Roca, Julio Argentino

Related Category: Argentinian History: Biographies

(h´lyō ärhāntē´nō rō´kä), 1843–1914, general who became president of Argentina (1880–86, 1898–1904). Minister of war under Nicolas Avellaneda, he crushed (1878–79) the Patagonians, bringing the wars against indigenous peoples to a close and opening the Pampas for colonization. During his first administration, Buenos Aires was made the national capital, resolving the conflict over central rule. It was a time of accelerated immigration, railway construction, exceptional economic growth, financial speculation and, increasingly, government corruption. Roca's second administration was marked by recovery from the crisis caused by the misgovernment of Miguel Juárez Celman. In particular, currency was stabilized. The boundary dispute with Chile was settled in 1902, and peace between the nations was symbolized in the Christ of the Andes (dedicated Mar., 1904). Roca's foreign minister, Luis M. Drago, formulated the significant Drago Doctrine (1902).