The Argentine Revolution (Spanish: ''Revolución Argentina'') is the name given to the civil-military dictatorship that overthrew the constitutional president
Arturo Illia through a
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup
, is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...
on June 28, 1966, and governed the country until May 25, 1973. The Argentine Revolution did not present itself as a "provisional government" as in all previous coups, but rather sought to establish itself as a new permanent dictatorial system later associated with the concept of the bureaucratic-authoritarian State.
General view of the self-styled "Revolución Argentina" and the authoritarian-bureaucratic state
The June 1966 coup established General
Juan Carlos Onganía as the ''
de facto'' president and dictator, supported by several leaders of the
General Confederation of Labour (CGT), including the general secretary
Augusto Vandor
Augusto Timoteo Vandor (1923–1969) was an Argentine trade unionist leader, Argentine Navy, naval non-commissioned officer and Politics of Argentina, politician who Augusto Vandor#Assassination, was assassinated.
Career
Vandor was born in Bovr ...
. This was followed by a series of
military
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...
-appointed presidents and the implementation of
liberal economic policies, supported by
multinational companies
A multinational corporation (MNC; also called a multinational enterprise (MNE), transnational enterprise (TNE), transnational corporation (TNC), international corporation, or stateless corporation, is a corporate organization that owns and cont ...
, employers' federations/industrial capitalists, and a section of the
workers' movement
The labour movement is the collective organisation of Working class, working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It ca ...
—which by the 1960s had become bureaucratized and corrupt in some of
Argentina's trade unions—, as well as most of the
press.
While preceding military coups were aimed at establishing temporary and 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 would give 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 political and economic role, all with the aim of staying in power for decades. 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 to the ''Revolución Argentina'', the
1964–1985 Brazilian military regime and
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 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 ...
(starting in 1973).
Technocracy under the Onganía Regime
From its onset, the Onganía regime proposed to eliminate the existing organizational scheme and restructure the entire state apparatus. Article 2 of the "Estatuto de la Revolución Argentina" announced a new law to establish the number of ministries and Secretariats of State that would be entrusted with the affairs of State, as well as their functions and interdependence.
The careers of the new members of the state were marked by technical specialization. This attribute gave them a technocratic legitimacy, useful for modernizing public offices without political components. Thus, both the origin of economic or cultural activities and the technocratic attributes of the new ministerial layer gave a corporate tone to the formation of the first cabinet of the Argentine Revolution.
An example in this sense is the Secretary of Housing whose heads were construction entrepreneurs and an architect.
For its part, the ministry of economy was briefly headed by Salimei, a businessman in the oilseed trade, while the other two ministers (
Adalbert Krieger Vasena and Jose Maria Dagnino Pastore) listed prior experience in government and academe. Also worth noting is the appointment of private sector executives to the secretariats, in Agriculture, farmer Lorenzo Raggio; in Energy and Mining, businessman of a foreign electrical material firm, Luis Gotelli; and in Public Works, the director of a cement company contracted by the State, Esteban Guaia. With a study even affirming that 76% of the Onganía Regime came from private business backgrounds.
This way, each ministerial sector was confined to a businessman from the sector, evidencing the attempt to promote the integration of representatives of the vital forces of development in decision-making.
This new paradigm of participation and representation breaks with the model of ministerial integration of previous governments, which were mainly staffed by party accountants with regard to economic functions.
Corporatism under the Onganía Regime
The Onganía regime had a corporatist ideology, experimenting in particular in
Córdoba under the governance of
Carlos Caballero. Although in practice, it represented a type of exclusive corporatism, where only private interests were represented through organizations. They were given representation in the State in exchange for accepting certain controls.
In reality, this led to many functions and structures of the State passing into private hands, but in an unbalanced way. Business and religious groups ended up taking control of important areas of the government. As a result, the state's ability to act independently and efficiently was greatly reduced, which also explains why resistance to these measures arose.
For instance, some Catholic fundamentalists were in the Ministry of Social Welfare (although with a short stay), such as Minister Roberto Petracca and the Secretary of Promotion and Community Assistance (SEPAC), Roberto Gorostiaga. Both were Catholic militants, members of Ciudad Católica, of the Verbo Magazine and followers of
Jacques de Mahieu. Together with these, in 1967, there were also other types of Catholic groups in the Ministry of Social Welfare, with social Christian principles and modernizing for the time. In this spectrum were the minister, Julio Álvarez, the secretary of SEPAC, Raúl Puigbó, the undersecretary of SEPAC, Antonio Critto, and the undersecretary of Security.
