Infamous Decade
Encyclopedia
The Infamous Decade in Argentina
is the name given to the period of time that started in 1930 with the coup d'état
against President
Hipólito Yrigoyen
by José Félix Uriburu
. This decade was marked by significant rural exodus
, many small rural landowners being ruined by the Great Depression
, which in turn pushed the country towards import substitution industrialization. The poor economic results of the policy and popular discontent led to another coup in 1943, the "Revolution of '43
", by the Grupo de Oficiales Unidos (GOU), the nationalist faction of the Armed Forces, against acting president Ramón Castillo
, putting an end to the Infamous Decade.
, persecution of the political opposition
(mainly against the UCR
) and generalised government corruption, against the background of the Great Depression
. The impact of the economic crisis
forced many farmers and other countryside workers to relocate to the outskirts of the larger cities, resulting in the creation of the first villas miseria
(shanty towns). Thus, the population of Buenos Aires
jumped from 1.5 million inhabitants in 1914 to 3.5 million in 1935. Lacking in political experience, in contrast with the European immigrants
who brought with them socialist and anarchist ideas, these new city-dwellers would provide the social base, in the next decade, for Peronism
.
(founder in 1914 of the Democratic Progressive Party
) denounced various scandals, directing an investigation on the meat trade starting in 1935. In the midst of the investigation, de la Torre's disciple, senator-elect Enzo Bordavere, was murdered by Ramón Valdez Cora on the Senate floor, and the province of Santa Fe was intervened. The murder was depicted by Juan José Jusid
's 1984 film, Asesinato en el Senado de la Nación
.
CHADE (Companía Hispano Argentina de Electricidad, an offshoot of the Sofina multinational conglomerate) was also at the heart of an important political and financial scandal. The CHADE scandal, symbol of the Infamous Decade, led to investigations following the Revolution of 1943 which deposed Ramón Castillo
's government in a military coup, and to the subsequent Rodríguez Conde report on concessions given to the electrical companies.
and his comrade Paulino Scarfó, who had implemented a propaganda of the deed
campaign aimed both at international support of the Sacco and Vanzetti
case and at attacking Fascist Italy
's interests in Argentina, three anarchists were given a life sentence, during a show trial
in which they were torture
d, on the charges of having assassinated family members of the conservative politician José M. Blanch. Known as the "prisoners of Bragado
" (presos de Bragado), the case raised international public indignation. Anarchists, who had created a solidarity network with comrades expelled under the 1902 Law on Residency which legalised the expulsion of immigrants who "compromise national security or disturb public order", were considered as public enemies by Uriburu's dictatorship.
In 1942, Minister Solano Lima
signed a release of the prisoners, whose names were cleared by a 1993 law upheld by Socialist
deputy Guillermo Estévez Boero
. In 2003, a law granted a pension to the daughter of one of the anarchist victim of this show trial.
took part in a failed uprising, led by Colonels Francisco Bosch and Gregorio Pomar in Paso de los Libres
, in the province of Corrientes
, and was subsequently detained.
with the United Kingdom, which assured the UK a provision of fresh meat in exchange for important investments in the field of transportation in Argentina
, given certain economic concessions from Argentina, such as giving control over the public transport in Buenos Aires to a British company, the Corporación de Transportes.
At the 1932 Ottawa Conference, the British had adopted measures that favored imports from its own colonies and dominions. The pressure from the Argentine landowners for whom the government restored trade with the main buyer of Argentine grain and meat had been very strong. Led by the president of the British Trade Council, Viscount Walter Runciman
, they were intense and resulted in the signing on April 27 of the Roca-Runciman Treaty.
The treaty created a scandal, because the UK allotted Argentina a quota less than any of its dominions. 390,000 tons of meat per year were allotted to Argentina in exchange for many concessions to British companies. 85% of exportation had to be arranged through British refrigerated shippers. The tariffs of the railways operated by the UK were not regulated. They had not established customs fees over coal. They had given special dispensation to the British companies with investments in Argentina. They had reduced the prices of their exports. As many problems resulted from the declarations of the vice-president Roca, who affirmed after the signing of the treaty, "By its economic importance, Argentina resembles just a large British dominion."
