Juan Peron

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Juan Domingo Perón
Juan Peron


President of Argentina
In office
June 4 1946 – September 21 1955
October 12 1973 - July 1 1974
Vice President(s)   Hortensio Quijano
Alberto Tessaire
Isabel Perón
Preceded by Edelmiro Farrell (1946)
Raúl Lastiri (1973)
Succeeded by Eduardo Lonardi (1955)
Isabel Perón (1974)

Born October 8, 1895
Lobos, Buenos Aires
Died July 1, 1974
Olivos, Buenos Aires
Political party Justicialist
Spouse Aurelia Tizón (died 1938)
María Eva Duarte de Perón (died 1952)
María Estela Martínez de Perón (married 1961)
Profession Military

Juan Domingo Perón (October 8, 1895 – July 1, 1974) was an Argentine soldier and politician, elected three times as President of Argentina and serving from 1946 to 1955 and from 1973 to 1974.

Perón and his wife Eva were immensely popular among a portion of the Argentine people and still considered iconic figures by followers of the Peronist Party. Perón followers lauded his efforts to eliminate poverty and to dignify labor, while his detractors considered him a demagogue and a dictator. He started the political movement known as Peronism, still popular in Argentina to this day, which professes to be a third way between capitalism and socialism. He is one of the most controversial presidents of Argentina because of his direct involvement in harboring Nazi fugitives fleeing prosecution after World War II.

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 partially Scottish, and Juana Sosa, who is believed to have been of mixed Spanish and American Indian descent.

Further research undertaken 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. It is believed 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 a 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, but mass demonstrations organized by the CGT trade union federation forced his release (October 17).

Election as president and first term (1946-1952)

Perón leveraged his popular support into victory in the February 24, 1946 presidential elections.

Once in office, 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.

Among middle and upper class Argentines, the improvement of the laborers' situation was a source of resentment; negative feelings abounded towards the new industrial workers from rural areas, who had formerly been treated as servants. It was common for better-off Argentines to refer to these workers using negative epithets 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 Perón were a "zoological flood" ("aluvión zoológico").[1] In the 1940s the middle- and upper-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-Peronists appeared in high-class districts in the 1950s saying, "Long live cancer!" (¡Viva el cáncer!), when Eva Perón was dying of cancer.[2]

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 flown 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 [3]. The Pulqui project opened the door to develop two successful Argentinean planes: I.A.58"Pucara and the I.A.63'Pampa manufactured at the Aircraft Factory of Córdoba [4].

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 became a leading haven for Nazi war criminals, like Erich Priebke who arrived in Argentina in 1947, Josef Mengele who arrived in 1949 and Adolf Eichmann in 1950 (his last words were "long live Argentina" [5]). As well, many members of the notorious Croatian Ustashe took refuge in Argentina during this period. [6]. Beginning with the United States, then the USSR and other countries, Argentina also welcomed displaced German technicians such as Tank and Richter.

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'état 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.

Marriages and 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. Eva Perón died of uterine cancer in 1952 at the age of thirty-three. [7]

Presidents Stroessner and Perón. The stamp is Scott Paraguay no. 871

After the military coup, Perón went into exile in Paraguay. His escape was facilitated by his friend President Alfredo Stroessner of Paraguay, who placed a gunboat at his disposal in the River Plate. Later he lived in Panama, where he met nightclub bolero singer María Estela Martínez. Eventually settling in Madrid, Spain, he married her there in 1961. She became better known as Isabel. 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 banned from running, but a stand-in candidate, Héctor Cámpora, was elected and took office on May 25. On June 20, 1973, Perón returned from an 18-year exile in Spain. A crowd of left-wing Peronists had gathered at the Ezeiza airport in Buenos Aires to welcome and support him. The police counted three and half million people. Perón came accompanied by Cámpora, whose first measure had been to grant amnesty to all political prisoners and to reestablish relations with Cuba, helping Castro break the American embargo. This, and his social policies, had also earned him the opposition of the right-wing Peronists.

From Perón's tribune, camouflaged snipers, including members of the Argentine Anti-Communist Alliance, opened fire on the crowd. The left-wing Peronist Youth and the Montoneros had been trapped. At least 13 people were killed (who have been identified), and 365 injured during this episode, which became known as the Ezeiza massacre.[8]

Cámpora resigned in July 1973, paving the way for new elections, this time with Perón's participation. Argentina had by this time reached a peak of instability, and 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 overwhelming victory (62% of the vote), returned him to the presidency. In October 1973 he began his third term, with Isabel, his wife, as Vice President.

