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Correo Argentino

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Official Post Service of the Argentine Republic
Correo Oficial de la República Argentina

TheBuenos Aires Central Post Office,
former seat of Correo Argentino
S.A.overview
Formed1 July 1826;198 years ago(1826-07-01)[1]
JurisdictionNational
HeadquartersEdificio French,Buenos Aires[2]
MottoTodo lo que das, llega
Employees18,000 (2018)[3]
Annual budgetA$17,752 million
S.A.executives
  • Vanesa Piesciorovski, President[4]
  • Gladys Pestillo, Vice-president & Director[5]
Parent departmentOffice of the Cabinet Chief[4]
Websitecorreoargentino.ar

TheOfficial Post Service of the Argentine Republic(Spanish:Correo Oficial de la República Argentina,mostly known asCorreo Argentinosince it was privatized in 1997) is thestate-owned companythat covers thepostal serviceinArgentina.The company is aS.A.under the country'sOffice of the Cabinet Chief.[4]

History[edit]

The beginning: Viceroyalty[edit]

Argentine post network, 1877

On 14 May 1514 the "Correo Mayor de Indias", headquartered inLima, Peru,was created. Under the mandate ofCarlos III of Spainthe post service became part of theViceroyalty of the Río de la Platadepending on theKingdom of Spain.With the commercial activity increasing considerably, it was decided to create a post service at Buenos Aires. Domingo Basavilbaso made the arrangements to establish a post service in the region. It would be managed by a senior lieutenant designed by the head office at Lima.

On 1 July 1769, the service began its activities officially. Through the years it extended to the cities of Potosí and Santiago (Chile). Bruno Ramírez was the first postman of Argentine post, when the profession did not still exist in the country. Ramírez officially became post employee on 14 September 1771. Years later that would be promulgated as the Day of Postman in Argentina.[6]

Evolution[edit]

Employees of the post service and their vehicles, c. 1910

Post service in Argentina played a key role during theMay Revolutionbecause of orders and reports from thePrimera Juntawere distributed through letters. The first manager of the service was Melchor de Albín, designed in June 1810.

In 1826, during the presidency ofBernardino Rivadavia,the service was nationalised by a Law passed by the Congress ofProvincias Unidas del Río de la Plata.Since then, the post service was named "Dirección General de Correos, Postas y Caminos", with Juan Manuel de Luca in charge. De Luca remained during 32 years,[7]being succeeded byGervasio Antonio de Posadas.It was Posadas who placed the firstpost boxesin the city ofBuenos Aires,wrote the rules for postmen and established lower prices for post rates.

Eduardo Olivera was chosen as director in 1874 replacing Posadas. Olivera wrote the new rules and sent a project for the Law of renew of post services, n° 816. During successive administrations, money orders, courier services, registered letters and declared values were implemented. After being an agency depending on the Ministries of Finances and Interior, in June 1944 theGovernment of Argentinaestablished the post service autonomy, naming it "Dirección General de Correos y Telecomunicaciones" (National Direction of Post and Telecommunication)

Palacio de Correos[edit]

Main article:Buenos Aires Central Post Office
The Central Post Office Palace in 1920

Due to the increasing demand for post services in Argentina, in 1888 the Post Office director, Ramón Cárcano, proposed a specific building as seat for the postal service.Frencharchitect Norbert-Auguste Maillart designed the building, inspiring in theCity Hall Post OfficeofNew York City.

Works started in 1889, not being finished until 1928 when the building was officially inaugurated by president of ArgentinaMarcelo T. de Alvear.

ENCoTel[edit]

The "Empresa Nacional de Correos y Telégrafos" (ENCoTel) (in English: "Post and Telegraph National Company" ) was a state-owned company established in 1972 for post, telegraph and money services. During theNational Reorganisation Processstarted in 1976, private companies were allowed to take part in post services, although the universal post services continued being managed by the state post.

