Federico Errázuriz Echaurren

Federico Errázuriz Echaurren

Federico Errázuriz Echaurren (born November 16, 1850 in Santiago de Chile , † July 12, 1901 in Valparaíso ) was President of Chile from 1896 to 1901 .

Life

Errázuriz was born as the eldest son of Federico Errázuriz Zañartu . His father served as Chilean President from 1871 to 1876. After leaving school at the Franciscan Federico Errazuriz studied junior at the Universidad de Chile from Santiago de Chile , the trade law , and graduated 1,873th

After completing his studies, he initially devoted himself to the management of the Huique family estates in the Colchagua province . In 1876 he was elected to the Chilean House of Representatives for the first time as a candidate for the Liberals for the constituency of Constitución . On saltpeter he did not participate.

In 1890, however, President José Manuel Balmaceda appointed him Minister of War and the Navy. After the resignation of Interior Minister Belisario Prats in 1891, Errázuriz also turned against Balmaceda and demanded his resignation. However, he did not take an active part in the civil war that followed. One reason for this may have been his heart condition, which in the following year and a half forced him to go on a longer convalescent trip to Europe - also to Germany for a longer period of time.

In 1894 he returned from Europe and represented the province of Maule as senator. President Jorge Montt Álvarez appointed him Minister of Justice and Education.

For the presidential elections of 1896, the conservative Coalición Liberal Conservadora made him a candidate, while the more liberal Alianza Liberal agreed on Vicente Reyes Palazuelos , Senator for Santiago, as a candidate. The election campaign was strongly influenced by the cultural and church struggle of those years in Chile. While Reyes was praised by his supporters as a free spirit, the conservatives emphasized the Catholicism of their candidate Errázuriz.

Errázuriz won the elections and traditionally took office on the Chilean national holiday, September 18th. The post-civil war system of government had massively strengthened the role of parliament vis-à-vis the president, and Errázuriz was faced with an opposing majority in the House of Representatives, which restricted his freedom of action.

The economic situation in Chile was not the best: the saltpetre price had fallen, and Chile’s export earnings were largely based on this good. In addition, social conflicts began to smolder as the working and living conditions of the workers in the young industries were catastrophic and the workers began to organize. In terms of foreign policy, Chile was hostile to all of its neighbors: Bolivia and Peru were humiliatingly defeated in the saltpeter war and had not got over the Chilean annexations (from Antofagasta northwards to Arica ) - a wound that basically remains open to this day, since Chile dated its neighbors Bolivia Had cut off sea access. Chile shared a deep distrust with Argentina about the borders in Patagonia and along the southern Andes .

In this tough situation, Errázuriz, even after the experiences of the Balmaceda period, insisted on the government's unanimity, and so he appointed three representatives of the opposition liberals to his first cabinet in addition to three conservatives. With this move, he not only brought the entire spectrum of the political public behind him, but also levered out the annoying opposition majority in the House of Representatives. However, the parliamentary dominated political system forced the president to make numerous changes of cabinet during his term of office.

Errázuriz expanded the public education and health system and improved the infrastructure in the big cities. In financial policy, he attached great importance to the consistent prevention of inflation , which in his day was expressed above all in the fairly constant precious metal content of the currency.

In terms of foreign policy, the conflict with Argentina was temporarily settled thanks to British mediation, and the two presidents, Errázuriz for Chile and Roca for Argentina, met in Punta Arenas on the Strait of Magellan on February 15, 1899. Despite these efforts, the conflict soon flared up again , both countries were on the verge of war, which Errázuriz's successor Germán Riesco Errázuriz was not able to finally settle until 1901 .

His unstable health forced Errázuriz to travel to Europe again in 1900. He traveled to Germany for treatment. Between June and October 1900 Elías Fernández ran the official business. Errázuriz returned to Chile and took over the presidency again. On July 12, 1901, eight weeks before the end of his term in office, he died of a heart attack . His Vice-President, Interior Minister Aníbal Zañartu , held office until the elected successor Germán Riesco Errázuriz took over the office in September.