Ramos Mejía, Ezequiel (1853–1935)

Ezequiel Ramos Mejía (b. 15 December 1853; d. 7 November 1935), Argentine politician who actively participated in the removal of President Julio Argentino Roca's political machinery from power during the first decade of the twentieth century. Elected a provincial deputy in Buenos Aires in 1880, and a national deputy in 1900, Ramos Mejía was appointed minister of agriculture by President Roca in 1901. A native of Buenos Aires, he was aligned politically with Carlos Pellegrini rather than the provincial forces led by Roca. When Roca and Pellegrini parted ways in 1901, Ramos Mejía resigned and became a member of the growing opposition within the liberal-conservative forces. Under President José Figueroa Alcorta (1906–1910) he served as minister of agriculture and minister of public works, continuing in the latter office under President Roque Sáenz Peña until 1913. He was, therefore, at the forefront in the battle for power that developed during the Figueroa Alcorta administration between roquistas and the group of former juaristas (followers of former president Miguel Juárez Celman), such as Roque Sáenz Peña and Estanislao Zeballos, who supported the president. His memoirs thus provide an invaluable source for the analysis of the political conflicts of the period.

Ideologically, Ramos Mejía evolved from a moderate nationalism to a growing disillusionment with democratic institutions. By the 1930s, influenced by his first-hand knowledge of the fascist experiment in Italy, where he served as ambassador between 1933 until his death, he was advocating the abandonment of the classical model of liberal democracy for a new type of political and economic organization.

See alsoArgentina: The Twentieth Century; Figueroa Alcorta, José; Roca, Julio Argentino.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ezequiel Ramos Mejía, Mis memorias, 1853–1935 (1936).

Donald M. Peck, "Las presidencias de Manuel Quintana y José Figueroa Alcorta, 1904–1910," in La Argentina del ochenta al centenario, compiled by Gustavo Ferrari and Ezequiel Gallo (1980).

Additional Bibliography

Deutsch, Sandra McGee. Las Derechas: The Extreme Right in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, 1890–1939. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1999.

Zimmermann, Eduardo A. Los liberales reformistas: La cuestión social en la Argentina, 1890–1916. Buenos Aires: Editorial Sudamericana: Universidad de San Andrés, 1995.

                            Eduardo A. Zimmermann