Lisandro de la Torre
, one of his principal and most vociferous opponents, mocking the words of Roca in an editorial, wrote, "In these conditions we wouldn't be able to say that Argentina had been converted into a British dominion because England does not take the liberty to impose similar humiliations upon its dominions."
The National Democratic Party, one of the parties who had supported the nomination of Justo for President, had split because of this controversy. Finally, the Senate rescinded the treaty on July 28. Many workers strikes followed the deliberations, especially in the Santa Fé Province
, which ended with government intervention.
. Important firms, such as the Bunge & Born agribusiness
food company, or the Tornquist group
, previously turned towards exports, began to diversify their activities and invest in national industries aimed at local consumption.
Under the direction of the conservative Minister of Economy Federico Pinedo, economic policy became interventionist, although still in a conservative aim. Pinedo created the Central Bank
(BCRA), which was advised by Sir Otto Niemeyer
, the director of the Bank of England
. The BCRA's board of director was mainly composed of personalities tied to private banks. It had as its missions the managing of the peso
and the regulation of interest rates. Writer and thinker Raúl Scalabrini Ortiz
was a strong critic of British involvement in Argentina, of which the BCRA itself was the prime example.
The Juntas Reguladores Nacionales were also created during this period, aimed at developing private and state activities and controlling the quality of products, both for national consumption and for export. In order to support prices
of products and avoid overproduction
, the Juntas destroyed entire loads of corn
, used as fuel for locomotives, despite popular hunger. 30 million pesos per year were used to destroy wine
products.
Furthermore, Pinedo launched a national project of road construction, the national network reaching 30,000 kilometers in 1938 (although many remained without pavement). This competed with the railway system, in the hands of mostly British companies, and furthered the penetration of US firms selling motorized vehicles, in the Argentine market. US foreign direct investment
(FDI) grew during this time, with firms such as the textile firms Sudamtex, Ducilo and Anderson Clayton establishing themselves in Argentina, as well as the tire companies Firestone
and Goodyear
, the electronics firm Philco
and the chemistry firm Johnson & Johnson
.
Notable exceptions to these conservative policies were the policies of Luciano Molinas, governor of the Santa Fe Province
(1932–1936) and one of the leader of the Democratic Progressive Party
, and of Amadeo Sabattini
, Governor of Córdoba
(1936–1940). The first act of governor Molinas, assuming office on February 20, 1932, was to re-establish the progressive Constitution of the Santa Fe Province established by the Constituent Assembly of 1921, which had been abrogated by the radical governor Enrique Mosca
. He also ensured independence of the judicial system, tax equality, secular education
, women's suffrage
and right of foreigners' to vote for the election of communal authorities. Molinas' administration also created the Provincial Department of Labour, which ensured the observance of article 28 of the provincial Constitution, concerning the 8 hours day, minimum wages and regulation of child and female labour. Molinas also reduced his salary from 2,500 to 1,800 pesos, suspended payment of the external debt of the province, which permitted Santa Fe's budget to become positive. Henceforth, he subsidized public works under the impulsion of the minister Alberto Casella, leading to increased local employment. He also implemented moderate land reforms, harshly opposed by the conservative and Alvearist radicals, as well as the Sociedad Rural. Finally, he created the Experimental Institute of Agricultural Investigation, a predecessor of the National Agricultural Technology Institute
(INTA).
However, fearing electoral defeats for the Concordancia
both in Santa Fe and in the Electoral College, Justo ordered military intervention in the Santa Fe Province on October 3, 1935, sending the Colonel Perlinger and the minister Joaquín F. Rodríguez to take control of the local government. Armed resistance against the federal intervention occurred, but in order to avoid a bloodbath, Molinas and De la Torre rejected the resistance. Rodríguez soon abrogated again the 1921 Constitution and progressively dismantled Molinas' achievements.
