Peròn's authoritarianism
INTRODUCTION TO THE DICTATORSHIP OF PERÒN
In 1946 colonel Juan Domingo Peròn (1895-1974) was elected president of the republic president. His government started in June 1946 and finished in September 1955, when he was overthrown in a coup d'état, and then from October 1973 until his death in July 1974. With his wife Evita's support, he “started” a political phenomenon known as Peronism, not considered as a traditional party, but a movement founded on the combination of both nationalism and social justicialism.
USEFUL INFORMATION ON THE FIGURE OF PERON
Descamisados and opponents of Peròn
Perón's followers, originally also selected as "descamisados", to indicate that he came from the popular strata of society, cheered on his controls to eliminate poverty and encourage greater dignity at work, while his political opponents considered him a demagogue and a dictator . It gave birth to the political movement known as peronism or justicialism (justicialism).
Peròn movement
Perón built his image also thanks to the help of his second wife, Evita Perón. The Peronist movement was defined as populist by combining socialism, patriotism and the third economic route, with many similarities to Italian fascism (although he never claimed to be fascist) without denying democracy, at least in words.
PROXIMITY TO NAZIFASCISM
Peròn was one of the most discussed Argentine presidents because of having given shelter to the Nazis who escaped from the war crimes trials at the end of the Second World War. He did not have a real ideological closeness to Hitler's National Socialism although some scholars affirm it.
First term: from 1949 to 1952
Political program:
When Perón became president, his two goals were social justice and economic independence. Perón instructed his economic advisers to develop a five-year plan with the goals of increasing workers' pay, achieving full employment, stimulating industrial growth and greatly improving transportation, communication, energy and social infrastructure (in the private, as well as public, sectors).
During the first half of the 20th century, a widening gap had existed between the classes; Perón hoped to close it through the increase of wages and employment, making the nation more pluralistic and less reliant on foreign trade.
In his first two years in office, Perón nationalized the Central Bank and paid off its billion-dollar debt to the Bank of England; he nationalized the railways (mostly owned by British and French companies), merchant marine, universities, public utilities, public transport (then, mostly tramways) and, probably most significantly, he created IAPI, the Institute for the Promotion of Trade.
Foreign policy:
Perón first defined his foreign policy, the "Third Way", in 1949. This policy was developed to avoid the binary Cold War division and keep other world powers, such as the United States and the Soviet Union, as allies rather than enemies; so he restored diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union.
U.S. policy restricted Argentine growth during the Perón years by placing embargoes on Argentina: in this way the United States hoped to discourage the nation in its pursuit of becoming economically sovereign during a time when the world was divided into two influence parts. The U.S. Congress took a dislike of Perón and his government. In 1948 they excluded Argentine exports from the Marshall Plan, the landmark of Truman's administration effort to combat communism and help rebuild war-torn European nations by offering U.S. aid. This contributed to Argentina's financial crises after 1948 and the policy deprived Argentina of potential agricultural markets in Western Europe.
Curiosity:
Believing that international sports created goodwill, however, Perón hosted the 1950 World Basketball Championship and the 1951 Pan American Games, while his intention of hosting the 1956 Olympic Games in Buenos Aires was defeated by the International Olympic Committee by one vote.
Opposition, repression and the fascist influence:
The first to vocally oppose Peron rule were the Argentine intellectuals and the middle-class. University students and professors were seen as particularly troublesome. Perón fired over 2000 university professors and faculty members from all major public education institutions. Many left the country and migrated to Mexico, the United States or Europe.
Witness:
“As a young student in Buenos Aires in the early 1950s, I well remember the graffiti found on many an empty wall all over town: "Build the Fatherland. Kill a Student" (Haga patria, mate un estudiante). Perón opposed the universities, which questioned his methods and his goals. A well-remembered slogan was, Alpargatas sí, libros no ("Shoes? Yes! Books? No!"). Universities were then intervened, the faculty was pressured to get in line and those who resisted where blacklisted, fired or exiled from the country. In most public universities Peronist puppets where appointed as administrators. Others were closed altogether."
In 1938, Perón was sent in a diplomatic mission to Europe. During this time he became enamoured with the Italian fascist model. Perón's admiration for Benito Mussolini is well documented. For this reason, he took as model of inspiration the government of Ioannis Metaxas in Greece and Adolf Hitler in Germany, and his exact words were as follows:
“Italian Fascism made people's organizations participate more on the country's political stage. Before Mussolini's rise to power, the state was separated from the workers, and the former had no involvement in the latter. [...] Exactly the same process happened in Germany, that is the state was organized [to serve] for a perfectly structured community, for a perfectly structured population: a community where the state was the tool of the people, whose representation was, in my opinion, effective.”
During his reign Perón and his administrators often resorted to organized violence and dictatorial rules. He often showed contempt for any opponents and regularly he characterized them as traitors and agents of foreign powers. He abolished freedom of speech, nationalized the broadcasting system, centralized the unions under his control and monopolized the supply of newspaper print. At times, Perón also resorted to tactics such as illegally imprisoning opposition politicians and journalists.