Revolución Libertadora
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The ''Revolución Libertadora'' (; ''Liberating Revolution'') as it named itself, was the civic-military
dictatorship A dictatorship is an autocratic form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, who hold governmental powers with few to no Limited government, limitations. Politics in a dictatorship are controlled by a dictator, ...
that ruled the
Argentine Republic 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 ...
after overthrowing President Juan Domingo Perón, shutting down the National Congress, removing members of the Supreme Court, as well as provincial, municipal, and university authorities, and placing the entire Judiciary under commission. This occurred 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 16 September 1955. After two years the dictatorship organized conditional elections, which transferred power on 1 May 1958 to a constitutional government led by the Radical
Arturo Frondizi Arturo Frondizi Ércoli (Paso de los Libres, October 28, 1908 – Buenos Aires, April 18, 1995) was an Argentine lawyer, journalist, teacher, statesman, and politician. He was elected president of Argentina and governed from May ...
, who in turn would also be overthrown by another military-led coup d'état in 1962.


Background

President Perón was first elected in 1946. In 1949, a constitutional amendment sponsored by Peronism introduced a number of labour reforms along with unrestricted presidential reelections. The legitimacy of the new constitution is still controversial. Perón was reelected in 1951. At the time, his administration was widely supported by some
labor unions A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
, the
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 ...
and the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. Economic downturns, some of them product of government's foreign trade policies, Perón's own personality cult, the regime's increasing authoritarian tendencies, including suppression of freedom of press and repression of perceived political rivals, persecution and exile of dissidents and the dismantling of several labour unions, along with clashes with the church and the leadership of the armed forces led to weakening of his base at the same time popular discontent grew. Writers, artists, politicians or anyone perceived as dicident were harassed, blacklisted and even jailed with some forced into exile. As the Church increasingly distanced itself from Perón, the government, which had first respected the Church's privileges, now took them away in a distinctly confrontational fashion. By 1954, the Catholic clergy was openly anti-Peronist, which also influenced some factions of the military. Meanwhile, a Christian Democratic Party was founded in 1954 after several other organisations had been active promoting
Christian democracy Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well ...
in Argentina. By 1955, Perón had lost most of his support. A large contingent of the military, who conspired with other political actors (members of the
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 ...
and the Socialist Party, as well as conservative groups). There was turmoil in different parts of the country. On 14 June, Catholic bishops spoke against Perón during a Corpus Christi
procession A procession is an organized body of people walking in a formal or ceremonial manner. History Processions have in all peoples and at all times been a natural form of public celebration, as forming an orderly and impressive ceremony. Religious ...
which turned into an anti-government demonstration.


Military uprising


First coup attempt

On 16 June 1955, 30
Argentine Navy The Argentine Navy (ARA; ). This forms the basis for the navy's ship prefix "ARA". is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the Argentine Army, Army and the Argentine ...
and
Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...
aircraft bombed Plaza de Mayo, Buenos Aires' main square, killing over 300 civilians and wounding hundreds more. The attack remains to this day the largest aerial bombing ever executed on the Argentine mainland. The bombing targeted the adjacent Casa Rosada, the official seat of government, as a large crowd was gathered there expressing support for president
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 ...
. The strike took place during a day of official public demonstrations to condemn the burning of a
national flag A national flag is a flag that represents and national symbol, symbolizes a given nation. It is Fly (flag), flown by the government of that nation, but can also be flown by its citizens. A national flag is typically designed with specific meanin ...
allegedly carried out by detractors of Perón during the recent
procession A procession is an organized body of people walking in a formal or ceremonial manner. History Processions have in all peoples and at all times been a natural form of public celebration, as forming an orderly and impressive ceremony. Religious ...
of Corpus Christi. In retaliation, extremist Peronist groups attacked and burned several churches that night, allegedly instigated by Vice-President Alberto Teisaire. The only important political support for Perón came from the General Confederation of Labour (the main confederation of labor unions), which called the workers to defend the president. Perón addressed a workers' demonstration on 31 August.


