Juan Domingo Perón: democrat or dictator?
Nicholas Williams
Juan Domingo Perón, born in 1895, was the well-known, controversial, divisive and still-influential three-times president of Argentina (1946-52, 1952-55 and 1973-74), married to the colourful Argentinian national icon Eva Perón (who was of course famously played byMadonna in the film Evita ). Eva Peron has become part of Argentina’s national heritage. He and his wife became regarded as champions of the working class. Perón himself is regarded as the founder of the Argentine political doctrine of Peronism. Before discussing whether Perón ran Argentina democratically or dictatorially let us look at some background, at both how he got into power, and his life before becoming president. At the outbreak of WWII Argentina was a divided country, with one side (including, in particular, the armed forces) supporting the German/Axis powers, the other the Allies. Perón was a military man who rose through the ranks in the 1930s to become a colonel. His involvement in politics grew after a military coup in 1943 in which President Ramón Castillo (a short-lived president during a notoriously corrupt period in Argentinian history) was overthrown by General Arturo Rawson. Perón had played an active part in the coup and the new military government appointed Colonel Perón Vice President, Secretary of War and Minister of Labour. Because Perón was enthusiastic about social justice, introducing social reforms such as the country’s first social insurance scheme, pensions, job security, labour courts, paid holidays and severance, among other things. This made him popular with the working class. He also used his position to strengthen links with trade unions. And, incidentally, his public image had been strengthened by his role in helping relief efforts after the devastating 1944 San Juan earthquake in which 10,000 lives had been lost. However, his military superiors didn’t like his increasing popularity. He was forced to resign in October 1945, then arrested and imprisoned four days later. His companion was Evita Duarte (‘Evita’) , who was popular with the poor owing to her own humble origins. With help from trade unions she organized mass protests of ‘descamisados’, ‘shirtless ones’, i.e. the poor, working class, against his arrest. Within weeks he was free. The huge amount of momentum and awareness of these protests gave Perón huge popularity, helping him to become president in 1946. As soon as he became President, he founded his own party called the Justicialist party (Peronist party) and, during his first term as President (1946-52), major political and social changes took place. However, before deciding whether Perón acted more as a dictator or democrat, we need to understand what Peronism is and whom it favoured. Many believe that Peronism was a form of fascism (see the definition of fascism at the end of this essay), owing to the combination of strong nationalism and because Perón was an authoritarian leader. At the same time however, he came into power democratically by winning a large majority in the 1946 Presidential elections. The working class saw Perón as a hero because to Peronism involved a lot of state intervention (i.e. state benefits and a welfare state) and social justice (justicialismo.) He also granted workers paid holidays, a controlled and fixed
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