Juan Perón
Juan Domingo Perón (
October 8,
1895 –
July 1,
1974) was an
Argentine soldier and politician, elected three times as
President of Argentina from
1946 to
1955 and from
1973 to
1974. Perón and his wife
Eva were popular among a portion of the Argentine people, particularly because of their efforts to eliminate
poverty and to dignify labour. He started the political movement known as
Peronism, still popular in Argentina to this day, which professes to be a
third way in between
capitalism and
socialism.
Childhood and Youth
Perón was born in a town near
Lobos,
Province of Buenos Aires. He was the son of Mario Tomás Perón, a farmer whose family was of
Irish origin, and Juana Sosa, a
Catalonian who is believed to have been of mixed Catalonian and
American Indian descent.
According to research done by the Argentine journalist and writer
Tomas Eloy Martinez and reported in his books "Memoirs of the General" and "The Perón Novel" Perón was probably illegitimate. When his parents finally married they acknowledged Juan and his brother. This information was kept hidden and denied for years because it would have likely ruined Perón's career had it been known.
Perón received a strict
Catholic upbringing. He entered the Military School at age 16, and following graduation he made good progress through the ranks. In 1938 he was sent by the Army to
Italy,
France,
Spain,
Germany,
Hungary,
Albania and
Yugoslavia as a military observer, during which time he became familiar with the government of
Benito Mussolini and other European governments of the time.
Military Government of 1943-1946
In May 1943, as a
colonel, he was a significant figure in the
military coup by the GOU (
United Officers' Group), a secret society, against the conservative civilian government of
Ramón Castillo. Initially secretary to
Secretary of War General
Edelmiro Farrell, under the administration of General
Pedro Ramírez, he later became the head of the then-insignificant
Department of Labor.
|
Demonstration for Perón's release, on October 17th, 1945. |
Perón's growing power and influence during the military government came from his alliance with a sector of the Argentine
labor unions, mainly with the
socialist and
syndicalist movements. After the coup, one part of the workers' movement, mainly the socialist part from the labor union
CGT Nº1, decided to make contact with Colonels Perón and
Mercante through the mercantile labor leader
Borlenghi and through the
railroad union
lawyer Bramuglia. Their conversations established an initial alliance to promote labor laws that had long been demanded by the workers' movement, strengthen the unions, and transform the Department of Labor into an important government office.
He became Vice President and Secretary of War under General
Edelmiro Farrell (February 1944).Forced into resignation by opponents within the
armed forces on
October 9,
1945, Perón was
arrested shortly afterward, but mass
demonstrations organized by the CGT
trade union federation forced his release (
October 17).
Election as president. The first term (1946-1952)
The popular support gained Perón the presidency with 56 percent of the vote in the
February 24,
1946 elections.
Perón pursued social policies aimed at empowering the working class. He greatly expanded the number of unionized workers, and helped establish the powerful
General Confederation of Labour (CGT), created in 1930. He called this the "third position", between capitalism and communism. Perón also pushed hard to industrialize the country; in 1947 he announced the first
five-year plan to boost newly nationalized industries. His ideology would be dubbed
Peronism and became a central influence in Argentine political parties.
The improvement of the laborers' situation created, in the middle and high classes, a strong feeling against the new industrial workers coming from the rural areas who were treated formerly as servants. It was usual for these sectors to refer to those workers using discriminatory words like
"black heads"(cabecitas negras, the name of a like bird),
"fats" ("grasas"),
"un-shirted" ("descamisados", conveying the idea that they "took off their jackets and/or shirts"), and the radical deputy Ernesto Sammartino said that the people who vote for Peron were a
"zoological flood" ("aluvión zoológico").
[Quoted by Hugo Gambini in his book "Historia del peronismo" Sammartino said that phrase at the Parliament on June, 1947; he textually said, in Spanish: "El aluvión zoológico del 24 de febrero parece haber arrojado a algún diputado a su banca, para que desde ella maúlle a los astros por una dieta de 2.500 pesos. Que siga maullando, que a mí no me molesta. .."] In the 1940s the middle and high class students were the first group to oppose Peronist workers, using the slogan:
"peon-footwear [=espadrilles] dictatorship, NO!" ("No a la dictadura de las alpargatas"). Another famous graffitto revealing the strong opposition between peronists and anti-peronist appeared at the high class districts in the 1950s saying,
"Long live cancer!" (¡Viva el cáncer!), when
Eva Perón was dying of cancer.
