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Roque José Antonio del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús Sáenz-Peña (19 March 1851 – 9 August 1914) was an Argentine politician and lawyer who served as
President of Argentina The president of Argentina, officially known as the president of the Argentine Nation, is both head of state and head of government of Argentina. Under Constitution of Argentina, the national constitution, the president is also the Head of go ...
from 12 October 1910 to his death in office on 9 August 1914. He was the son of former president Luis Sáenz-Peña. He was a candidate for an internal, modernist line within the National Autonomist Party. He was responsible for passing Law 8871, known as " Sáenz-Peña Law", which greatly reformed the Argentine electoral system, making the vote secret, universal and compulsory for males over 18. This effectively ended the rule by electoral fraud of the conservative Argentine oligarchy, the Generation of '80, and paved the way for the rise of the
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 ...
in the first free elections of the country.


Early life

Roque Sáenz-Peña was the son of Luis Sáenz-Peña and Cipriana du Cos de La Hitte. He came from a family of supporters of Rosas: his paternal and maternal grandparents, Roque Julián Sáenz-Peña and Eduardo du Cos de La Hitte, had been deputies of the Legislature during his government. After the defeat of Rosas in the Battle of Caseros, the federal tradition of the grandparents and the father, who did not change their convictions, kept them away from public service. He completed his secondary studies at the National School of Buenos Aires, under the direction of Amadeo Jacques. In 1875 he graduated as a doctor of law, with a thesis on "Legal status of foundlings." During the Revolution of 1874 he defended the authorities of the nation as Captain of Regiment, under the command of Luis María Campos. After the revolution, he was promoted to Second Commander of National Guards, but requested to be relieved of the ranks. Opponent of
Bartolomé Mitre Bartolomé Mitre (26 June 1821 – 19 January 1906) was an Argentine statesman, soldier and author. He was President of Argentina from 1862 to 1868 and the first president of Argentine Civil Wars#National unification, unified Argentina. Mitre i ...
, he was a member of the Autonomist Party headed by Adolfo Alsina and in 1876 he was elected to a Deputy seat in the Legislature of the
Province of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, officially the Buenos Aires Province, is the largest and most populous Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of the province an ...
. He came to serve as president of the body at the age of 26, thus being one of the youngest presidents of the House. In 1877 he founded the Republican Party, together with Leandro Alem, Aristóbulo del Valle, Hipólito Yrigoyen, Lucio Vicente López, Pedro Goyena, José Manuel Estrada and Francisco Uriburu. In 1878, as a result of the dissidents produced within the autonomism due to the conciliation policy initiated by President Nicolás Avellaneda to which Sáenz-Peña was opposed, he resigned from his position and ended up temporarily abandoning politics. On 4 February 1887, he married Rosa Isidora González, daughter of the Mendoza politician Lucas González and Rosa Delgado, in the Basilica of Our Lady of Pilar (Buenos Aires).


War of the Pacific The War of the Pacific (), also known by War of the Pacific#Etymology, multiple other names, was a war between Chile and a Treaty of Defensive Alliance (Bolivia–Peru), Bolivian–Peruvian alliance from 1879 to 1884. Fought over Atacama Desert ...

The
War of the Pacific The War of the Pacific (), also known by War of the Pacific#Etymology, multiple other names, was a war between Chile and a Treaty of Defensive Alliance (Bolivia–Peru), Bolivian–Peruvian alliance from 1879 to 1884. Fought over Atacama Desert ...
(La Guerra del Pacífico) pitted Chile against an allied Bolivia and Peru. Later, Argentina secretly joined the alliance. The dispute was over territory on the Pacific coast that had never been resolved, specifically control of a part of the
Atacama Desert The Atacama Desert () is a desert plateau located on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of South America, in the north of Chile. Stretching over a strip of land west of the Andes Mountains, it covers an area of , which increases to if the barre ...
. The area contained high amounts of sodium nitrate which is a valuable mineral resource. During the war, Sáenz-Peña left Argentina to fight with the
Peruvian Army The Peruvian Army (, abbreviated EP) is the branch of the Peruvian Armed Forces tasked with safeguarding the independence, sovereignty and integrity of national territory on land through military force. Additional missions include assistance in s ...
. His main motivation was not patriotic or to show solidarity, but rather to escape Buenos Aires due to an unrequited love affair. After his superior officers had been killed in the Battle of Arica he assumed their roles and commanded a very weak Peruvian division. Sáenz Peña was captured after the Peruvians' defeat at the battle and imprisoned briefly by the Chileans.


