ARGENTINA AND JUAN PERON
Peron came to power in Argentina just as Vargas, the other great South American populist, was leaving office in Brazil. In many ways both leaders were incredibly similar. Both were able to consolidate or win power as a result of the effects of the Great Depression, the weaknesses of previous regimes and the exploitation social divisions and nationalistic fervor.
Peron ruled Argentina between 1945 and 1954, before heading into an almost 20 year exile. He returned to rule once more in 1973 but died the following year. He also founded the political movement of Peronism or Justicialism, which is still very influential in Argentina today.
Peron ruled Argentina between 1945 and 1954, before heading into an almost 20 year exile. He returned to rule once more in 1973 but died the following year. He also founded the political movement of Peronism or Justicialism, which is still very influential in Argentina today.
How did he rise to power?
Peron first became part of the government of Argentina in 1943 as part of a group of army officers called
Grupo de Oficiales Unidos
or GOU. GOU had become disillusioned with civilian politicians because:
The GOU coup d'etat against the Castillo government brought an end to the so-called 'infamous decade' and ushered in a period of military dictatorship. In many ways the GOU government modeled itself on Nazi Germany by censoring the media, suppressing opposition and threatening neighboring countries. From a strictly political point of view, these tactics were not particularly successful but what is of more significance was that Peron (who was first appointed Minister of Labor) was able to use his political gifts to build up a strong base of support.
As Minister for Labor, he was able to use both his charisma and economic incentives (like pensions and benefits) to develop a good relationship with the trade unions and became Vice-President in a short period of time. Once it became clear that his popularity was a threat to other members of the GOU, who already distrusted his populist (and rather left-wing) social programs, he was imprisoned. Such was the strength of his popularity that his supporters staged massive anti-government protests which forced his release.
When he ran for election in 1946, he effectively used Argentinian nationalism ('Argentina for Argentinians'- Britain, France and the USA had massive economic interests in the country) to further galvanize support. Attempts by the US ambassador to Argentina to label him a fascist only served to make him more popular with the Argentine electorate.
- The Argentinian system of government at the time was not working. Despite being a democracy, some parties were banned by those in power, opponents were sometimes persecuted, leaders came to power via coup d'etat or electoral fraud and corruption was widespread.
- There continued to be significant economic problems that had been exaggerated by the Great Depression. Argentina maintained an agrarian economy that was not modern, industrial or diverse. In addition, the amount of imported goods was high and proved to be expensive. The conservative land-owning elite had been extremely reluctant to reform the economy because of their agricultural interests and had an unhealthy influence over the government.
- As a result, there were large social divisions. This manifested itself in the resentment shown towards the landed elites by the middle classes and working classes (or Descamisados - shirtless ones). The GUO, and particularly Peron, were able to use this resentment to unite the people against a perceived common enemy.
- There were fears that these socio-economic conditions could contribute to rise of communism, as had happened in Russia in 1917. The GOU successfully exploited these fears to advance their own political ideas.
- The fascist tendencies of the GOU chimed with many who were disillusioned with the chaos created by traditional politics in Argentina. Many Argentinians were of Italian and German descent and admired the sense order brought by Mussolini and Hitler to these countries. The GUO had been trained by the German Wehrmacht (Army) and Peron himself had been influenced by Mussolini's writings.
The GOU coup d'etat against the Castillo government brought an end to the so-called 'infamous decade' and ushered in a period of military dictatorship. In many ways the GOU government modeled itself on Nazi Germany by censoring the media, suppressing opposition and threatening neighboring countries. From a strictly political point of view, these tactics were not particularly successful but what is of more significance was that Peron (who was first appointed Minister of Labor) was able to use his political gifts to build up a strong base of support.
As Minister for Labor, he was able to use both his charisma and economic incentives (like pensions and benefits) to develop a good relationship with the trade unions and became Vice-President in a short period of time. Once it became clear that his popularity was a threat to other members of the GOU, who already distrusted his populist (and rather left-wing) social programs, he was imprisoned. Such was the strength of his popularity that his supporters staged massive anti-government protests which forced his release.
When he ran for election in 1946, he effectively used Argentinian nationalism ('Argentina for Argentinians'- Britain, France and the USA had massive economic interests in the country) to further galvanize support. Attempts by the US ambassador to Argentina to label him a fascist only served to make him more popular with the Argentine electorate.