During Onganía's government, the idea of "community development" of the organizations and Catholics came together and allowed the formation of the framework of intervention of the Ministry of Social Welfare. Based above all on the need to decentralize and give importance to the different sectors of the community in the development of some social initiatives.
Thus, the integration of the ministries offers a clear example of the corporatist element of this period. Especially, as it opened institutional areas to the representation of some interests of civil society. However, this opening occurred selectively, including mainly groups that already supported the government. The private actors that were incorporated had a limited role, as they could only provide information and technical advice, since this was considered to be the best form of participation.
Onganía's rule (1966–70)
The new
Minister of Economy, Adalbert Krieger Vasena in December 1966 inaugurated a period that would last until May 1969, characterized by the absence of a well-organized and unified civil opposition.
Krieger Vasena, decreed a wage freeze and a 40% devaluation, which weakened the
economy
An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...
– in particular the agricultural sector – and favored foreign capital. Vasena suspended
collective labour conventions, reformed the "hydrocarbons law" which had established a partial monopoly of the ''
Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales'' (YPF) state firm, and passed a law facilitating the
eviction
Eviction is the removal of a Tenement (law), tenant from leasehold estate, rental property by the landlord. In some jurisdictions it may also involve the removal of persons from premises that were foreclosure, foreclosed by a mortgagee (often ...
of tenants over their non-payment of domestic rent. Finally, 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 ...
was suspended (Law 16,936) and several other laws passed reversing previous progressive
labor legislation (reducing retirement age, etc.).
The workers' movement divided itself between Vandoristas, who supported a "
Peronism
Peronism, also known as justicialism, is an Argentine ideology and movement based on the ideas, doctrine and legacy of Juan Perón (1895–1974). It has been an influential movement in 20th- and 21st-century Argentine politics. Since 1946, P ...
without
Perón" line (
Augusto Vandor
Augusto Timoteo Vandor (1923–1969) was an Argentine trade unionist leader, Argentine Navy, naval non-commissioned officer and Politics of Argentina, politician who Augusto Vandor#Assassination, was assassinated.
Career
Vandor was born in Bovr ...
, leader of the
General Confederation of Labour, declared that "to save Perón, one has to be against Perón") and advocated negotiation with the junta, alongside "Participationists" headed by
José Alonso, and Peronists, who formed the
General Confederation of Labour of the Argentines (CGTA) in 1968 and were opposed to any kind of participation with the military junta. Perón himself, from his exile in
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 ...
, maintained a cautious and ambiguous line of opposition to the regime, rejecting both the endorsement and open confrontation.
Cultural and education policies
Onganía ended university autonomy, which had been achieved by the
University Reform of 1918.
He was responsible for the July 1966 ''
La Noche de los Bastones Largos'' ("The Night of the Long Truncheons"), where university autonomy was violated, 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 ...
. They beat up and arrested students and professors. The university repression led to the exile of 301 university professors, among whom were
Manuel Sadosky,
Tulio Halperín Donghi,
Sergio Bagú, and Risieri Frondizi.
[Marta Slemenson et al., ''Emigración de científicos argentinos. Organización de un éxodo a América Latina ''(?, Buenos Aires, 1970:118)]
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 young men, 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 alienated the middle classes, who were massively present 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 ...
.[
]
Change of direction of the Armed Forces
Towards the end of May 1968, General Julio Alsogaray dissented from Onganía, and rumors spread about a possible coup d'état, with Algosaray leading the opposition to Onganía. At the end of the month Onganía dismissed the leaders of the Armed Forces: Alejandro Lanusse replaced Julio Alsogaray, Pedro Gnavi replaced Benigno Varela, and Jorge Martínez Zuviría replaced Adolfo Alvarez.
Increasing protests
On 19 September 1968, two important events affected Revolutionary Peronism. John William Cooke, former personal delegate of Perón, an ideologist of the Peronist Left and friend of Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...
