One such family, the Saadis, became prominent in local commerce and politics (much as the Syrian Menems in neighbouring La Rioja). In 1949, the newly designated province elected Vicente Saadi as governor. Eventually, Saadi, a Peronist, would become indispensable to local politics (a "Caudillo"), exerting influence mostly by proxy. Passing away in 1988, he was succeeded by his son Ramon. In 1990, however, close friends of the Saadis were involved in the brutal murder of a local teenager, Maria Soledad Morales; this "cause cèlebre" cost Gov. Saadi much of his popularity and, in 1991, his office, when Catamarca (for the first time) voted in a Radical Civic Union (UCR) candidate, Arnoldo Castillo. Elected to the Senate by his still considerable following, Saadi is today an ally of President Cristina Kirchner, though the governor's seat remains in the UCR's column.