[Eduardo Galeano , Memorias del Fuego , México, Siglo XXI, 1990] Weiss (2005, p.45) recalls events related to the universities:
As a young student in Buenos Aires in the early 1950s, I well remember the graffiti found in many an empty wall all over town: "Build the Fatherland. Kill a Student" (Haga patria, mate un estudiante). [Perón] was also against the universities, who questioned his methods and his goals. A well-remembered slogan runs, Alpargatas sí, libros no ("peon footwear [=espadrilles] yes, books no"). Universities were [then] "intervened". In some, a Peronista mediocrity was appointed rector. Others were closed for years.
Between 1947 and 1950, Argentina manufactured two advanced jet aircraft called
Pulqui I (designed by the Argentinean engineers Cardehilac, Morchio and Ricciardi with the French
Emile Dewoitine), and
Pulqui II designed by
Kurt Tank. In the main test flights the planes were flow by Argentine Lieutenant Edmundo Osvaldo Weiss and Kurt Tank himself, reaching 1000 km/h with the Pulqui II. Argentina continued experimenting the Pulqui II until 1959; during that time two pilots lost their lives
[El proyecto Pulqui: propaganda peronista de la época]. The Pulqui project opened the door to develop two successful Argentinean planes:
I.A.58"Pucara and the
I.A.63'Pampa manufacturated at the Aircraft Factory of Córdoba
[http://www.reconstruccion2005.com.ar/0412/aviacion.htm La aviación militar apunta a Cordobacomo vector comercial del poder aéreo].
In 1951, Perón announced that the
Huemul Project would produce nuclear fusion before any other country. In charge of the project was a swindling Austrian of German origin,
Ronald Richter, who had been recommended by Kurt Tank who was expecting to power his aircraft with Richter's invention. Perón announced that the energy produced by Richter would be delivered in milk-bottle sized containers. Success of the project was announced in 1951, but no proof was shown. On 1952 Perón appointed a scientific team to investigate Richter's activities. The reports by
José Antonio Balseiro, and Mario Báncora revealed that the project was a fraud. After that, the assets of the
Huemul Project were transferred to the Centro Atómico Bariloche (CAB) of the Argentine
National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA) and to the physics institute of the
Universidad Nacional de Cuyo which was later named
Instituto Balseiro (IB).
Argentina, along with the United States and other countries, became a leading haven for Nazi war criminals and displaced technicians such as Tank and Richter in Argentina,
Wernher von Braun or
Werner Osenberg and thousands others in the USA (
Operation Paperclip), or
Gunter Bock in the USSR. Many people believe this was done with the approval of Presidents Truman and Perón, citing as evidence the fact that
Licio Gelli, grandmaster of the
P2 Masonic Lodge, has claimed to be a friend of Perón. This has never been confirmed.
In contrast to his alleged right-wing tendencies, ó resisted the entreaties of the military in 1943 to crack down on
homosexuality. Instead he ordered the
police and judiciary to let up on their gay-baiting. In addition, Perón promoted the
tango, legalized prostitution, granted
women's suffrage, recognized
divorce, and suppressed former discrimination between first-born and later children.
The second term (1952-1955)
Perón won re-election in 1951. During his second term Perón's administration faced serious economic problems. Perón called employers and unions to a Productivity Congress with the aim of regulating social conflict through social dialogue, but the congress failed and a deal was not possible.
At the same time Perón signed a contract with an American oil company, Standard Oil of California, on May 1955, opening an economic policy of development with the help of foreign industrial investments. The radical party leader,
Arturo Frondizi, considered it to be an anti-Argentinean decision, but three years later he himself signed several contracts with foreign oil companies.