Justo had already ordered intervention in the Provinces of San Juan and Tucumán in 1934, and ordered similar military interventions in Catamarca
, Santa Fe
and Buenos Aires
in 1935 (the latter enabling the fraudulent election of Manuel Fresco as governor ). Despite this federal intervention, Marcelo Alvear's Radical party (UCR) decided in 1935 to abandon its abstentionist policy protesting the fraud. Opposed to Alvear's turnaround, in 1935, young Yrigoyenistas from a nationalist background founded FORJA (Fuerza Orientadora Radical de la Juventud Argentina, Radical Orienting Force of Argentine Youth), which had as leaders the Socialist Arturo Jauretche
, Raúl Scalabrini Ortiz
and Gabriel del Mazo. FORJA's motto was: "We are a colonial
Argentina, we want to be a free Argentina." Among other things, FORJA denounced the silence of the government on many problems such as the creation of the Central Bank, "economic sacrifices imposed in benefices of foreign capitalism", "petroleum politics
", "arbitrary military interventions", "restrictions to freedom of opinion", "incorporation to the League of Nations
", "suppression of relations with Russia", "parliamentary investigations", "the Senate crime", etc.
existed in Argentina: the Confederación Obrera Argentina (COA, founded in 1926 and linked to the Socialist Party
), the Unión Sindical Argentina (USA, anarcho-syndicalist) and the FORA V
(dissolved by Uriburu). On September 20, 1930, the COA and the USA merged in the General Confederation of Labour
(CGT), although the two rival tendencies remained.
Meanwhile, the syndicalist current of the CGT was discredited, because of its supporting alliance with the government in order to achieve social advances, while the socialist current proposed open opposition, tied to political support to the Socialist party. The syndicalist current was in particular affected by its agreements with the pro-fascist governor of Buenos Aires, Manuel Fresco (1936–1940). The latter, who had been elected during one of the "most burlesque" and "fraudulent" elections of the Infamous Decade (according to the words of the US embassador ), commissionned the architect Francisco Salamone
various buildings, which combined Art Deco
, functionalism
, Futurism
and Fascist architecture
s.
Although the Great Depression
and the subsequent rural exodus
had brought many politically inexperienced workers to Buenos Aires
, the spontaneous import substitution industrialization enabled, starting in 1935, coupled to the strengthening of trade unions, enabled wages' increase. Henceforth, a 48-hour general strike
was launched in January 1936 by workers' in construction, during which 3 workers and 3 policemen were killed.
Federico Pinedo, still Minister of Economy, presented on 18 November 1940 an "Economic Reactivation Plan", which was to implement some protectionist
measures and building of social lodging in order to face the crisis. He also proposed the nationalization of the British railways, having agreed upon advantageous terms for their owners with them beforehand. However, the conservatives voted against his plan, which led him to resign.
During World War II, Argentina maintained the same neutrality it had adopted during the first World War
, which was advantageous for Great Britain. Although the USA attempted to push the country into the war, during the January 1942 Rio de Janeiro Conference, Argentina resisted, with support from the British. A few months later, in June 1942, Ortiz resigned because of his sickness, and died a month later.
He was replaced by his vice-president Castillo, who began to work to launch the candidacy of Robustiano Patrón Costas
, vice-president of the Senate and sugar entrepreneur, who had supported him in 1938. Meanwhile, the Democratic Union political coalition (which included the Radical Civic Union
, the Democratic Progressive Party
, as well as the Socialist Party
and the Communist Party) had been formed in 1942. Their electoral platform, aimed against endemic corruption, announced the needs to guarantee "freedom of thought and assembly" and "labor union rights", as well as vouching for "active solidarity with the people struggling against the Nazi-Fascist aggression".
and Fascist Italy
, the GOU established General Pedro Ramírez
as chief of state, despite a short attempt by General Arturo Rawson
to claim the office.
(two consecutive periods, 1989–1999) has been referred to as the "second" (or "new") Infamous Decade by strong critics of its neoliberalist
policies and its perceived corruption, especially from the left wing. The period 1999–2001 under Fernando de la Rúa
is sometimes included, as a continuation of those policies.
