Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The new U.S. ambassador to Argentina, Spruille Braden, was disturbed
by the military government's tardy and lackadaisical entry into World
War II on the side of the Allies. He drew up a “Blue Book” detailing the
pro-Nazi activities and sympathies of members of the military govern-
ment, of which Perón had been the most prominent. The Blue Book hit
kiosks around the country just before the February 1946 election. It was
intended to undermine the popularity of Perón, but it had the opposite
effect. His opponents appeared to be beholden to the foreign interests,
while Perón mobilized nationalist sentiment by stating that the 1946
election amounted to a choice between “Perón or Braden.” Perón won
a five-year presidential term in the most transparent national election
since the 1920s. He received 54 percent of the vote.
Perón in Power
The populist coalition, however, proved to be quite fragile as Perón—
and his successors—tried to balance social justice with national
industrialization. Perón believed that harmonious class relations
would encourage industrial growth. Peronist authorities thus sought
to centralize the labor movement in order to limit union autonomy,
thereby, they believed, disciplining the rank and file and preventing
costly labor disputes. Yet even Perón recognized that “no one can
preserve or impose discipline until he has first instituted justice”
(Brown 1997, 165).
During the next four years, the Perón regime broadened its control
over the structure and leadership of the nation's principal labor federa-
tion. The government intervened in the internal affairs of established
unions, replacing dissident leaders with Peronist sympathizers. The
General Labor Confederation evolved into a virtual appendage of the
Peronist government. State-sponsored organizational drives incorpo-
rated the nonunionized industrial workforce, and membership of the
CGT multiplied. Between 1945 and 1950, the number of unionized
wage earners in Argentina jumped from roughly a half million to more
than 2 million. Even household servants and bootblacks organized
unions within the CGT.
The post-World War II expansion of industrial output provided
workers with the bargaining power necessary to realize their aspira-
tions. European and North American factories had not yet converted
to peacetime production, protecting Argentine industry briefly from
foreign competition. The Peronists inherited an economy growing at
an annual rate of nearly 6 percent between 1945 and 1949. Industrial
