Juan José de Amézaga Landaroso (January 28, 1881 – August 21, 1956) was a Uruguayan political figure and 28th President of Uruguay.
Background Amézaga was a prominent member of the Colorado Party, which ruled the country for long periods. He was a lawyer by profession, and taught that subject at university level for many years. His political base was in Durazno, which he represented in the Chamber of Deputies between 1907 and 1915.
Amézaga graduated from the University of Montevideo in 1905 with a degree in Law and Social Sciences, and was granted a scholarship by the Law School that took him to France and Germany. After he returned to Montevideo he was appointed professor of penal law and later professor of civil law at the university. He filled the latter for 23 years while also teaching courses in philosophy and industrial legislation. In 1908 he was appointed to a committee to study and formulate a national public assistance law and later served as director of the National Labor Office. He was later named Minister of Industry in 1915, during which time he did much to stimulate and develop national industry. He later headed the National Postal Savings Bureau, and for a time served as chairman of the Export and Import Control Commission. He was also president of the Athenaeum of Montevideo, a member of the Secondary Education Council, the National Public Assistance Board, and the Board for the Protection of Minors, and was also honorary director of the Law School Library and a member of the Governing Board of the Casa de Estudios (House of Studies). Amézaga also represented Uruguay at international conferences; serving in 1923 as a Uruguayan representative at the League of Nations in Geneva, and was a delegate to the Fourth, Fifth Sixth, and Seventh International Conferences of American States.Bulletin of the Pan American Union, September 1944, P.496
In 1932, on the occasion of the interdict between Argentina and Uruguay, Amézaga was appointed Extraordinary Ambassador, "crowning his mission with the most frank success." In addition to the aforementioned positions, by decree of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs he was appointed Delegate of Uruguay to the V. International Conference held in Santiago de Chile in 1923; Plenipotentiary Delegate to the Assembly of the Council of the League of Nations (IV. Session), by decree of the same Secretariat of State of July 6, 1928; Delegate of Uruguay to the VI and VII I-American Conferences, held in 1928 in Havana and in 1933 in Montevideo, respectively. Also, by decree of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs "he was appointed Delegate of Uruguay to the V. International Conference held in Santiago de Chile in 1923; Plenipotentiary Delegate to the Assembly of the Council of the League of Nations (IV. Session), by decree of the same Secretariat of State of July 6, 1928; Delegate of Uruguay to the VI and VII I-American Conferences, held in 1928 in Havana and in 1933 in Montevideo, respectively."Uruguayos contemporáneos Nuevo diccionario de datos biográficos y bibliográficos by Arturo Scarone, P.21 In addition, he taught Civil Law courses at the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences until February 1933, when he resigned from that position.Uruguayos contemporáneos Nuevo diccionario de datos biográficos y bibliográficos by Arturo Scarone, P.21
Amézaga was involved in much legislation of a reformist nature, with one study noting that "As a deputy, he intervened, either as an author, as an informant member or in the discussions, in all the laws that were sanctioned from 1908 to 1914. He was the author, among others, of the following projects: old-age pensions, work accidents, free salary of the married woman, and the reorganization of the National Public Assistance, in collaboration, this last project with an extra-parliamentary Commission."Uruguayos contemporáneos Nuevo diccionario de datos biográficos y bibliográficos by Arturo Scarone, P.21 He was also close to José Batlle y Ordóñez, serving as a deputy both in Batlle's second government and that of Claudio Williman. He later served as president of the State Insurance Bank from 1917 to 1933, resigning due to Gabriel Terra's coup.Juan José de Amézaga: el presidente olvidado Publicado el 21 de septiembre de 2021 Escribe Pablo Rodríguez Almada en Posturas
Amézaga also played an important role in drafting a new constitution, when the question of constitutional reform was raised in Uruguay in 1942. Noting his contribution to this, Amézaga proclaimed in a 1943 speech that
In addition, Amézaga came to be the head of the most lucrative law firm in Uruguay. In spite of his wealth and successes however, Amezaga was noted to be a humble man, with one observer noting how, during the 1942 election
President of Uruguay Main features He was President of Uruguay from 1943 to 1947. His rule is seen as significantly the first wholly constitutional presidency since the coup d'état carried out by Gabriel Terra in 1933.