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
is the name given to the period of time that started in 1930 with the coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
against President
President of Argentina
The President of the Argentine Nation , usually known as the President of Argentina, is the head of state of Argentina. Under the national Constitution, the President is also the chief executive of the federal government and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.Through Argentine history, the...
Hipólito Yrigoyen
Hipólito Yrigoyen
Juan Hipólito del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús Irigoyen Alem was twice President of Argentina . His activism became the prime impetus behind the obtainment of universal suffrage in Argentina in 1912...
by José Félix Uriburu
José Félix Uriburu
General José Félix Benito Uriburu y Uriburu was the first de facto President of Argentina, achieved through a military coup, from September 6, 1930 to February 20, 1932.-Biography:...
. This decade was marked by significant rural exodus
Rural exodus
Rural flight is a term used to describe the migratory patterns of peoples from rural areas into urban areas.In modern times, it often occurs in a region following the industrialization of agriculture when fewer people are needed to bring the same amount of agricultural output to market and related...
, many small rural landowners being ruined by the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, which in turn pushed the country towards import substitution industrialization. The poor economic results of the policy and popular discontent led to another coup in 1943, the "Revolution of '43
Revolution of '43
The 1943 Argentine coup d'état was a Coup d'état on June 4, 1943 which ended the government of Ramón Castillo, who had been fraudulently elected to office, as part of the period known as the Infamous Decade...
", by the Grupo de Oficiales Unidos (GOU), the nationalist faction of the Armed Forces, against acting president Ramón Castillo
Ramón Castillo
Ramón S. Castillo Barrionuevo was a conservative Argentine politician who served as President of Argentina from June 27, 1942 to June 4, 1943...
, putting an end to the Infamous Decade.
The Infamous Decade
This period was characterised by electoral fraudElectoral fraud
Electoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an election. Acts of fraud affect vote counts to bring about an election result, whether by increasing the vote share of the favored candidate, depressing the vote share of the rival candidates or both...
, persecution of the political opposition
Opposition (politics)
In politics, the opposition comprises one or more political parties or other organized groups that are opposed to the government , party or group in political control of a city, region, state or country...
(mainly against the UCR
Radical Civic Union
The Radical Civic Union is a political party in Argentina. The party's positions on issues range from liberal to social democratic. The UCR is a member of the Socialist International. Founded in 1891 by radical liberals, it is the oldest political party active in Argentina...
) and generalised government corruption, against the background of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. The impact of the economic crisis
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
forced many farmers and other countryside workers to relocate to the outskirts of the larger cities, resulting in the creation of the first villas miseria
Villa miseria
A villa miseria is a form of shanty town or slum found in Argentina, mostly around the largest urban settlements. The term is a compound noun made of the Spanish words villa "village, small town" and miseria "misery, dejection"...
(shanty towns). Thus, the population of Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
jumped from 1.5 million inhabitants in 1914 to 3.5 million in 1935. Lacking in political experience, in contrast with the European immigrants
Immigration to Argentina
Immigration in Argentina, can be divided in several major stages:* Spanish colonization starting in the 16th century, integrating the indigenous inhabitants ....
who brought with them socialist and anarchist ideas, these new city-dwellers would provide the social base, in the next decade, for Peronism
Peronism
Peronism , or Justicialism , is an Argentine political movement based on the programmes associated with former President Juan Perón and his second wife, Eva Perón...
.
Political and economic scandals
The democratic liberal senator Lisandro de la TorreLisandro de la Torre
Lisandro de la Torre was an Argentine politician, born in Rosario, province of Santa Fe.De la Torre became a lawyer in 1890. His thesis about municipalities and communes, as well as other works of his, gave rise to the idea of municipal autonomy in Argentina, which was included in the Argentine...
(founder in 1914 of the Democratic Progressive Party
Democratic Progressive Party (Argentina)
The Democratic Progressive Party is a provincial political party in Santa Fe, Argentina. It was founded by Lisandro de la Torre at the Savoy Hotel in Buenos Aires on December 14, 1914. One of its founders was the academic Dr...
