Leopoldo Melo

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Leopoldo Melo (Diamante, Entre Ríos 1869 - 1951) was an Argentine lawyer, diplomat and politician. He was a member of the Radical Civic Union political party, and served as senator and Minister of Internal Affairs.

[edit] Biography

Leopoldo Melo was an important leader in the Radical Civic Union, heading the "antipersonalist" internal opposition to Hipólito Irigoyen. He was a lower representative at the Chamber of Deputies, a two-time senator for the Entre Ríos Province, and provisional senate president representing the Radical Union party.

In 1924 ^[1], he formed the Antipersonalist Radical Civil Union. He became a presidential candidate in 1928, losing to Irigoyen. In 1931 he supported the candidacy of Agustín P. Justo and allied his Antipersonalist Radical Civil Union with the "Concordancia", becoming Interior Minister. Under his aegis the special branch of the Federal Police was created, starting to implement systematic torture of the opposition.^{[citation needed]}

In 1939 and 1940 he had a noted participation in agreement with the United States of America when he represented Argentina in the Pan-American meetings to create a joint response of the Americas to World War II.