Axis Powers The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...

agenda by ensuring that the wording of the US-led agreement was changed from a 'commitment' to breaking off diplomatic relations with the Axis to a 'recommendation'. Ultimately Castillo kept open relations with Germany, Japan and Italy for the duration of his Presidency. Ostensibly seeking a peace settlement Ruiz Guiñazú and his main advisor

Mario Amadeo Mario Octavio Amadeo (11 January 1911 – 19 March 1983Philip Rees, ''Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890'', Simon & Schuster, 1990, p. 9) was an Argentine conservative nationalist politician, diplomat and writer who served as a ...

closely co-operated with the Axis powers, sending

Juan Carlos Goyeneche Juan Carlos Goyeneche (6 January 1913 – 16 October 1982) was an Argentine Catholic nationalist politician. Also highly sympathetic to Nazism, during the Second World War Goyeneche travelled to Nazi Germany where he met a number of leading figures. ...

to Europe as their own envoy and asking German ambassador Edmund von Thermann to forward plans for an Argentine-hosted peace summit to

Joachim von Ribbentrop Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop (; 30 April 1893 – 16 October 1946) was a German politician and diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nazi Germany from 1938 to 1945. Ribbentrop first came to Adolf Hitler's not ...

in which

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

rule over Europe would be officially recognised. However the idea came to nothing and Ruiz Guiñazú's time as Foreign Minister came to an end in 1943.

Writing

Away from politics Ruiz Guiñazú was a noted historian with his 1916 book ''La Magistratura Indiana'' considered a central study of justice in

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

under Spanish rule for many years after it was first published.Lyle N. McAlister, ''Spain and Portugal in the New World, 1492-1700, Volume 3'', University of Minnesota Press, 1984, p. 556

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruiz Guinazu, Enrique 1880s births 1967 deaths Ambassadors of Argentina to the Holy See Ambassadors of Argentina to Spain Ambassadors of Argentina to Switzerland Foreign ministers of Argentina