) denounced various scandals, directing an investigation on the meat trade starting in 1935. In the midst of the investigation, de la Torre's disciple, senator-elect Enzo Bordavere, was murdered by Ramón Valdez Cora on the Senate floor, and the province of Santa Fe was intervened. The murder was depicted by Juan José Jusid
Juan José Jusid
Juan José Jusid is an Argentine film director and screenwriter.He started his professional career as an actor, Puppeteer and stage photographer in the 1960s then switched to film studies at the Association of Short Film Directors.He turned director and screenwriter in 1968 and has directed...
's 1984 film, Asesinato en el Senado de la Nación
Asesinato en el Senado de la Nación
Asesinato en el senado de la nación is a 1984 Argentine historical crime drama film directed by Juan José Jusid and written by Carlos Somigliana. The film starred José Soriano, Miguel Ángel Solá and Oscar Martínez and premiered on 13 September 1984 in Buenos Aires...
.
CHADE (Companía Hispano Argentina de Electricidad, an offshoot of the Sofina multinational conglomerate) was also at the heart of an important political and financial scandal. The CHADE scandal, symbol of the Infamous Decade, led to investigations following the Revolution of 1943 which deposed Ramón Castillo
Ramón Castillo
Ramón S. Castillo Barrionuevo was a conservative Argentine politician who served as President of Argentina from June 27, 1942 to June 4, 1943...
's government in a military coup, and to the subsequent Rodríguez Conde report on concessions given to the electrical companies.
The Argentine Sacco & Vanzetti show trial
In 1931, a year after the execution of the Italian anarchist Severino Di GiovanniSeverino Di Giovanni
Severino Di Giovanni , was an Italian anarchist who immigrated to Argentina, where he became the best-known anarchist figure in that country for his campaign of violence in support of Sacco and Vanzetti and antifascism.- Italy :Di Giovanni was born on March 17, 1901, in the town of Chieti, in the...
and his comrade Paulino Scarfó, who had implemented a propaganda of the deed
Propaganda of the deed
Propaganda of the deed is a concept that refers to specific political actions meant to be exemplary to others...
campaign aimed both at international support of the Sacco and Vanzetti
Sacco and Vanzetti
Ferdinando Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were anarchists who were convicted of murdering two men during a 1920 armed robbery in South Braintree, Massachusetts, United States...
case and at attacking Fascist Italy
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
's interests in Argentina, three anarchists were given a life sentence, during a show trial
Show trial
The term show trial is a pejorative description of a type of highly public trial in which there is a strong connotation that the judicial authorities have already determined the guilt of the defendant. The actual trial has as its only goal to present the accusation and the verdict to the public as...
in which they were torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
d, on the charges of having assassinated family members of the conservative politician José M. Blanch. Known as the "prisoners of Bragado
Bragado
Bragado is a city in the center-northwest province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the head town of Bragado Partido. The city is 210 km west-southwest from Buenos Aires City, not far from the Salado River.-Etymology and Legend:...
" (presos de Bragado), the case raised international public indignation. Anarchists, who had created a solidarity network with comrades expelled under the 1902 Law on Residency which legalised the expulsion of immigrants who "compromise national security or disturb public order", were considered as public enemies by Uriburu's dictatorship.
In 1942, Minister Solano Lima
Vicente Solano Lima
Vicente Solano Lima was a moderately conservative newspaper publisher and politician who served as Vice President of Argentina from May 25, 1973 to July 13, 1973.-Life and times:...
signed a release of the prisoners, whose names were cleared by a 1993 law upheld by Socialist
Popular Socialist Party (Argentina)
The Popular Socialist Party was a political party in Argentina formed in 1972 with the merger of the Argentine Socialist Party, the Movimiento de Acción Popular Argentino and other minor groups....
deputy Guillermo Estévez Boero
Guillermo Estévez Boero
Guillermo Estévez Boero was an Argentine student activist, lawyer and Socialist politician.Estévez Boero was born in Rosario, Santa Fe Province, and studied Law at the National University of the Littoral, where he was a disciple of the Spanish criminal expert and President in exile of the Second...
