Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
By the turn of the 20th century Argentina had a highly developed rail network (fin-
anced largely by British capital), fanning out from Buenos Aires in all directions. Still,
the dark cloud of a vulnerable economy loomed. Industry could not absorb all the immig-
ration, labor unrest grew and imports surpassed exports. Finally, with the onset of the
world-wide Great Depression, the military took power under conditions of considerable
social unrest. An obscure but oddly visionary colonel, Juan Domingo Perón, was the first
leader to try to come to grips with the country's economic crisis.
Tomás Eloy Martínez' The Perón Novel (1998) is a fascinating, fictionalized version of
the life of ex-president Juan Perón, culminating in his return to Buenos Aires in 1973.
Juan Perón
Juan Perón emerged in the 1940s to become Argentina's most revered, as well as most
despised, political figure. He first came to national prominence as head of the National
Department of Labor, after a 1943 military coup toppled civilian rule. With the help of
his second wife, Eva Duarte (Evita), he ran for and won the presidency in 1946.
During previous sojourns in fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, Perón had grasped the im-
portance of spectacle in public life and also developed his own brand of watered-down
Mussolini-style fascism. He held massive rallies from the balcony of the Casa Rosada,
with the equally charismatic Evita at his side. Although they ruled by decree rather than
consent, the Peróns legitimized the trade-union movement, extended political rights to
working-class people, secured voting rights for women and made university education
available to any capable individual. Of course, many of these social policies made him
disliked by conservatives and the rich classes.
Nunca más (Never Again, 1984) , the official report of the National Commission on the
Disappeared, systematically details military abuses from 1976 to 1983 - during Argen-
tina's Dirty War.
Economic hardship and inflation undermined Juan Perón's second presidency in 1952,
and Evita's death the same year dealt a blow to both the country and the president's pop-
ularity. In 1955 a military coup sent him into exile in Spain. Thirty years of catastrophic
military rule would follow.
During his exile, Perón plotted his return to Argentina. In the late 1960s increasing
economic problems, strikes, political kidnappings and guerrilla warfare marked Argen-
tine political life. In the midst of these events, Perón returned to Argentina and was voted
 
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