Juan Carlos Onganía Carballo (; 17 March 1914 – 8 June 1995) was

President of Argentina The president of Argentina ( es, Presidente de Argentina), officially known as the president of the Argentine Nation ( es, Presidente de la Nación Argentina), is both head of state and head of government of Argentina. Under Constitution of Ar ...

from 29 June 1966 to 8 June 1970. He rose to power as

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in times ...

after toppling the president

Arturo Illia Arturo Umberto Illia (; 4 August 1900 – 18 January 1983) was an Argentine politician and physician, who was President of Argentina from 12 October 1963, to 28 June 1966. He was a member of the centrist Radical Civic Union. Illia reached t ...

in a coup d'état self-named ''

Revolución Argentina Argentine Revolution ( es, Revolución Argentina, links=no) was the name given by its leaders to a military coup d'état which overthrew the government of Argentina in June 1966 and began a period of military dictatorship by a junta from the ...

''. Onganía wanted to install in Argentina a paternalistic dictatorship modeled on the Spanish

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...

. While preceding military coups in Argentina were aimed at establishing temporary, transitional ''

junta Junta may refer to: Government and military * Junta (governing body) (from Spanish), the name of various historical and current governments and governing institutions, including civil ones ** Military junta, one form of junta, government led by ...

s'', the ''

'' headed by Onganía aimed at establishing a new political and social order, opposed both to

liberal democracy Liberal democracy is the combination of a liberal political ideology that operates under an indirect democratic form of government. It is characterized by elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into diff ...

and to

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

, which gave to the

Armed Forces of Argentina The Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, in es, Fuerzas Armadas de la República Argentina, are controlled by the Commander-in-Chief (the President) and a civilian Minister of Defense. In addition to the Army, Navy and Air Force, there are ...

a leading role in the political and economic operation of the country. Onganía implemented a rigid

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

that reached the press and all cultural manifestations such as cinema, theater and even poetry. When the Armed Forces replaced the

radical Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...

president in government with General Juan Carlos Onganía, they interrupted an attempt to set up the

republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

and led the country to the violence of the 1970s and subsequent decline.

Presidency

Economic and social policies

While preceding military coups in Argentina were aimed at establishing temporary, transitional ''

s'', the ''

'' headed by Onganía aimed at establishing a new political and social order, opposed both to

and to

, which gave to the

a leading role in the political and economic operation of the country. The political scientist

Guillermo O'Donnell Guillermo Alberto O'Donnell Ure (February 24, 1936 – November 29, 2011) was a prominent Argentine political scientist, specializing in comparative politics, who spent most of his career working in Argentina and the United States, and who m ...

named this type of

regime In politics, a regime (also "régime") is the form of government or the set of rules, cultural or social norms, etc. that regulate the operation of a government or institution and its interactions with society. According to Yale professor Juan Jo ...

"authoritarian-bureaucratic state", in reference both to the ''Revolución Argentina'', the

Brazilian military regime The military dictatorship in Brazil ( pt, ditadura militar) was established on 1 April 1964, after a coup d'état by the Brazilian Armed Forces, with support from the United States government, against President João Goulart. The Brazilian dicta ...

(1964–1985),

Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...

's regime (starting in 1973) and

Juan María Bordaberry Juan María Bordaberry Arocena (; 17 June 1928 – 17 July 2011) was a Uruguayan politician and cattle rancher, who served as constitutional President from 1972 until 1973, and then ruled as the head of a civilian-military dictatorship up t ...

's regime in

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

. While Chief of the Army in 1963, Onganía helped crush the 1963 Argentine Navy Revolt by mobilizing troops that seized rebelling Navy bases. However, he demonstrated a disregard for civil authority when he initially refused to call off his troops after a ceasefire agreement had been approved by President

José María Guido José María Guido (29 August 1910 – 13 June 1975) was President of Argentina, from 30 March 1962 to 12 October 1963. Biography Early life José María Guido was born in Buenos Aires on August 29, 1910. He was one of two sons of J.M.E. ...

and his cabinet, and was only convinced to follow orders after a tense meeting. As military dictator, Onganía suspended political parties and supported a policy of ''Participacionismo'' (Participationism, supported by the trade unionist José Alonso and then by the general secretary of the CGT-Azopardo, Augusto Vandor), by which representatives of various interest groups such as industry, labor, and agriculture, would form committees to advise the government. However these committees were largely appointed by the dictator himself. Onganía also suspended the

right to strike Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became common during the I ...

(Law 16,936) and supported a

corporatist Corporatism is a collectivist political ideology which advocates the organization of society by corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, on the basis of their common interests. The ...

economic and social policy, enforced particularly in Cordoba by the appointed governor, Carlos Caballero. Onganía's

Minister of Economy A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

, Adálbert Krieger Vasena, decreed a wage freeze (amid 30% inflation) and a 40% devaluation, which adversely impacted the state of the Argentine economy (

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

in particular), favoring foreign capital. Krieger Vasena suspended collective labour conventions, reformed the Fossil Fuels Law which had established a partial monopoly of the ''

Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales YPF S.A. (, formerly ; English: "Fiscal Oilfields") is a vertically integrated, majority state-owned Argentine energy company, engaged in oil and gas exploration and production, and the transportation, refining, and marketing of gas and petr ...