Perón's third term was marked by an escalating conflict between the Peronist left- and right-wing factions. This turmoil was fueled primarily by Perón's growing ties with conservative Radical Party leader Ricardo Balbín, who the opposition led by Raúl Alfonsín considered a right-wing radical.

Neither the Montoneros nor the Marxist ERP were pleased by Perón's actions. The latter turned to terrorist activities. Montoneros kidnapped and murdered former president Pedro Eugenio Aramburu.

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 para-policial organization which engaged in terrorism and massive political repression against citizens suspected of left-wing sympathies. Nicknamed El Brujo ("The Wizard") because of his belief in black magic and the occult, López Rega was a religious mystic with little knowledge of government and economics. He was decidely anti-liberal and authoritarian, opposed to an open culture and free markets.

Perón died on July 1, 1974 recommending that his wife, Isabel, rely on Balbín for support. At the president's burial Balbín uttered a historic phrase, "This old adversary bids farewell to a friend".

Isabel Perón succeeded her husband to the presidency, but proved thoroughly incapable of managing the country's mounting political and economic problems, the violent left-wing insurgency and the reaction of the extreme right. Ignoring her late husband's advice, Isabel granted Balbín no role in her new government, instead granting broad powers to López Rega.

Isabel Perón's term was ended abruptly on March 24, 1976 by a military coup d'état. A military junta, headed by General Jorge Videla took control of the country, starting the self-styled National Reorganization Process. The junta combined a widespread persecution of political dissidents with the use of state terrorism. The final death toll rose to thousands (no less than 9,000, with human rights organizations claiming it was closer to 30,000). Most of this number is accounted for by "the disappeared" (desaparecidos), people kidnapped and executed without trial and without record.

Perón's corpse

Perón was buried in La Chacarita Cemetery in Buenos Aires. In 1987, his tomb was defaced, and the hands (and some personal effects such as his sword) of his corpse were stolen. Those responsible have never been found, but some say it was responsibility of Licio Gelli, leader of the P2 Propaganda Due Italian Freemasonic lodge. [citation needed]

On 17 October 2006 his body was moved to a new mausoleum in the Buenos Aires suburb of San Vicente, his former summer residence, which was rebuilt as a museum. A few people were injured in riots, as trade unions affiliated to the Peronist movement fought over access to the ceremony. The police were able to contain the violence enough for the procession to move to the mausoleum. The move of Perón's body offered the self-proclaimed illegitimate daughter of Perón the opportunity to obtain a DNA sample from his corpse which, she hoped, would prove that she was indeed his daughter. The woman, Martha Holgado, 72, had been trying for 15 years to do this DNA analysis, which, in November 2006, proved negative - she is not his daughter.

[9] [10]

Footnotes

  1. 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. .."
  2. Eduardo Galeano , Memorias del Fuego , México, Siglo XXI, 1990
  3. El proyecto Pulqui: propaganda peronista de la época
  4. http://www.reconstruccion2005.com.ar/0412/aviacion.htm La aviación militar apunta a Cordoba como vector comercial del poder aéreo
  5. http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/nazi/adolf-eichmann/ Eichmann's last words were reported as being: "Long live Germany. Long live Austria. Long live Argentina. These are the countries with which I have been most closely associated and I shall not forget them. I had to obey the rules of war and my flag. I am ready."
  6. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/1998/int/981109/latin_america.perons_na30a.html
  7. Lerner, BH (2000). The illness and death of Eva Perón: cancer, politics, and secrecy. Lancet 355:1988-1991
  8. (Spanish) Horacio Verbitsky, Ezeiza, Contrapunto, Buenos Aires, 1985. Available at ElOrtiba.
  9. CNN. 17 October 2006. Body of Argentina's Peron to move to $1.1 million crypt
  10. BBC News. 17 October 2006. Violence mars reburial of Perón

See also

  • History of Argentina
  • Uki Goñi

External links


Preceded by:
Edelmiro Farrell
Vice-President of Argentina
1944–1945
Succeeded by:
Juan Pistarini
Preceded by:
Edelmiro Farrell
President of Argentina
First and Second Terms

1946–1952, 1952–1955
Succeeded by:
Eduardo Lonardi
Preceded by:
Raúl Lastiri
President of Argentina
Third Term

1973–1974
Succeeded by:
Isabel Perón

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