Federico Ramón Puerta (Spanish pronunciation: [raˈmom ˈpweɾta] ^ⓘ; born 9 September 1951) is an Argentine Peronist politician who has served as a governor, national senator and deputy and briefly as President of Argentina in 2001.

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Ramón Puerta
Ambassador of Argentina to Spain
In office 8 March 2016 – 10 December 2019
Nominated by	Mauricio Macri
Preceded by	Carlos Bettini
Succeeded by	Ricardo Alfonsín
National Deputy
In office 10 December 2009 – 10 December 2013
Constituency	Misiones
In office 10 December 1999 – 9 December 2001
Constituency	Misiones
In office 10 December 1987 – 10 December 1991
Constituency	Misiones
Acting President of Argentina
In office 21 December 2001 – 23 December 2001
Preceded by	Fernando de la Rúa
Succeeded by	Adolfo Rodríguez Saá (interim)
Provisional President of the Senate
In office 10 December 2001 – 30 December 2001
Preceded by	Mario Losada
Succeeded by	Juan Carlos Maqueda
National Senator
In office 10 December 2001 – 10 December 2005
Constituency	Misiones
Governor of Misiones
In office 10 December 1991 – 9 December 1999
Vice Governor	Miguel Ángel Alterach (1991–1995) Julio Alberto Ifrán (1995–1999)
Preceded by	Julio César Humada
Succeeded by	Carlos Rovira
Personal details
Born	(1951-09-09) 9 September 1951 (age 72) Apóstoles, Misiones
Nationality	Argentine
Political party	Justicialist Party
Profession	Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina
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Puerta was born in Apóstoles, Misiones Province. He attended the Universidad Católica Argentina in Buenos Aires and qualified as a civil engineer. However, he entered the family business of the cultivation of yerba maté, and became a successful businessman and millionaire.

Puerta was elected a national deputy for Misiones in 1987. In 1991 he was elected Governor of Misiones Province, re-elected in 1995 and served until 1999. He followed the neo-liberal economic model of President Carlos Menem, including privatising the provincial bank of which his own grandfather had been a founder.

In 1999 he was re-elected to the Chamber of Deputies and in 2001 he was elected to the Senate. In November of that year, he was elected provisory president of the Argentine Senate, constitutionally third in line to the nation's presidency.

Puerta served as the acting head of the executive branch of the country for two days on December 21–22, 2001. He came to that position in his capacity as President Pro Tempore of the Senate and, as there was no vice president, he was next in line to the nation's highest office when President Fernando de la Rúa resigned amid rioting. A week after giving up the presidency, Puerta resigned as leader of the Senate in order to avoid retaking the presidency, following a second institutional crisis.^[1]

Puerta stood to be Governor of Misiones in 2003, but lost to his successor, Carlos Rovira. He retired from the Senate in 2005. He ran for governor of Misiones again in 2007, and was defeated in the October election, coming in third place with 15% of the vote.

Puerta is unmarried and has two children.