'' (YPF) state enterprise and also signed a law facilitating the expulsion of tenants in cases of non-payment of rent.

Cultural and education policy

Onganía's rule signified an end to university autonomy, which had been achieved by the University Reform of 1918.Carmen Bernand, « D’une rive à l’autre », ''Nuevo Mundo Mundos Nuevos, Materiales de seminarios'', 2008 (Latin-Americanist Review published by the

EHESS The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (french: École des hautes études en sciences sociales; EHESS) is a graduate ''grande école'' and ''grand établissement'' in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. The ...

) Barely a month into his administration, he was responsible for the violation of university autonomy in the so-called ''

La Noche de los Bastones Largos La Noche de los Bastones Largos ("The Night of the Long Batons") was the violent dislodging of students and teachers from five academic faculties of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), by the Federal Argentine Police, on July 29, 1966. The ac ...

'' ("The Night of the Long Police Batons") in which he ordered police to invade the Faculty of Sciences of the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires ( es, Universidad de Buenos Aires, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Established in 1821, it is the premier institution of higher learning in the country and one o ...

. Students and professors were beaten up and arrested. Many were later forced to leave the country, beginning a " brain drain" that adversely affects Argentine academia to this day. Onganía also ordered repression on all forms of "immoralism", proscribing

miniskirts A miniskirt (sometimes hyphenated as mini-skirt, separated as mini skirt, or sometimes shortened to simply mini) is a skirt with its hemline well above the knees, generally at mid-thigh level, normally no longer than below the buttocks; and a ...

long hair Long hair is a hairstyle where the head hair is allowed to grow to a considerable length. Exactly what constitutes long hair can change from culture to culture, or even within cultures. For example, a woman with chin-length hair in some cultures ...

for boys, and all

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

artistic movements. This moral campaign favorized the radicalization of the middle classes, who were very over-represented in

universities A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

. In 1969, Ongania dedicated the country to the

Immaculate Heart of Mary The Immaculate Heart of Mary () is a Roman Catholic devotional name used to refer to the Catholic view of the interior life of Mary, mother of Jesus, her joys and sorrows, her virtues and hidden perfections, and, above all, her virginal love ...

Protests

Eventually, this position was opposed by the other factions in the military, which felt that its influence in government would be diminished. At the end of May 1968, General Julio Alsogaray dissented from Onganía, and rumors spread about a possible coup d'état, Alsogaray leading the conservative opposition to Onganía. Finally, at the end of the month, Onganía dismissed the leaders of the Armed Forces:

Alejandro Lanusse Alejandro is the Spanish form of the name Alexander. Alejandro has multiple variations in different languages, including Aleksander (Czech, Polish), Alexandre ( French), Alexandros (Greek), Alsander (Irish), Alessandro (Italian), Aleksandr (Rus ...

replaced Julio Alsogaray,

Pedro Gnavi Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish language, Spanish, Portuguese language, Portuguese, and Galician language, Galician name for ''Peter (given name), Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic fo ...

replaced Benigno Varela, and Jorge Martínez Zuviría replaced Adolfo Alvarez. Also, Ongania's ruthless government was weakened by a popular uprising of workers and students that took place in the whole of the country, in particular in the interior, in cities such as Córdoba in 1969 (known as "''El

Cordobazo The Cordobazo was a civil uprising in the city of Córdoba, Argentina, at the end of May 1969, during the military dictatorship of General Juan Carlos Onganía, which occurred a few days after the '' Rosariazo'', and a year after the global protes ...

''") or

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous ci ...

(the ''

Rosariazo The Rosariazo () was a protest movement that consisted in demonstrations and strikes, in Rosario, , between May and September 1969, during the military dictatorial rule of ''de facto'' President General Juan Carlos Onganía. The Rosariazo was ...

''). The dominant military faction, led by General Lanusse, demanded that Onganía resign. When he refused, he was toppled by a military junta..

Later life

After his departure from office the general decided to retire definitively to a Buenos Aires estate. He was critical of the human rights violations during the

National Reorganization Process The National Reorganization Process (Spanish: ''Proceso de Reorganización Nacional'', often simply ''el Proceso'', "the Process") was the military dictatorship that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983, in which it was supported by the United Sta ...

, the name given to the military dictatorship of Videla et al between 1976 and 1983. In 1989 the Constitutional Nationalist Party proposed him to be a candidate, but he did not reach an agreement and remained away from politics. For the 1995 elections he was a candidate for president for the Front for Patriotic Solidarity after criticizing President

Carlos Menem Carlos Saúl Menem (2 July 1930 – 14 February 2021) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. Ideologically, he identified as a Peronist and supported economically liberal policies. H ...

for the widespread corruption in his government. Before the election Onganía resigned from the ticket due to health issues, although his name continued to appear on the ballot. He died of a stroke at the age of 81 on June 8, 1995.

References

External links

31 yrs after
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ongania, Juan Carlos 1914 births 1995 deaths Argentine anti-communists Argentine generals Argentine people of Basque descent Argentine Roman Catholics Leaders who took power by coup Burials at La Chacarita Cemetery Leaders ousted by a coup People from Marcos Paz Partido Presidents of Argentina