Summary
As a member of GOU, the long term reasons for Peron's rise to power were:
In the short term (i.e. once he was part of the GOU government), Peron rose to power because:
- Corrupt and ineffective governance during the 'infamous decade'
- Economic distress caused by the Great Depression and fundamental problems in Argentina's economy
- Social divisions caused by these economic problems
- Exploitation of popular fears of growth of communism
- Ideological approval of the GOU
In the short term (i.e. once he was part of the GOU government), Peron rose to power because:
- His charisma
- His ability to capitalize on the resources granted to him as Minister for Labor in developing strong relations with the trade unions and the working classes
- His exploitation of nationalist sentiment, particularly with regard to Argentina's economic dependence on foreign powers
How did he maintain power?
Fear
Peron embraced some of the methods of the European fascist leaders. The National Liberating Alliance, a paramilitary organization, were utilized to intimidated opponents and forcing them into exile. This was particularly true of members of the middle classes (who began to resent Peron's focus on the working classes) and university academics and intellectuals. His relations with organized labor allowed him to ensure that any working dissidents were weeded out and sent to jail.
Gain
Peron successfully provided many short term, immediate benefits to workers who rewarded him committed support. These benefits included pensions, improved healthcare and better education, things that the Descamisados had not been accustomed to before.
He also began a process of Industrialization designed to modernize and diversify the economy as well as free Argentina from outside influences. Therefore, he initiated a series of Import-Substitution Industrialization (ISI) measures. ISI required the a newly-created government agency, the Argentine Institute for Trade Promotion or IAPI, to ensure foreign markets bought Argentine goods. This required production costs to be low, therefore keeping prices low, and the Peron government would subsidize this if necessary.
The post-WWII years also meant that there was a budget surplus; Beef exports to Europe surged as their agricultural industries were recovering from war. Peron used this budget surplus to launch a series of spending initiatives which won him wide spread support. Firstly, he ordered the nationalization of the previously foreign-owned central bank. He also bought the American-owned telephone network, the French-owned dock yards and the British-owned railroads. Finally, he paid off Argentina's foreign debts. This was part of his political vision- Justicialismo (described below under 'belief').
He also spent money on raising wages and increasing military budgets (which were never cut during his rule). He even won over industrialists by offering them lucrative government contracts. In effect, he bought the loyalty of wide proportion of the Argentine population.
Belief
The belief in Peron was propped up by 3 things:
Quite apart from his ability to use his charisma to win over the descamisados (Peron was unique in his ability to understand and therefore appeal to this social class), his wife Eva was a hugely important part of his appeal. A former stage and movie actress, Eva was incredibly popular with the people and launched a series of initiatives through the Eva Peron Foundation that focused on education and healthcare for the less fortunate in society and promoted female participation in politics through the creation of a women's branch of the Peronist party.
Finally, Justicialismo won over many by advocating reaching a compromise between competing forces, achieving social justice and freeing the country from foreign influence (in Argentina, this meant economic independence). For a long period, Peron was largely successful in uniting the country by exploiting popular fears and social divisions against perceived common enemies. These 'enemies' could be anyone who stood in the way of Argentine achieving it true destiny of national greatness. Justicialismo was a difficult balancing act and required Peron to borrow political concepts from different parts of the political spectrum, including fervent nationalism. It was this dogma that guided his policies and marked him out as a populist.
It could also be argued that his pursuit of these populist policies played a large part in his downfall.
Peron embraced some of the methods of the European fascist leaders. The National Liberating Alliance, a paramilitary organization, were utilized to intimidated opponents and forcing them into exile. This was particularly true of members of the middle classes (who began to resent Peron's focus on the working classes) and university academics and intellectuals. His relations with organized labor allowed him to ensure that any working dissidents were weeded out and sent to jail.
Gain
Peron successfully provided many short term, immediate benefits to workers who rewarded him committed support. These benefits included pensions, improved healthcare and better education, things that the Descamisados had not been accustomed to before.
He also began a process of Industrialization designed to modernize and diversify the economy as well as free Argentina from outside influences. Therefore, he initiated a series of Import-Substitution Industrialization (ISI) measures. ISI required the a newly-created government agency, the Argentine Institute for Trade Promotion or IAPI, to ensure foreign markets bought Argentine goods. This required production costs to be low, therefore keeping prices low, and the Peron government would subsidize this if necessary.
The post-WWII years also meant that there was a budget surplus; Beef exports to Europe surged as their agricultural industries were recovering from war. Peron used this budget surplus to launch a series of spending initiatives which won him wide spread support. Firstly, he ordered the nationalization of the previously foreign-owned central bank. He also bought the American-owned telephone network, the French-owned dock yards and the British-owned railroads. Finally, he paid off Argentina's foreign debts. This was part of his political vision- Justicialismo (described below under 'belief').
He also spent money on raising wages and increasing military budgets (which were never cut during his rule). He even won over industrialists by offering them lucrative government contracts. In effect, he bought the loyalty of wide proportion of the Argentine population.
