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

President of Argentina The president of Argentina, officially known as the president of the Argentine Nation, is both head of state and head of government of Argentina. Under Constitution of Argentina, the national constitution, the president is also the Head of go ...

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

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute Power (social and political), power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a polity. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to r ...

after toppling the president Arturo Illia in a coup d'état self-named " Argentine Revolution". Onganía wanted to install in Argentina a paternalistic dictatorship modeled on

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...

. While preceding military coups in Argentina were aimed at establishing temporary, transitional '' juntas'', the '' Revolución Argentina'' headed by Onganía aimed at establishing a new political and social order, opposed both to

liberal democracy Liberal democracy, also called Western-style democracy, or substantive democracy, is a form of government that combines the organization of a democracy with ideas of liberalism, liberal political philosophy. Common elements within a liberal dem ...

and to

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

, which gave to the

Armed Forces of Argentina The Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic () are the combined armed forces of Argentina. It is 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 two ...

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 governmen ...

that reached the press and all cultural manifestations such as cinema, theater and even poetry. When the Armed Forces replaced the radical president in government with General Juan Carlos Onganía, they interrupted an attempt to set up the

republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

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

Family

Juan Carlos Onganía Carballo was born on 17 March 1914 in Marcos Paz, in the

province of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, officially the Buenos Aires Province, is the largest and most populous Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of the province an ...

to Carlos Luis Onganía and Sara Rosa Carballo Sosa. Onganía is of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

ancestry (

Lecco Lecco (, , ; ) is a city of approximately 47,000 inhabitants in Lombardy, Northern Italy, north of Milan. It lies at the end of the south-eastern branch of Lake Como (the branch is named ''Branch of Lecco'' / ''Ramo di Lecco''). The Bergamasqu ...

and

Como Como (, ; , or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Nestled at the southwestern branch of the picturesque Lake Como, the city is a renowned tourist destination, ce ...

). His mother was of distant Portuguese ancestry.

Presidency

Economic and social policies

While preceding military coups in Argentina were aimed at establishing temporary, transitional '' juntas'', the '' Revolución Argentina'' 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 named this type of

regime In politics, a regime (also spelled régime) is a system of government that determines access to public office, and the extent of power held by officials. The two broad categories of regimes are democratic and autocratic. A key similarity acros ...

"authoritarian-bureaucratic state", in reference both to the ''Revolución Argentina'', the Brazilian military regime (1964–1985),

Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean military officer and politician who was the dictator of Military dictatorship of Chile, Chile from 1973 to 1990. From 1973 to 1981, he was the leader ...

's regime in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

(1973–1990), and

Juan María Bordaberry Juan María Bordaberry Arocena (; 17 June 1928 – 17 July 2011), was an Uruguayan politician and cattle rancher who served as the 34th President of Uruguay from 1972 until his resignation in 1976 and the 1st President of the Civic-Military Dic ...

's regime in

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of 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 the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

(1973–1976). 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 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 in British English, 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 c ...

(Law 16,936) and supported a corporatist economic and social policy, enforced particularly in Cordoba by the appointed governor, Carlos Caballero. Onganía's Minister of Economy, 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 encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

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) 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 (, EHESS) is a graduate ''grande école'' and '' grand établissement'' in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. The school awards Master and PhD degrees alone and conjo ...

) 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'' ("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 (, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the second-oldest university in the country, and the largest university of the country by enrollment. Established in 1821 ...

. 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,

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 In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

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

universities A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

. In 1969, Ongania dedicated the country to the

Immaculate Heart of Mary The Immaculate Heart of Mary () is a Catholic devotion which refers to the view of the interior life of Mary, her joys and sorrows, her virtues and hidden perfections, and, above all, her virginal love for God the Father, her maternal love for ...

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 Agustín Lanusse replaced Julio Alsogaray, Pedro Gnavi replaced Benigno Varela, and Jorge Martínez Zuviría replaced Adolfo Alvarez. Ongania's 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''") or

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

(the '' Rosariazo''). 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 ( PRN; often simply , "the Process") was the military dictatorship that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983. In Argentina it is often known simply as the ("last military junta"), ("last military dictatorship") ...

, 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) served as the 50th president of Argentina for ten years, from 1989 to 1999. He identified as Peronism, Peronist, serving as President of the Justicialist Party for 13 years (from 1990 to 200 ...

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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ongania, Juan Carlos 1914 births 1995 deaths Argentine anti-communists Argentine generals Argentine people of Basque descent Argentine people of Italian descent Argentine people of Portuguese 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 20th-century presidents of Argentina Presidents of Argentina