Privatisation[edit]

Post box with the logo of Correo Argentino in Buenos Aires, 2008

In 1997, during theCarlos Menemadministration, ENCoTel was privatised. The service was granted inconcessionto "Correo Argentino", a company part of Sociedad Macri (SOCMA), owned by businessmanFranco Macri.In that way, Argentina became one of the first countries to privatise its post service. The contract of concession set a term of 30 years, also establishing that SOCMA would pay a six-monthly rent ofA$51.6 million to the state. Nevertheless, the consortium built up a debt of nearly US$900 million to private creditors and the state as well. In September 2001, SOCMA entered into a reorganization proceeding.[8][9][10]

ThePalacio de Correoswas declared National Heritage by Law 12,665 in 1997.[11]considering its architectural style and historic relevance. In 2002 the building ceased operations as seat of Correo Argentino.[12]Only a small part of the building continued its activities as a post office and sale ofstamps,on Sarmiento street. The rest of the building became inactive until became theKirchner Cultural Centrein 2015.[13]

Renationalization[edit]

TheKirchner administrationdecided in 2003 that Correo Argentino would go back to state administration for 180 days, while a new private administrator would be sought for in an international public bid.[14][15]In 2004, the re-privatization plan was halted, and a new state-ownedS.A.corporation was created:Correo Oficial de la República Argentina Sociedad Anónima.[16][17][18]In 2005, the concession was officially taken from Macri.[19]Franco Macri, a supporter of the Kirchner administration, claimed he received an unworthy treatment during the process.[20]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^Nuestra historiaon Correo Argentino website
  2. ^Condiciones generaleson Correo Argentino
  3. ^La empresa con más empleados en el país es estatal: Trenes Argentinosat Clarín, 8 May 2022
  4. ^abcUna militante de la Cámpora, al correoby Andrés Sanguinetti, iProfesional, 8 Jan 2020
  5. ^Gobierno de la empresaon Correoargentino.ar
  6. ^Efeméridas culturales en Argentina,Ministerio de Educación
  7. ^Juan Manuel de LucaArchived2016-03-04 at theWayback Machine,Biblioteca Nacional
  8. ^"Empresa Nacional de Correos y Telegrafos: Su privatización por concesión",Infoleg
  9. ^"De la patria contratista al control mismo del Estado"Archived2013-02-17 at theWayback Machine,Infoleg, 31 Jan 2013
  10. ^"Correo Argentino: la primera empresa re estatizada"Archived2015-05-24 at theWayback Machine,Primera Página Bonaerense, 31 May 2013
  11. ^"Ley 12.665 - COMISION NACIONAL DE MUSEOS, MONUMENTOS Y LUGARES HISTORICOS".Archived fromthe originalon 2015-07-14.Retrieved2015-07-14.
  12. ^"El Palacio de Correos dejó de recibir y de distribuir cartas",La Nación,7 Sep 2002
  13. ^La Presidenta inauguró el “Centro Cultural Néstor Kirchner”on Argentina.gob.ar, 22 May 2015
  14. ^"Macri recibió aviso de retorno al Estado".Página 12(in Latin American Spanish). 20 November 2003.
  15. ^"Renegociación de servicios públicos: le sacarán la concesión al grupo Macri. El Correo Argentino volverá a ser estatal por 180 días".La Nación(in Latin American Spanish). 13 November 2003.
  16. ^Kirchner, Néstor;Fernández, Alberto;De Vido, Julio(11 June 2004)."Decreto DNU 721 / 2004"[Decree 721/2004].Argentina.gob.ar(in Latin American Spanish). Executive of Argentina.Retrieved2020-11-22.
  17. ^"Por decreto Correo Argentino pasará a ser una sociedad anónima".Ámbito Financiero(in Latin American Spanish). 10 June 2004.
  18. ^"Otra compañía pública. Crean una empresa estatal para manejar el Correo".La Nación(in Latin American Spanish). 12 June 2004.
  19. ^Stang, Silvia (12 February 2005)."Servicios públicos: la concesión le fue quitada al grupo Macri. El Gobierno no devolverá el Correo a manos privadas".La Nación(in Latin American Spanish).
  20. ^"Cómo Kirchner y Moreno estatizaron el Correo, según Franco Macri".Perfil(in Latin American Spanish). 9 February 2017.

External links[edit]

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