Amézaga's vice president was Alberto Guani, who had already distinguished himself as a veteran diplomat. The veteran Socialist leader Emilio Frugoni was sent to Moscow by President Amézaga, as Uruguayan Ambassador.
Amézaga, along with the reform currents he represented, won a large majority in the 1942 Uruguayan general election.Latin America in the 1940s: War and Postwar Transitions edited by David Rock, p. 192 His election, according to one journal, "completed the democratic restoration and the definitive burial of "Marzismo", the regime that emerged around Gabriel Terra."Juan José de Amézaga y el regreso a la normalidad democrática According to one study, Amézaga took office in 1943 "with the challenge of running a transitional administration, suitable to conduct the country out of the authoritarian impasse and navigating the last years of the world war."Left in Transformation Uruguayan Exiles and the Latin American Human Rights Network, 1967 -1984 By Vania Markarian, 2013, P.23 Another study has argued that his presidency "represented in general a tranquillizing interval, threatening no expectations, endangering no established interest."The Cambridge History of Latin America Volume VIII: 1930 To The Present Edited by Leslie Bethell, P.202 His presidency was given the task of overseeing Uruguay's political transition and implementing a new constitution. To accomplish this Amézaga surrounded himself with ministers with political experience. He also formed his cabinet based on the part factions according to the results of the presidential election. Batllism gained the greatest cabinet representation with 7 ministers, followed by "Para servir al Pais" with 5 and "Libertad y Justicia" with 4.Survival of Ministers and Configuration of Cabinets in Chile and Uruguay By Alejandro Olivares L., 2022, P.35
According to one study, Amézaga began "with what has been characterized as a weak administration, so weak that only with great difficulty was it able to secure the adoption of his most important legislation." Amézaga was hampered internally by the Blanco Party's Nazi-influenced Herrerista wing and externally by intense Argentine political and economic pressure, and survived "due in no small part to U.S. Lend-Lease assistance and Export-Import Bank Loans."The Latin American Nations Today A Study of Political Developments Since World War II By Raymond Estep, 1964, P.243-244 He also survived a right-wing plot against the government in July 1946.Heads of States and Governments Since 1945 2014, Editor: Harry M. Lentz, III, P.2254
A year earlier, in June 1945 the episode of the so-called "implications" occurred which, as summarised by one study, "exposed the way, in which the traditional political cast acted in the management of public administration. Many public men were accused of taking advantage of their positions to obtain "extra" benefits from their commercial and industrial activities through the exchange control. The denunciation was presented by the Herrerismo, trying to sharpen the differences between the colorados, and at the same time to stop his economic policy, which did not satisfy the cattle breeders. The issue provoked a temporary ministerial crisis, which was remedied with a new distribution of the cabinet: two ministries for men of confidence of the president, three for batllismo, two for blancocevedismo and two for independent nationalism. Finally, in December 1945, a resolution was passed in Parliament declaring that there had been no "illicit exercise of public office". The case was thus closed."Bases n° 6: El golpe de Estado de Terra y la transición al neobatllismo (1933-1947), P.32-33
Social reforms In spite of the difficulties Amézaga's government faced, his presidency was nevertheless notable for the passage of a wide range of reform measures. During his first year as president laws were passed establishing a social assistance fund to provide food for the unemployed and for pre-school and schoolchildren throughout the country, amending the law regulating home industries, organizing departmental labor distribution commissions, providing for aid to the unemployed via investment in extraordinary public works, regulating working conditions in the lumber industry, fixing minimum wages and working conditions in the construction industry, lowering rents for workers’ homes, and regulating working hours. Education budgets were also raised for normal and secondary schools, and measures adopted to help farmers affected by an unprecedented drought. This included creating arbitration and conciliation boards to solve the problem of farm rents, regulating the marketing of wheat, and providing for the acquisition of seed oats.Bulletin of the Pan American Union, Volume 78 By Pan American Union, P.492-493 There was also reform in the Ministry of Public Health, "all directed toward improvement in administration, more exacting standards for specialized positions, and an increase in health activities, especially in the interior of the country."Bulletin of the Pan American Union, Volume 78 By Pan American Union, P.494