September uprising

On 16 September, a new uprising, led by General Eduardo Lonardi, General Pedro E. Aramburu and Admiral Isaac Rojas, deposed Perón and established a provisional government. For several days, there was some fighting in places like the city of Córdoba (Lonardi's central command), the Puerto Belgrano Naval Base near
Bahía Blanca Bahía Blanca (; English: ''White Bay''), colloquially referred to by its own local inhabitants as simply Bahía, is a city in the Buenos Aires Province, Buenos Aires province of Argentina, centered on the northwestern end of the eponymous Blanc ...
, another naval base at Río Santiago, near
La Plata La Plata () is the capital city of Buenos Aires province, Argentina. According to the 2022 Argentina census, census, the La Plata Partido, Partido has a population of 772,618 and its metropolitan area, the Greater La Plata, has 938,287 inhabit ...
, and a
mechanized infantry Mechanized infantry are infantry units equipped with Armoured personnel carrier, armored personnel carriers (APCs) or infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) for transport and combat (see also armoured corps). As defined by the United States Army, me ...
regiment at Curuzú Cuatiá, Corrientes Province. The rebellion in Corrientes, which was initially defeated, was led by Pedro Eugenio Aramburu, who later became one of the main players of the future government. Two rebel
destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...
s, which were enforcing the blockade of the
Río de la Plata The Río de la Plata (; ), also called the River Plate or La Plata River in English, is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River at Punta Gorda, Colonia, Punta Gorda. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean and ...
, were strafed by loyalist aircraft and suffered some casualties. The port and the army garrison at
Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Argentine Sea, Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón Partido, General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires ...
was subjected to naval bombardment on 19 September by the light cruiser ARA ''9 de Julio'' and several destroyers, while scattered skirmishes and airstrikes took place elsewhere, including
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
itself, where the headquarters of the Nationalist Liberation Alliance, loyal to Perón, were assaulted and destroyed by Sherman tanks on 21 September. After realizing that the country was on the brink of a
civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
, Perón decided to avoid massive bloodshed and resigned as President, subsequently seeking asylum in
Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...
after taking shelter aboard the ''Paraguay'' gunboat. On 23 September, Lonardi assumed the presidency and gave a conciliatory speech from the balcony of the Casa Rosada, saying that there would be "neither victors nor vanquished" (''ni vencedores ni vencidos'', replaying a phrase uttered by Urquiza when he was victorious over Rosas at the Battle of Caseros). General Lonardi promised that the interim administration would end as soon as the country was "reorganized". His conciliatory tone earned him the opposition of hard-liners, and in November an internal coup deposed Lonardi and placed General Aramburu in the presidency, giving rise to a wild "anti-Peronism".


Aftermath

The "Revolución Libertadora" dictatorship soon accused Perón and his followers of treason, and Eva Perón's remains were kidnapped by members of the dictatorship and moved secretly to Italy, where they were buried in a graveyard at
Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
under a fake identity. Public references to Perón or his late wife, including songs, writings and pictures, were forbidden by the dictatorship, even including the mention of the name "Perón" out loud. Sportsmen like Delfo Cabrera, Mary Terán de Weiss, many of the major basketball players, as well as Olympic-level athlete, Osvaldo Suárez, were unfairly punished by the dictatorship and its associated press, by being accused of having gotten their sports success only because they were Perón followers. The Peronist Party suffered a proscription that was to last until Perón's return in
1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...
, even though Perón heavily influenced the results of the 1958 and
1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...
elections from his
exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...
in
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
.