. In 2003, a law granted a pension to the daughter of one of the anarchist victim of this show trial.
Justo's presidency (1932–1938)
In 1933, Arturo JauretcheArturo Jauretche
Arturo Martín Jauretche was an Argentine writer, politician, and philosopher.-Early years:...
took part in a failed uprising, led by Colonels Francisco Bosch and Gregorio Pomar in Paso de los Libres
Paso de los Libres
Paso de los Libres is a city in the east of the province of Corrientes in the Argentine Mesopotamia. It has about 44,000 inhabitants as of the , and is the head town of the department of the same name....
, in the province of Corrientes
Corrientes Province
Corrientes is a province in northeast Argentina, in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by : Paraguay, the province of Misiones, Brazil, Uruguay, and the provinces of Entre Rios, Santa Fe and Chaco.-History:...
, and was subsequently detained.
The Roca-Runciman Treaty
It was during Justo's term that Argentina signed the Roca-Runciman TreatyRoca-Runciman Treaty
The Roca-Runciman Treaty was a commercial agreement between Argentina and Great Britain signed in London by the Vice President of Argentina, Julio Argentino Roca, Jr., and the president of the British Board of Trade, Sir Walter Runciman, the British envoy....
with the United Kingdom, which assured the UK a provision of fresh meat in exchange for important investments in the field of transportation in Argentina
Transportation in Argentina
Transport in Argentina is mainly based on a complex network of routes, crossed by relatively inexpensive long-distance buses and by cargo trucks. The country also has a number of national and international airports. The importance of the long-distance train is minor today, though in the past it was...
, given certain economic concessions from Argentina, such as giving control over the public transport in Buenos Aires to a British company, the Corporación de Transportes.
At the 1932 Ottawa Conference, the British had adopted measures that favored imports from its own colonies and dominions. The pressure from the Argentine landowners for whom the government restored trade with the main buyer of Argentine grain and meat had been very strong. Led by the president of the British Trade Council, Viscount Walter Runciman
Walter Runciman
Walter Runciman may refer to:*Walter Runciman, 1st Baron Runciman , shipping magnate, Liberal MP, and peer*Walter Runciman, 1st Viscount Runciman of Doxford , son of the above, Liberal and later National Liberal MP and government minister*Walter Leslie Runciman, 2nd Viscount Runciman of Doxford *...
, they were intense and resulted in the signing on April 27 of the Roca-Runciman Treaty.
The treaty created a scandal, because the UK allotted Argentina a quota less than any of its dominions. 390,000 tons of meat per year were allotted to Argentina in exchange for many concessions to British companies. 85% of exportation had to be arranged through British refrigerated shippers. The tariffs of the railways operated by the UK were not regulated. They had not established customs fees over coal. They had given special dispensation to the British companies with investments in Argentina. They had reduced the prices of their exports. As many problems resulted from the declarations of the vice-president Roca, who affirmed after the signing of the treaty, "By its economic importance, Argentina resembles just a large British dominion."
Lisandro de la Torre
Lisandro de la Torre
Lisandro de la Torre was an Argentine politician, born in Rosario, province of Santa Fe.De la Torre became a lawyer in 1890. His thesis about municipalities and communes, as well as other works of his, gave rise to the idea of municipal autonomy in Argentina, which was included in the Argentine...
, one of his principal and most vociferous opponents, mocking the words of Roca in an editorial, wrote, "In these conditions we wouldn't be able to say that Argentina had been converted into a British dominion because England does not take the liberty to impose similar humiliations upon its dominions."
The National Democratic Party, one of the parties who had supported the nomination of Justo for President, had split because of this controversy. Finally, the Senate rescinded the treaty on July 28. Many workers strikes followed the deliberations, especially in the Santa Fé Province
Santa Fe Province
The Invincible Province of Santa Fe, in Spanish Provincia Invencible de Santa Fe , is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco , Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Santiago del Estero...