During the second term several terrorist acts were committed against civilian targets. On
April 15,
1953, a terrorist group detonated two bombs in a public rally at
Plaza de Mayo, killing 7 citizens and injuring 95. On
June 15,
1955, a failed coup d'etat by anti-Peronists used navy aircraft to bomb Peronists at
Plaza de Mayo, killing 364 citizens. This barbaric act is considered a prelude to the
dirty war in Argentina between 1976 and 1983.
In 1954, the
Roman Catholic Church, which supported Perón's government up to that year, confronted Perón because of the enactment of the divorce law, among other reasons. On
September 16,
1955, a fascist-Catholic group of both the Army and Navy made a definitive coup d'état, taking power under the name of
Revolución Libertadora. The military regime accused Peronist leaders of corruption, but no one was prosecuted.
The exile (1955-1973)
Perón married
Aurelia Tizón on
January 5,
1929, but she died of
uterine cancer nine years later. On
October 21,
1945 Perón married
Eva Duarte (1919–1952), who became hugely popular. Known as Evita, she helped her husband develop support with labor and women's groups. She died of
cancer in 1952 at the age of thirty-three.
After the military coup, Perón went into
exile in
Paraguay. Later he lived in
Panama, where he met nightclub bolero singer
María Estela Martínez. Eventually settling in
Madrid, Spain, he married
María Estela Martínez, better known as
Isabel, in 1961. Peronism was banned and Peronists were persecuted.
In Argentina, the 1950s and 1960s were marked by frequent coups d'état in addition to low economic growth in the 1950s and some of the highest growth rates in the world in the 1960s (Gerchunoff et al, 309-321). Argentina also faced problems of continued social and labour demands. During those years poverty almost disappeared, with rates between 2% and 5% in the first years of the 1960s (INDEC). Argentine painter
Antonio Berni's works reflect the social tragedies of these times. In particular, Berni dealt with life hardships in the
villas miseria (shanty towns) through his series Juanito Laguna, a slum child, and Ramona Montiel, a prostitute.
When the governments failed to revive the economy and suppress escalating terrorism from groups like the Catholic-pro-Perón
Montoneros, marxist
ERP, and rightist militaries, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the way was open for Perón's return. General
Alejandro Lanusse had taken power in March 1971 and had declared his intention to restore constitutional democracy by 1973. From exile Perón supported conservative radicals as
Ricardo Balbín, Catholic-left-wing Peronists and the more active unions.
The third term (1973-1974)
On
March 11,
1973, general elections were held. Perón was prevented from running, but a stand-in candidate,
Héctor Cámpora, was elected in his stead and assumed his functions on
May 25. On
June 20,
1973, Perón returned from an 18-year exile in Spain. A crowd of left-wing peronists had came at the Ezeiza airport in Buenos Aires to acclaim him. The police counted three and half million people. In his plane, Perón was accompanied by
El Tio (Héctor Cámpora), whose first measure had been to
amnesty all
political prisoners and to reestablish relations with Cuba, helping Castro break the
American blockade. His social policies also opposed himself to the right-wing peronists. However, from Juan Perón's tribune, camouflaged snipers, including members of the
Triple A terrorist group, opened up fire on the crowd. The left-wing Peronist Youth and the
Montoneros had been trapped. At least 13 dead people have been identified, and 365 injured during the massacre, which became known as the
Ezeiza massacre.
[ Horacio Verbitsky, Ezeiza, Contrapunto, Buenos Aires, 1985. Available here ]Cámpora resigned in July 1973, paving the way for new elections, this time with Perón's participation. Argentina had by this time reached a zenith of instability. Perón was viewed by many as the country's only hope for prosperity and salvation.
UCR's leader
Ricardo Balbín and
Perón considered a peronist-radical joint government, but internal opposition in both parties made this impossible. Perón's decisive victory (62% of the vote), returned him to the presidency of Argentina. On October 1973, he began his third term, with
Isabel, his wife, as Vice President.
Perón's third presidency was marked by an escalating conflict between his left and his right-wing supporters. This turmoil was fueled primarily by Perón's growing ties with former rival
Ricardo Balbín, the conservative leader of the Radical Party (UCR); whom the
Raúl Alfonsín led opposition considered a right-wing radical.