Rise to power

When Sáenz Peña returned to Buenos Aires he was appointed sub-secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Relations under Minister of Foreign Relations Bernardo de Irigoyen in 1880. He soon left politics only to return in 1887 when he accepted the ministership to Uruguay. He represented Argentina at the 1888 Montevideo Congress. Sáenz Peña held firm to his legal and political doctrines and definitively stated that Argentine was immune to any action taken by the assembly. Along with Manuel Quintana, Sáenz Peña represented Argentina in the first Pan American Conference in 1889. The two delegates made a 40-day journey to New York and then a four-day trip to Washington for the meeting that was taking placed in the State Department building. The Argentine delegation boycotted the opening meeting over, as they saw it, a violation of diplomatic custom. Custom requires a delegate from an invited country to preside over the conference, but the U.S. Secretary of State was elected to be the permanent chair of the conference. The delegates attended the second session. Throughout the conference Sáenz Peña advocated against an American free trade area. Nevertheless, the United States and twelve nations voted for a “recommendation to work for inter-American reciprocity treaties.” Only Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia voted against it. During Sáenz Peña's tenure as foreign minister, he traveled the world and effectively argued for policies that benefited Argentina. He also performed traditional ceremonial duties, like in 1906 when he attended the wedding of King Alfonso XIII of Spain. He worked with the Italian government to increase trade while providing them with official cables from Argentina telling of the economic developments within the country. He distributed these cables to other European governments and businessmen as well. Before his presidency, Sáenz Peña served as ambassador to Spain (1906–1907) and Italy (1907–1910).


Presidency

The electoral act that led Roque Sáenz Peña to the presidency of Argentina took place on 13 March 1910, with a large number of irregularities common at that time. The new president had not even participated in the electoral campaign: he was the Argentine ambassador to Italy. A single list of elector candidates participated in the elections, of which ten - out of 273 - did not vote for Sáenz Peña. Days before assuming the presidency, Sáenz Peña met with President Figueroa Alcorta and with the leader of the opposition, Hipólito Yrigoyen. In this last interview, the radical leader promised to abandon the revolutionary path, and Sáenz Peña to promulgate an electoral law that would modernize the elections and prevent electoral fraud. Yrigoyen requested the intervention of the provinces to prevent their governors from interfering with said process, Sáenz Peña refused but allowed radicalism to be part of the government.


Governance management

On 12 October 1910, Roque Sáenz Peña assumed the presidency of Argentina. In his first inaugural address he declared: “My international policy if known to you. It will be friendship for Europe and fraternity for America.” He came into power without the support of his own party, like his father. Sáenz Peña was elected while tensions were high in 1910 while promising electoral reform to curb the power of the oligarchy and to prevent a revolution. In 1912 - at the initiative of the Minister of Agriculture, Ezequiel Ramos Mexía - Law 5,599, on the Promotion of National Territories, was enacted. Most of the national territories had the vast majority of their population concentrated on their maritime or fluvial coastline; For this reason, the law provided - and to a great extent succeeded - the construction of a large number of railway branches, which would allow the establishment of its population towards the interior. Branches were built in the national territories of Chaco, Formosa, Río Negro, Chubut and Santa Cruz; and a railroad branch even reached Posadas, the capital of Misiones. On 10 August 1912, he signed the decree for the creation of the Military Aviation School (EMA), together with G. Vélez, according to the official bulletin 692-2 part). In the same it was established that in the meantime there would be no military personnel trained in Aerostation and Aviation, the Technical Directorate would be in charge of the Argentine Aeroclub and the Military Directorate in charge of the Chief of the Argentine Army with the title of Director of the School of Military Aviation .


The cry of Alcorta

In June 1912 a great protest movement broke out among the tenant farmers against the worsening of the conditions of their contracts with the owners of the fields they worked, known as the Grito de Alcorta. It spread throughout the Pampas region and ended with a massive drop in rents. It marked the irruption of a portion of the rural middle class, formed by the farmers, in the national politics of the 20th century. But at the same time, a gradual trend towards the owners' own administration of the fields began, who began to consider the presence of tenants dangerous.


