Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
9
THE FAILURE OF
DE-PERONIZATION
(1955-1983)
The generals and admirals who overthrew Juan Perón in September
1955 presided over a period of political instability and indecision.
Not having to deal with opposition in Congress or with a powerful judi-
ciary (Argentine courts were traditionally weak), the general officers
should have been able to formulate a unified policy, but this was not the
case. They disagreed among themselves over whether Peronism should
be repressed, how to deal with labor, and how much power to share
with civilian politicians who collaborated with them. The first head
of the military government, General Eduardo Lonardi, for example,
welcomed the leaders of the Radical Party and the Socialist Party to the
Casa Rosada in a grand display of post-Perón political unity. He then
tried to come to an accommodation with labor union leaders in order
to win their support for the new regime. Some labor leaders welcomed
the attention, but the rank and file still resorted to strikes in order to
recapture wages lost in the economic decline. The continued labor agi-
tation goaded the hard-liners among the officer corps. They mounted a
movement within the military to displace Lonardi in favor of General
Pedro E. Aramburu.
Military Government and De-Peronization
General Aramburu became president in November 1955, and under his
leadership, the government cracked down on the Peronists. He purged
the government of party supporters, intervened in the unions, and
jailed recalcitrant union bosses and striking workers. The new hard-
line military government then tried to impose industrial rationalization
on the shop floor and dismissed thousands of Peronist activists from
