Juan Antonio Ríos
Juan Antonio Ríos | |||
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| In office April 2 1942 – June 27 1946 | |||
| Preceded by | Jerónimo Méndez | ||
| Succeeded by | Alfredo Duhalde | ||
| Personal details | |||
| Born | November 10, 1888 Cañete, Chile | ||
| Died | June 27, 1946 (aged 57) Santiago, Chile | ||
| Political party | Radical | ||
| Spouse | Marta Ide Pereira | ||
Juan Antonio Ríos Morales (November 10, 1888-June 27, 1946) was a Chilean political figure, and President of Chile from 1942 to 1946, during the height of World War II. He died in office.
Early life
Ríos was born at the Huichicura hacienda, near the town of Cañete, a coal-mining village in the Arauco Province of southern Chile. He was the youngest son of Anselmo Ríos, a rich landowner, and his third wife Lucinda Morales. His father (aged 69 to his young wife's 19 at marriage) died when he was very young so him and his three brothers were raised single-handedly by his mother. He completed his primary studies at the rural school of Cañete, and his secondary studies first at the Liceo of Lebu and later at the one in Concepción, and continued legal studies at the courses given at the annex of his school. Ríos became a lawyer in 1914 with an exposition on the creation and development of the police in Chile.
A member of the conservative wing of the Radical Party since his high school days, he was elected local president of the youth branch of that party and later city councillor. During the presidential election of 1920 he campaigned for Arturo Alessandri, being responsible for the southern part of the country. He was rewarded by Alessandri with the appointment of Consul-general and Chargé d'affaires to Panama. On October 21, 1921 he married Marta Ide, and together they had three sons: Juan, Carlos and Fernando.
He returned to Chile in 1924, in order to run in that year's congressional elections. Ríos resulted elected as deputy for Arauco, Lebu and Cañete being reelected in 1926. After Alessandri's return to power following the Chilean coup of 1925, he participated of the committee charged with drafting a new constitution, that led to the approval and proclamation of the 1925 Chilean Constitution.
In the meantime, Juan Antonio Ríos had become president and one of the principal leaders of the Radical Party. During the administration of colonel Carlos Ibáñez del Campo he was caught between his party's opposition to the government's dictatorial administration and his personal admiration for the government's results. As party president, he participated of the Thermal Congress (an unelected Congress convened by President Ibañez) as a senator for Arauco, Malleco and Cautín. After the fall of general Ibañez in 1931, Ríos was expelled from his party for his cooperation with the former dictatorship.
1932 was a very politically turbulent time for Ríos. First, he supported the Chilean coup of 1932, a successful coup that toppled President Juan Esteban Montero, and resulted in the proclamation of the Socialist Republic of Chile. Then he went on to become the Minister of the Interior when Carlos Dávila took over as head of state. In turn, after the resignation of Dávila three months later, general Bartolome Blanche became president, and Ríos became his Minister of Justice. Nonetheless, with the election of Arturo Alessandri in the presidential election of 1932 and the return to institutional normality, he was politically shunned.
Ríos run as an independent in the congressional election of 1933 and was elected as deputy for Arauco and Cañete. That was the beginning of his political comeback. In 1935 he was welcomed back into the Radical fold. In 1937, the Radical Party, the Socialist Party, the Communist Party, the Democratic Party and the Workers' Socialist Party allied themselves in the Popular Front (Spanish: Frente Popular), with Ríos becoming its first president. Nonetheless, Ríos was defeated by Pedro Aguirre Cerda in the internal presidential primaries, who then went on to be elected president on the presidential election of 1938
1942 presidential campaign
candidate of the Democratic Alliance left-wings' coalition, he defeated General Carlos Ibáñez in the 1942 election, following the death of president Pedro Aguirre.
Durante el gobierno de Pedro Aguirre Cerda, Ríos ocupó el cargo de presidente de la Caja de Crédito Hipotecario, y continuó desarrollando su actividad política, buscando consolidar su influencia al interior del Partido Radical.
Su rival en la lucha interna de la colectividad fue González Videla, pero al poco tiempo este fue nombrado embajador en Francia, dejando el camino aparentemente más despejado a Ríos. Se dice que el Presidente Aguirre también le habría ofrecido una embajada a Ríos, a lo que este habría respondido: “Dígale al Presidente que agradezco su gesto, pero que estoy en subida, no en bajada”. Una tuberculosis pulmonar afectó al Presidente Pedro Aguirre Cerda, razón por la cual el 10 de noviembre de 1941 entregó el mando al doctor Jerónimo Méndez, asumiendo este último como Vicepresidente. El día 25 de ese mes se produjo el deceso de Aguirre Cerda y se convocó a elecciones presidenciales para el 1 de febrero de 1942.