Neither the
Montoneros, nor the Marxist
ERP were pleased by Perón's actions. The latter, expressed its indignance through terrorist activities.
These actions were used by Perón's Welfare minister,
José López Rega, as justification for the creation of the
Triple A (
Argentine Anticommunist Alliance), a parapolicial terrorist organization which engaged in massive political repressions against citizens suspected of left-wing sympathies.
Perón died on
July 1,
1974 recommending that his wife, Isabel, rely on Balbin for support. At the president's burial Ricardo Balbin, a long standing enemy of Peron, uttered the historic phrase:
"This old opponent says goodbye to a friend" ("Este viejo adversario despide a un amigo").
Isabel Perón succeeded her husband to the presidency, but proved thoroughly incapable of managing the country's mounting political and economic problems. In spite of her late husband's advice, Isabel granted Balbin no role in her new government, instead granting broad powers to
López Rega, now chief of the Triple A. Isabela Perón's term was ended abruptly on
March 24,
1976 by a military coup d'etat. A distinctly
fascist military junta, headed by
General Jorge Videla took control of the nation. One of the junta's first actions was the escalated persecution of political dissidents. The final death toll of the "anti-communist" purge rose to 30,000. Most of this number is accounted for by the
forced disappeared (
desaparecidos), people kidnapped and executed without trial and without record.
Perón is buried in
La Chacarita Cemetery in
Buenos Aires. In 1987 his tomb was defaced, and the hands of his
corpse were stolen. Those responsible have never been found.
Footnotes
*
History of Argentina*Guareschi, Roberto (Nov. 5, 2005). "Not quite the Evita of Argentine legend".
New Straits Times, p. 21.
*
Tobar, Hector (Los Angeles Times, 2003)]
*
Heath, Nick (People's History, UK)
*
Benitez, Marcelo Manuel (Icarodigital, AR)
*
Nudelman,Santiago (Buenos Aires, 1960; Chiefly draft resolutions and declarations presented by Nudelman as a member of the Cámara de Diputados of the Argentine Republic during the Perón administration)
*
casahistoria pages on Perón Les Fearns site, also links to Eva Perón pages
*
Extracts (in English) from Juan Domingo Perón, Peronist Doctrine Edited by the Peronist Party. (Buenos Aires, 1952). Modern History Sourcebook
*
The Twenty Truths of the Peronist Movement (1940s) The Justicialist movement's core tenets.
*
Juan Domingo Perón Argentine Presidential Messages Well indexed dating from 1946 onwards. The actual documents are shown as photocopied images. Note: Downloading can be slow! University of Texas.
*
Perón y el peronismo: un ensayo bibliográfico by Mariano Ben Plotkin.
*
Mañana Es San Peron: A Cultural History of Peron's Argentina (Latin American Silhouettes) (Paperback) by Mariano Ben Plotkin, Keith Zahniser (Translator)
*Hugo Gambini (1999).
Historia del Peronismo, Editorial Planeta. F2849 .G325 1999
*
Photo (1948) of Juana Sosa de Perón, Gral. Peron's mother, with his daughter, as Mrs. Sosa de Perón referred to the child. This paternity is currently disputed. Image is included in an article on Minister Carrillo.* Gabriele Casula (2004) "donde naciò Peron? un enigma sardo nella storia dell'Argentina" http://www.editorisardi.it/catalogo/shopping/book_enlarge.php?id=2470
* Gerchunoff, Pablo; Llach, Lucas (1998) "El ciclo de la ilusión y el desencanto: un siglo de políticas económicas argentinas", Buenos Aires, Ariel Sociedad Económica.
* Weiss, Herold (2005).
Paul's journey to the River Plate. In Cosgrove et al. (2005).
* Cosgrove, Charles H. , Herold Weiss, & K.K. (Khiok-khing) Yeo (2005).
Cross-cultural Paul: journeys to others, journeys to ourselves. Grand Rapids, Mich. : W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 293 p. BS2506.3 .C67 2005, ISBN 0802828434
*
Tomas Eloy Martinez, 'La Novela de Peron' (The Peron Novel), 'Memorias del General', (Memoirs of the General)'