The Sáenz Peña Law

Sáenz Peña was a convinced democrat; He thought that, freed from professional politicians, the people would elect the best for their government. He was also concerned about the social question, that is, about the possibility that - apart from politics - the workers could adhere to
anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...
or
socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
. Finally, he feared that the huge proportion of the foreign population, who did not participate in any way in politics, could fall into maximalist positions or remain a foreign body in society. For all these reasons he supported political reform based on universal and free voting. Given the history of pressure on the voters - who voted aloud - the only possibility of electoral freedom was secret suffrage, through ballots written in sealed envelopes. And to ensure that no one was prevented from voting, he also made it universal and mandatory. The military registry would be used as the electoral roll. On the other hand, the participation of the population in the elections was very low, barely exceeding 20% of potential voters. Sáenz Peña presented the project in Congress with these words: "I have told my country all my thoughts, my convictions and my hopes. May my country listen to the word and the advice of its first president, let the people vote." The person in charge of designing the project and defending it in Congress was the Minister of the Interior, the Catholic Indalecio Gómez. He had to face stiff resistance from conservative deputies, whose privileges were clearly threatened by the reform, and who did not know any other way of doing politics. Thus, many legislators from the conservative sectors, still not openly opposing it, obstruct the reform. After a month of discussion in the Chamber of Deputies and a week in the Senate, the Sáenz Peña Law was approved and promulgated on 13 February 1912. The law was a great advance in its time since it allowed large masses of the population to participate in the electoral act, although it was still far from being completely universal: women and foreigners - who at that time were a large part of society - still had no right to vote. Although they did not vote, they were instead taken into account when determining the population of the districts and the number of deputies that could be elected by each one. The first test of the Law in operation was in a provincial election: the Province of Santa Fe was intervened by the government, which ordered the holding of the governor's elections in accordance with the Sáenz Peña Law; the UCR abandoned abstentionism and participated, achieving victory. Shortly after, he obtained a new victory in the deputy elections in the
City of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
, in an election in which popular participation amounted to 62.85% of the electoral roll; the Socialist Party also obtained a notable growth in them.


Death

From the time of the assumption of Roque Sáenz Peña as president, his health was not good, but it worsened significantly from the year 1913. The version that circulated at the time was that the president suffered the neurological consequences of
syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent syphilis, latent or tertiary. The prim ...
that was it would have been infected during the
War of the Pacific The War of the Pacific (), also known by War of the Pacific#Etymology, multiple other names, was a war between Chile and a Treaty of Defensive Alliance (Bolivia–Peru), Bolivian–Peruvian alliance from 1879 to 1884. Fought over Atacama Desert ...
. In early October 1913, he delegated the government on his Vice-President Victorino de la Plaza, as he took a leave of absence. Sáenz Peña was the only president who lived in the Casa Rosada because of his sensitive health that prevented him from traveling with his cart from home. He adopted a sector as his home and had heating, rugs, rocking chairs and stained glass installed. During the last days of his life, Sáenz Peña remarked “I have lost almost all my friends, but I have governed for the Republic.” He died 3 years and 301 days after assuming the presidency, on 9 August 1914. He was buried the next day in the Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires.


Legacy

Sáenz Peña is known today for his electoral reform and his fierce determination to protect the interests of Argentina abroad. In Argentina, mainly in
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
, he is also very honored, having streets, avenues and towns with his name. An example of this is: * The President Roque Sáenz Peña Avenue in
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
. * The subway station Sáenz Peña in Buenos Aires, Province. * City Presidencia Roque Sáenz Peña in Chaco. ''among others.'' The figure of Roque Sáenz Peña -as a soldier- is very remembered in
Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
, where many cities in this country have a street with the name of Sáenz Peña and there are monuments to his memory. In
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
, his name is remembered in Plaza Sáenz Peña.


Honours


Decorations

* : ** Grand Cross of the
Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
(6 May 1913)


References


Bibliography

* Botana, Natalio R., Ezequiel Gallo, and Ian Barnett. 2013. ''Liberal Thought In Argentina, 1837-1940''. 1st ed. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund. * * * Cibotti, Ema. 2011. ''Historias Mínimas De Nuestra Historia''. 1st ed. Buenos Aires: Aguilar, Alfaguara, Altea, Taurus. * McSpadden, Joseph Walker. 1912. ''Official Digest Of The World: American Statesman's Year-Book, A Supplement To All Encyclopedias, Embracing The Latest Statistics, Records, And Current History Of Every State And Current History Of Every State And Country''. P.F. Collier & Son. * "Presidencia De Roque Saenz Peña". 2017. Accessed 1 March. http://www.todo-argentina.net/historia/gen80/SaenzPena(1910-1916)/index.html. * "Revolución De 1874". 2017. ''Es.Wikipedia.Org''. https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolución_de_1874. * Rock, David. 1985. ''Argentina, 1516-1982''. 1st ed. Berkeley: University of California Press. * "Roque Sáenz Peña". 2017. ''Britannica Academic''. Encyclopædia Britannica. * "Roque Sáenz Peña". 2017. ''Biografías Y Vidas''. La Enciclopedia Biografía en Línea. * The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. "War Of The Pacific". ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc.


External links


index.html La presidencia de Roque Sáenz Peña 1910-1914.




* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Saenz Pena, Roque 1851 births 1914 deaths 19th-century Argentine lawyers 20th-century Argentine politicians 20th-century presidents of Argentina Ambassadors of Argentina to Italy Ambassadors of Argentina to Spain Ambassadors of Argentina to Uruguay Burials at La Recoleta Cemetery Children of presidents of Argentina Foreign ministers of Argentina Military personnel of the War of the Pacific National Autonomist Party politicians National presidents who died in office Politicians from Buenos Aires Presidents of Argentina University of Buenos Aires alumni