Ramón Bautista Mestre (August 21, 1937 – March 6, 2003), an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

politician, was Governor of Córdoba from July 12, 1995, to July 12, 1999. He also served as Federal Interventor of

Corrientes Province Corrientes (, ‘currents’ or ‘streams’; ), officially the Province of Corrientes (; ) is a Provinces of Argentina, province in northeast Argentina, in the Mesopotamia, Argentina, Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by (from the north, cl ...

(December 16, 1999, to March 20, 2001),

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

(from March 20, 2001, to December 21, 2001), and Mayor of the City of Córdoba (from December 1983 to December 1991).

Biography

Mestre was born in

San Juan, Argentina San Juan () is the capital and largest city of the Argentina, Argentine Provinces of Argentina, province of San Juan Province (Argentina), San Juan in the Cuyo (Argentina), Cuyo region, located in the Tulúm Valley, west of the San Juan River (A ...

. He enrolled at the

National University of Córdoba The National University of Córdoba (), is a public university located in the city of Córdoba, Argentina. Founded in 1613, the university is the oldest in Argentina, the third oldest university of the Americas, with the first university being ...

School of Dentistry, and was elected President of the Student Union Organization. A member of the centrist

Radical Civic Union The Radical Civic Union (, UCR) is a major political party in Argentina. It has reached the national government on ten occasions, making it one of the most historically important parties in the country. Ideologically, the party has stood for r ...

(''Unión Cívica Radical'', or UCR) and protégé of Córdoba Governor Justo Páez Molina, Mestre began his political career as Deputy Health Secretary (1964) for Governor Páez Molina, and later as the Governor’s Chief of Staff (1965). Following the 1966 military coup d'état that overthrew President Arturo Illia, as well as Paez Molina and all other governors, he worked as a dentist in the private field. He married the former Cristina Sueldo, and they had four children. was elected to the

Argentine Chamber of Deputies The Chamber of Deputies (), officially the Honorable Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Nation, is the lower house of the Argentine National Congress (). It is made up of 257 national deputies who are elected in multi-member constituencies c ...

for Córdoba Province in 1973, and became leader of the UCR caucus until the

March 1976 coup March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 21 m ...

Career

In 1983, he was elected Mayor of Córdoba for the 1983–87 period, and was reelected for a new period from 1987 to 1991. His administration completed numerous public works, notably the restoration of the

Suquía River The Primero River (, 'First River'), also known as Suquía (the name used by the Comechingones, the indigenous people), runs through the city of Córdoba, Argentina. The Tributary, tributaries of the Primero (mainly the San Roque and Cosquín r ...

shore along the city. He then created his own organization in the UCR, ''Participación y Renovación'', to challenge Eduardo Angeloz in the latter's 1991 bid for a third term as governor. Mestre lost the primaries; but he established a name as a natural candidate for the 1995 elections.''Página/12''. March 6, 2003.
/ref> In 1994, he was elected to the National Convention that would approve extensive

Constitutional amendments A constitutional amendment (or constitutional alteration) is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly alt ...

. In 1995, he was elected Governor of Córdoba. During his brief tenure, Mestre advanced a regional alliance with the governors of Entre Ríos and

Santa Fe Province The Invincible Province of Santa Fe (, , lit. "Holy Faith") is a Provinces of Argentina, province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco Province, Chaco (divided by the 2 ...

s that became the " Center Region." Mestre hoped to accelerate growth in Córdoba; but the province struggled under the nation's economic downturn, and added to suspicions of corruption among Mestre appointees, the high fiscal deficit, as well as his own, unaccommodating style of governing, his administration quickly became unpopular. He failed to win reelection in 1999, and the

Justicialist Party The Justicialist Party (, ; abbr. PJ) is a major political party in Argentina, and the largest branch within Peronism. Following the 2023 presidential election, it has been the largest party in the opposition against President Javier Milei. Fo ...

won the Córdoba governorship for the first time, electing José Manuel De la Sota as the 56th Governor. In 1999 until 2001, Mestre served as Federal Interventor in

, and was appointed Minister of the Interior during 2001. As the Interior Ministry oversaw

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...

at the time, Mestre bore much of the responsibility in the repression of demonstrators at the

Plaza de Mayo The Plaza de Mayo (, ; ) is a city square and the main foundational site of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was formed in 1884 after the demolition of the Recova building, unifying the city's Plaza Mayor and Plaza de Armas, by that time known as ''Pl ...

during the December 2001 riots that resulted in several deaths, and precipitated the fall of the President

Fernando de la Rúa Fernando de la Rúa (15 September 19379 July 2019) served as the President of Argentina from 1999 until his resignation in 2001. A member of the Radical Civic Union, he previously served as national senator for Buenos Aires across non-consecuti ...

Death

Mestre announced his candidacy for Governor of Córdoba, but died in 2003, as a result of

hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver parenchyma, liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), Anorexia (symptom), poor appetite ...

External links

Ramón Bautista Mestre Foundation

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mestre, Ramon 1937 births 2003 deaths People from San Juan Province, Argentina Argentine dentists Governors of Córdoba Province, Argentina National University of Córdoba alumni Mayors of Córdoba, Argentina Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Córdoba Radical Civic Union politicians Deaths from hepatitis 20th-century dentists Ministers of internal affairs of Argentina