, died from natural causes. On the same day a group of 13 men and one woman who aimed at establishing a ''foco
A guerrilla foco is a small cadre of revolutionaries operating in a nation's countryside. This guerrilla organization was popularized by Che Guevara in his book ''Guerrilla Warfare (Che Guevara book), Guerrilla Warfare'', which was based on his e ...
'' in Tucumán Province
Tucumán () is the most densely populated, and the second-smallest by land area, of the provinces of Argentina.
Located in the northwest of the country, the province has the capital of San Miguel de Tucumán, often shortened to Tucumán. Neighb ...
, in order to head the resistance against the junta, was captured; among them was Envar El Kadre, then a leader of the Peronist Youth.
In 1969, the ''CGT de los Argentinos'' (led by Raimundo Ongaro
Raimundo José Ongaro (13 February 1924 – 1 August 2016) was an Argentine union leader. He was secretary general of the General Confederation of Labour of the Argentines (CGTA) between 1968 and 1974.
Early career and rise to prominence
Ongaro ...
) headed protest movements, in particular the Cordobazo
The ''Cordobazo'' was a civil uprising in the city of Córdoba, Argentina at the end of May 1969. It occurred a few days after the '' Rosariazo'' protests erupted in the Santa Fe Province against the military dictatorship of General Juan Carlos ...
, as well as other movements in Tucumán, Santa Fe and 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 ...
('' Rosariazo''). While Perón managed a reconciliation with Augusto Vandor, he followed, in particular through the voice of his delegate Jorge Paladino, a cautious line of opposition to the military junta, criticizing with moderation the neoliberal policies of the junta but waiting for discontent inside the government ("''hay que desensillar hasta que aclare''", said Perón, advocating patience). Thus, Onganía had an interview with 46 CGT delegates, among them Vandor, who agreed on "participationism" with the military junta, thus uniting themselves with the ''Nueva Corriente de Opinión'' headed by José Alonso and Rogelio Coria.
In December 1969, more than 20 priests, members of the '' Movement of Priests for the Third World'' (MSTM), marched on the Casa Rosada
The ''Casa Rosada'' (), , is the president of the Argentine Republic's official workplace, located in Buenos Aires. The palatial mansion is known officially as ''Casa de Gobierno'' ("House of Government" or "Government House"). Normally, the pre ...
to present to Onganía a petition pleading him to abandon the eradication plan of ''villas miserias
''Villa miseria'' (), ''villa de emergencia'' or simply ''villa'', is the informal term used in Argentina for shanty town slums.
Name
The term is a noun phrase made up of the Spanish words ''villa'' (''village'', ''small town'') and ''miseria'' ( ...
'' (shanty towns).
The same year, the MSTM issued a declaration supporting Socialist revolutionary movements, which led the Catholic hierarchy, by the voice of Juan Carlos Aramburu, coadjutor archbishop of Buenos Aires, to proscribe priests from making political or social declarations.
Various armed actions, headed by the ''Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación'' (FAL), composed by former members of the Revolutionary Communist Party, occurred in April 1969, leading to several arrests among FAL members. These were the first left-wing urban guerrilla actions in Argentina. Beside these isolated actions, the Cordobazo
The ''Cordobazo'' was a civil uprising in the city of Córdoba, Argentina at the end of May 1969. It occurred a few days after the '' Rosariazo'' protests erupted in the Santa Fe Province against the military dictatorship of General Juan Carlos ...
uprising of 1969, called forth by the CGT de los Argentinos, and its Cordobese leader, Agustín Tosco, prompted demonstrations in the entire country. The same year, the People's Revolutionary Army (ERP) was formed as the military branch of the Trotskyist Workers' Revolutionary Party, leading an armed struggle against the dictatorship.
Levingston's rule (1970–71)
Faced with increasing opposition, in particular following the ''Cordobazo
The ''Cordobazo'' was a civil uprising in the city of Córdoba, Argentina at the end of May 1969. It occurred a few days after the '' Rosariazo'' protests erupted in the Santa Fe Province against the military dictatorship of General Juan Carlos ...
'', General Onganía was forced to resign by the military junta, composed of the chiefs of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force. He was replaced by General Roberto M. Levingston, who, far from calling free elections, decided to deepen the ''Revolución Argentina''. Levingston expressed the nationalist-developmentist sector of the Armed Forces
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a ...