Disputed leadership in the time of the coup d'état

Lonardi led the coup focus in Córdoba on September 16, 1955, calling himself the " Liberating Revolution." Lonardi issued a decree called "Decree No. 1" in which he called himself "provisional president of the Nation," requested recognition from other countries, and established the provisional seat of government in the city of Córdoba. On September 19, 1955, at noon, Perón wrote a confusing letter addressed to General Franklin Lucero, Minister of the Army and loyal to the constitutional government. In the letter, Perón hinted at his resignation: "A few days ago... I decided to hand over power... Now my decision is irrevocable... Analogous decisions by the vice president and the deputies... Government power therefore automatically passes into the hands of the Army." Juan D. Perón. Letter to General Franklin Lucero. Lucero sent a communication to all revolutionary commands calling for a cessation of hostilities and the start of negotiations, which was responded to from Córdoba with a brief text by Lonardi demanding Perón's resignation before accepting the truce. Because the letter was assumed by Lucero as a resignation and Lucero did not want to make the decision and called a meeting of generals, which was attended by more than thirty of them with it he proceeded to form a Military Junta composed of, among others, Generals José Domingo Molina, Raúl Tanco, Juan José Valle, Ángel Juan Manni, Emilio Forcher, José C. Sampayo, Carlos Wirth, Oscar R. Sacheri and Oscar A. Uriondo, who declared that he had assumed Executive Power. Due to the number of generals present, Molina presided over the meeting, as he was the highest-ranking. Also present were the commander-in-chief of the navy, Admiral Carlos Rivero de Olazábal, and the commander-in-chief of the air force, Brigadier General Juan Fabri. José Domingo Molina became the leader of the junta on the same day. The junta first resolved - not without doubts and discussions - that the letter constituted a resignation and replied to Lonardi with a communiqué that was also read by the radio stations under their control, in which they reported the resignation and invited the rebels to send a delegation to meet to negotiate at 24 hours at the headquarters of the Cabildo of Buenos Aires or at the headquarters of the Supreme Court of Justice. Also the general Lucero read Perón's letter over radio and television. However, that same night Perón met with the military junta to inform them that he had not resigned; the junta was not dissolved, however. The rebels did not trust the appointment of the military junta and Admiral Isaac Francisco Rojas, in command of the warships in operations, issued a radiogram proposing that the government delegation go to the flagship of the fleet, the cruiser La Argentina. The delegation composed of Generals Forcher, Sampayo, Sacheri and Manni embarked at 2:00 p.m. on the 20th on the tracker Robinson bound for Río Santiago. The conversations between the envoys of the Junta and the representatives of the revolutionaries that were originally going to take place in Río Santiago were moved to the 17 de Octubre cruiser. At that point in the events the Junta was aware of its powerlessness to resist the coup d'état, especially because forces until then loyal to the government decided to suspend the repression until there were new authorities and was only looking for a decent way out that did not include the mention of an unconditional surrender; Once the agreement formula was agreed upon in the early hours of September 21, at 9:40 a.m. a statement was issued stating "The Military Junta, by virtue of the authority it assumed following the resignation of His Excellency the President of the Nation, has reached a full agreement with the opposition command, accepting the points stipulated with its representatives. On September 22, the retired division general Eduardo Lonardi will take charge of the provisional government. Although he had formed the provisional government in Córdoba on September 20, he was sworn in on September 23, 1955, accompanied by Julio Lagos and Isaac Rojas.


References


Bibliography


Online sources

* ''Peronismo''. * ''Historia Argentina: Los gobiernos de Perón''. * ''Sucesos Históricos Argentinos''. * ''Civiles y militares de 1955 a 1983''. * *
16 de septiembre de 1955 – Golpe autodenominado “Revolución Libertadora”


Further reading

* Potash, Robert A. (1980) ''The Army and Politics in Argentina, 1945–1962: Peron to Frondizi'' Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, * Fracchia, Antonio Luis Sapienza (2022) ''Revolución Libertadora Volume 1 - The 1955 Coup d'état in Argentina'' Helion & Company, Warwick, UK * Fracchia, Antonio Luis Sapienza (2023) ''Revolución Libertadora Volume 2 - The 1955 Coup that Overthrew President Perón'' Helion & Company, Warwick, UK  {{DEFAULTSORT:Revolucion Libertadora 1950s coups d'état and coup attempts 1955 in Argentina 1956 in Argentina 1957 in Argentina 1958 in Argentina Anti-Peronism Conflicts in 1955 History of Argentina (1955–1973) July 1955 in South America June 1955 in South America August 1955 in South America September 1955 in South America Military coups in Argentina Military dictatorships Revolutions in Argentina Counter-revolutionaries