Belief
The belief in Peron was propped up by 3 things:
- His charisma
- His wife, Eva
- His political dogma of Justicialismo
Quite apart from his ability to use his charisma to win over the descamisados (Peron was unique in his ability to understand and therefore appeal to this social class), his wife Eva was a hugely important part of his appeal. A former stage and movie actress, Eva was incredibly popular with the people and launched a series of initiatives through the Eva Peron Foundation that focused on education and healthcare for the less fortunate in society and promoted female participation in politics through the creation of a women's branch of the Peronist party.
Finally, Justicialismo won over many by advocating reaching a compromise between competing forces, achieving social justice and freeing the country from foreign influence (in Argentina, this meant economic independence). For a long period, Peron was largely successful in uniting the country by exploiting popular fears and social divisions against perceived common enemies. These 'enemies' could be anyone who stood in the way of Argentine achieving it true destiny of national greatness. Justicialismo was a difficult balancing act and required Peron to borrow political concepts from different parts of the political spectrum, including fervent nationalism. It was this dogma that guided his policies and marked him out as a populist.
It could also be argued that his pursuit of these populist policies played a large part in his downfall.
How did he lose power?
Peron was forced into exile in 1954 because the populist nature of his presidency meant that his grip on power was unsustainable. More specifically:
As with all authoritarian leaders, the lack of collaboration with others and lack of accountability to the populace meant that Peron increasingly operated in isolation, eventually becoming unable to find practical solutions to the challenges his regime faced. It is was in these moments that his vision of Justicialismo also appeared brittle when placed under such pressures and Peron was not able to adapt or evolve in order to survive. Ironically, while he was able to use populist methods to galvanize the Argentine people in order to win power and to maintain his regime for 8 years, his reliance on uniting diverse factions within Argentine society meant that as this coalition unraveled, so did his presidency.
Ultimately, his populism was both a source of strength and weakness.
- Argentina had periods of severe economic distress. In 1949, a trade deficit opened up as a result of foreign competition for commodities and inflation spiked at 31%. Commodity prices dropped drastically, hurting Argentinian business, and the prices of much need imported goods rose. Additionally, Argentina was partially locked out of European markets as a result of the Marshall Aid Plan in Europe (although announced in 1948, this first took effect in 1949) and a drought, in combination with a failure on the part of Argentinian agriculture to adopt modern farming techniques, led to a lower harvest yield. These factors combined to decrease real wages by 20%. Peron's response was to launch a series of austerity measures, including unpopular wage and price controls, in order to reign in high levels of government debt. In the early 1950's, when world commodity prices remained low and thus continuing to constrain the Argentine economy, Peron's attempts to stimulate spending and pay off debt by increasing the money supply only added to inflationary pressures.
- His popular appeal waned after the death of Eva Peron in 1952. Her appeal with women and the descamisados was crucial in terms of building a coalition of broad electoral support for Peron. His private life after the death of Eva was also a source of scandal and consternation among the political, military and religious elites as stories of a string of relationships with underage girls filled gossip columns of newspapers.
- Peron became more autocratic and his government more corrupt. In response to opposition to his government, Peron ordered the National Liberating Alliance to increase their oppression of dissidents. There were also persistent rumors of fraud and embezzlement of funds from the Eva Peron Foundation to Swizz bank accounts.
- His legalization of divorce and prostitution in late 1954 alienated the Catholic Church. His relationship with Nelly Rivas (allegedly 13) had already done much to alarm the social conservatives within the church and it appeared that he was beginning to try to reduce the influence of the church in Argentine society through these social reforms. Following an attempted military coup in June 1955, Peronist supporters attacked 11 churches in Buenos Aires.
- Fears over the impending breakdown of civil order pushed the military to intervene. After watching increased state repression, attacks on the Catholic Church by Peron's supporters, his increasingly scandalous and corrupt behavior, the military launched a successful coup in September 1955. Peron fled to Paraguay (leaving Nelly Rivas behind). At this point, Argentina was incredibly polarized- landowning elites and conservative complained of currency and price inflation while the underprivileged were grateful for the rise in real wages (up to 30%) and provision of social benefits.
As with all authoritarian leaders, the lack of collaboration with others and lack of accountability to the populace meant that Peron increasingly operated in isolation, eventually becoming unable to find practical solutions to the challenges his regime faced. It is was in these moments that his vision of Justicialismo also appeared brittle when placed under such pressures and Peron was not able to adapt or evolve in order to survive. Ironically, while he was able to use populist methods to galvanize the Argentine people in order to win power and to maintain his regime for 8 years, his reliance on uniting diverse factions within Argentine society meant that as this coalition unraveled, so did his presidency.
Ultimately, his populism was both a source of strength and weakness.