, and was supported by the most intransigent military elements. He named the radical economist Aldo Ferrer as Minister of Economy.
A coalition of political parties issued the statement known as ''La Hora del Pueblo'' ("Time of the People"), calling for free and democratic elections which would include the Justicialist Party
The Justicialist Party (, ; abbr. PJ) is a major political party in Argentina, and the largest branch within Peronism. Following the 2023 presidential election, it has been the largest party in the opposition against President Javier Milei.
Fo ...
. Under this pressure, Levingston was ousted by an internal coup headed by the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces and strongman of the ''Revolución Argentina'', General Alejandro Agustín Lanusse.
Lanusse's rule (1971–73)
The last of the military presidents ''de facto'' of this period, Alejandro Lanusse, was appointed in March 1971. He was as unpopular as his predecessors. His administration started building infrastructure projects (roads, bridges, etc.) necessary for the development of the country, without responding to popular demands concerning social and economic policies.
General Lanusse tried to respond to the ''Hora del Pueblo'' declaration by calling elections but excluding Peronists from them, in the so-called ''Gran Acuerdo Nacional'' (Great National Agreement). He nominated Arturo Mor Roig (Radical Civic Union
The Radical Civic Union (, UCR) is a major political party in Argentina. It has reached the national government on ten occasions, making it one of the most historically important parties in the country. Ideologically, the party has stood for r ...
) as Minister of Interior, who enjoyed the support of the ''Hora del pueblo'' coalition of parties, to supervise the coming elections.
There had been no elections since 1966, and armed struggle groups came into existence, such as the '' Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo'' (ERP, the armed wing of the Workers' Revolutionary Party, PRT), the Catholic nationalist Peronists Montoneros
Montoneros (, MPM) was an Argentine far-left politics, far-left Peronism, Peronist, Camilism, Camilist and Catholic Church, Roman Catholic revolutionary Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla organization, which emerged in the 1970s during the "Argentine ...
and the ''Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias'' (FAR).
In August 1972, an attempt by several revolutionary members to escape from prison, headed by Mario Roberto Santucho
Mario Roberto Santucho (12 August 1936 – 19 July 1976) was an Argentine political militant, founder of the Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores (Workers' Revolutionary Party (Argentina), Workers' Revolutionary Party, PRT) and leader of Ar ...
(PRT), was followed by what became known as the Trelew massacre. Fernando Vaca Narvaja, Roberto Quieto, Enrique Gorriarán Merlo and Domingo Menna managed to complete their escape, but 19 others were re-captured. 16 of them, members of the Montoneros, the FAR, and the ERP, were killed, and 3 managed to survive. On the same night of August 22, 1972, the junta approved law 19,797, which proscribed any information concerning guerrilla organizations. The massacre led to demonstrations in various cities.
Finally, Lanusse lifted the proscription of the Justicialist Party, although he maintained it concerning Juan Perón
Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine military officer and Statesman (politician), statesman who served as the History of Argentina (1946-1955), 29th president of Argentina from 1946 to Revolución Libertad ...
by increasing the number of years of residency required of presidential candidates, thus excluding ''de facto'' Perón from the elections since he had been in exile since the 1955 ''Revolución Libertadora
The ''Revolución Libertadora'' (; ''Liberating Revolution'') as it named itself, was the civic-military dictatorship that ruled the Argentine Republic after overthrowing President Juan Domingo Perón, shutting down the National Congress of Ar ...
''.
Henceforth, Perón decided to appoint as his candidate his personal secretary Héctor José Cámpora, a leftist Peronist, as representative of the FreJuLi (''Frente Justicialista de Liberación'', Justicialist Liberation Front), composed of the Justicialist Party and minor, allied parties. The FreJuLi's electoral slogan was "Cámpora in Government, Perón in power" (''Cámpora al Gobierno, Perón al poder'').
See also
*History of Argentina
The history of Argentina can be divided into four main parts: the pre-Columbian time or early history (up to the sixteenth century), the colonial period (1536–1809), the period of nation-building (1810–1880), and the history of modern Argenti ...
Notes
References
*
{{Authority control
20th-century revolutions
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
1966 in Argentina
20th century in Argentina
History of Argentina (1955–1973)
Military coups in Argentina
Political repression in Argentina
Revolutions in Argentina
June 1966 in South America