Fue una nueva oportunidad para Ríos, quien inició de inmediato la campaña interna en el partido. Sin embargo, dos días antes de que se designara al candidato del radicalismo, regresó a Chile su competidor más estrecho: Gabriel González Videla. Los resultados fueron muy parejos, por lo que un tribunal de honor debió resolver. Fue así como se proclamó a Juan Antonio Ríos. Cada uno de los partidos de izquierda le entregó su apoyo al aspirante a la presidencia, constituyéndose el nuevo conglomerado llamado Alianza Democrática.
Until he became President of Chile, he was president of Chile's largest bank, the Caja de Credito Hipotecario, which made mortgage loans to Chilean farmers. At the same time various times, he served as leader of Chile's Radical Party, as a representative and Senator in the National Congress, and as Minster of Justice. When President Aguirre died in 1941, Ríos defeated former President Carlos Ibáñez as an anti-fascist candidate. Ibáñez had the support of Chile's National Socialist party, the Popular Socialist Vanguard, and Chile and Argentina had declined to sever relations with the Axis powers, and the election was viewed by many as critical during World War II [1]. Rios took office on April 2, 1942.
Presidency
Initially, Ríos' government was committed to neutrality during World War II, but diplomatic and especially economic pressure caused him to finally break off relations with the Axis Powers. By doing so, he made Chile eligible for the United States' Lend-Lease program, and obtained loans necessary to help along the that to economic recovery. The close relations that emerged with the United States were, however, problematic for him at home: shortly after the war, in October 1945, his entire cabinet resigned in protest of a state visit he made to Washington D.C.. Economically, he faced labor unrest at home, brought about, in large part, by the drop in copper prices worldwide. Faced with failing health, he gave up his presidential powers in January, 1946, to his Minister of the Interior, Alfredo Duhalde. He died a few months later, on June 27.
El 1 de febrero de 1942, Ríos resultó elegido Presidente de la República con un 55,93 por ciento de la votación, derrotando a Ibáñez, que iba apoyado por los partidos de derecha e independientes. El 2 de abril Ríos asumió la presidencia. A pesar de haber sido elegido con votos comunistas, rechazó la colaboración directa de este partido en cualquier cargo de importancia. Bajo la administración de Ríos, en 1943 se promulgó la primera reforma a la Constitución de 1925, mediante la cual se dio rango constitucional a la Controlaría General de la República y se limitaron las iniciativas de ley en cuestiones que significaban gastos, así como también se limitó el poder del Presidente en lo relativo a gastos públicos.
El desarrollo de las industrias del acero, la electricidad y el petróleo —continuando la propuesta de Aguirre Cerda— fueron los objetivos centrales del nuevo gobierno. Esto pudo materializarse a través de la Corporación de Fomento de la Producción, Corfo, creada durante la anterior administración. Por medio de la Corfo pudieron crearse las principales empresas que permitieron un progreso general de la industria chilena: en 1943, la Empresa Nacional de Electricidad (Endesa); en 1945, la Empresa Nacional de Petróleo (ENAP); en 1946, la Compañía de Acero del Pacífico (CAP), surgiendo la Fundición de Huachipato, vecina al puerto de Talcahuano.
Un agudo desacuerdo surgió sobre la posición chilena frente a la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Ríos deseaba mantener la neutralidad. Sin embargo, las presiones, tanto internas como externas, fueron aumentando. Estados Unidos presionó económicamente al país para que rompiera relaciones con Alemania, Italia y Japón, el Eje. Por otra parte, los partidos de izquierda propiciaban la ruptura de relaciones como parte de una lucha mundial contra el nazismo. Fue así como, el 20 de enero de 1943, el gobierno adoptó finalmente la decisión de romper relaciones diplomáticas con el Eje.
En enero de 1944 se celebró en Concepción la Convención del Partido Radical. En esta reunión, los sectores más de izquierda demandaron al gobierno la salida de todos los elementos derechistas de los cargos de poder; pedían que se conformara un gobierno exclusivamente de radicales. La opción de Ríos había sido conformar su gobierno con “técnicos” y “amigos personales”; vale decir, elementos derechistas valiosos para él. Pero su salud se deterioraba cada vez más, razón por la cual finalmente cedió a las presiones y designó un gabinete sólo de radicales. Juan Antonio Ríos pasó sus últimos días en su villa Paidahue, en La Reina. Falleció el 27 de junio de 1946, sin alcanzar a terminar su período presidencial.
Additional information
See also
External links and sources
- Public Health policies and Ministers Template:Es
- Some biographies of famous Chilean doctors Template:Es
- ^ Current Biography 1942, pp691-93