Ramón Barros Luco
| Ramón Barros Luco | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 16th President of Chile | |
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In office December 23, 1910 – December 23, 1915 |
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| Preceded by | Emiliano Figueroa |
| Succeeded by | Juan Luis Sanfuentes |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
June 9, 1835 Santiago, Chile |
| Died | September 20, 1919 (aged 84) Santiago, Chile |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouse(s) | Mercedes Valdés Cuevas |
Ramón Barros Luco (June 9, 1835 – September 20, 1919) was President of Chile between 1910 and 1915.
Barros Luco was born in 1835 in Santiago, Barros Luco was son of Ramón Luis Barros Fernández and Dolores Luco Fernández de Leiva. He graduated from Law School in 1858. He died in Santiago in 1919.
He was elected representative for the city of Casablanca in 1861, and from then on occupied a seat in the Lower House, being elected representative for Caldera (1867–70), Curicó (1870–73), Valparaíso (1873–76, and 1888–91), as well as for Santiago, during four separate terms, between 1876-1894. Later, he was elected senator for Linares (1900–06).
In his position as President of the House of Deputies in 1891, he endorsed the move to dismiss the then President of the Republic, José Manuel Balmaceda, a move drawn up by the Congress. In addition, he lent his support to the uprising of the National Army, whose movements he oversaw, (alongside Waldo Silva, vice-president of the Senate), until they took their place in the government in Iquique. The revolution having succeeded, he resumed his functions as a parliamentarian, performing as a minister on several occasions, whenever the situation called for, "someone who posed no threat to anybody".
In 1910, given the existing tensions between liberals and nationals in the debate over a common candidate, he was chosen as the representative for both parties. His career to date assured both parties that, if he were to be elected, their interests would remain unharmed.
The philosophy of Barros Luco's government can be summarised with the following phrase, well known in Chile, "99% of problems solve themselves, and the remaining 1% have no solution" ("El 99% de los problemas se resuelven solos y el 1% restante no tiene solución"). He applied this maxim to his administration, which would be consumed by the machinations of the parliament at large, the propensity of which was to delay or hinder the government under any pretense, including the most trivial claim of a minor deputy. However, Barros Luco cannot be accused of mere acceptance and reluctance to act, as he possessed a plan to counter the aforementioned political strategy of accusations and delays, and subsequent frequent change of ministers, known as the "rotativa". His policy was as follows: anytime a deputy placed an accusation against a minister leading to said minister's downfall, the accusing deputy would be called upon to head the new cabinet.
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