, which ended with government intervention.
Import substitution industrialization and Pinedo's economic policies
On the other hand, the trade isolationism of the world powers ultimately prompted the beginning of Argentine industrial development via import substitutionImport substitution
Import substitution industrialization or "Import-substituting Industrialization" is a trade and economic policy that advocates replacing imports with domestic production. It is based on the premise that a country should attempt to reduce its foreign dependency through the local production of...
. Important firms, such as the Bunge & Born agribusiness
Agribusiness
In agriculture, agribusiness is a generic term for the various businesses involved in food production, including farming and contract farming, seed supply, agrichemicals, farm machinery, wholesale and distribution, processing, marketing, and retail sales....
food company, or the Tornquist group
Ernesto Tornquist
Ernesto Carlos Tornquist is considered to be one of the most important entrepreneurs in Argentina at the end of the 19th century. The diversified business empire he created played a key role in helping to link Argentina with the trading and financial systems of the first world...
, previously turned towards exports, began to diversify their activities and invest in national industries aimed at local consumption.
Under the direction of the conservative Minister of Economy Federico Pinedo, economic policy became interventionist, although still in a conservative aim. Pinedo created the Central Bank
Banco Central de la República Argentina
-Overview:Established by six Acts of Congress enacted on May 28, 1935, the bank replaced Argentina's Currency board, which had been in operation since 1890...
(BCRA), which was advised by Sir Otto Niemeyer
Otto Niemeyer
Sir Otto Ernst Niemeyer, GBE, KCB was financial controller at the Treasury and a director at the Bank of England. He was also treasurer of the National Association of Mental Health post World War II...
, the director of the Bank of England
Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...
. The BCRA's board of director was mainly composed of personalities tied to private banks. It had as its missions the managing of the peso
Argentine peso
The peso is the currency of Argentina, identified by the symbol $ preceding the amount in the same way as many countries using dollar currencies. It is subdivided into 100 centavos. Its ISO 4217 code is ARS...
and the regulation of interest rates. Writer and thinker Raúl Scalabrini Ortiz
Raúl Scalabrini Ortiz
Raúl Scalabrini Ortiz was an Argentine writer, journalist, essayist and poet, friend of Arturo Jauretche and Homero Manzi, and loosely associated with the political group Fuerza de Orientación Radical de la Joven Argentina .Scalabrini Ortiz was born in Corrientes, the son of the naturalist Pedro...
was a strong critic of British involvement in Argentina, of which the BCRA itself was the prime example.
The Juntas Reguladores Nacionales were also created during this period, aimed at developing private and state activities and controlling the quality of products, both for national consumption and for export. In order to support prices
Price support
In economics, a price support may be either a subsidy or a price control, both with the intended effect of keeping the market price of a good higher than the competitive equilibrium level....
of products and avoid overproduction
Overproduction
In economics, overproduction, oversupply or excess of supply refers to excess of supply over demand of products being offered to the market...
, the Juntas destroyed entire loads of corn
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
, used as fuel for locomotives, despite popular hunger. 30 million pesos per year were used to destroy wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
products.
Furthermore, Pinedo launched a national project of road construction, the national network reaching 30,000 kilometers in 1938 (although many remained without pavement). This competed with the railway system, in the hands of mostly British companies, and furthered the penetration of US firms selling motorized vehicles, in the Argentine market. US foreign direct investment
Foreign direct investment
Foreign direct investment or foreign investment refers to the net inflows of investment to acquire a lasting management interest in an enterprise operating in an economy other than that of the investor.. It is the sum of equity capital,other long-term capital, and short-term capital as shown in...
(FDI) grew during this time, with firms such as the textile firms Sudamtex, Ducilo and Anderson Clayton establishing themselves in Argentina, as well as the tire companies Firestone
Firestone Tire and Rubber Company
The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company is an American tire company founded by Harvey Firestone in 1900 to supply pneumatic tires for wagons, buggies, and other forms of wheeled transportation common in the era. Firestone soon saw the huge potential for marketing tires for automobiles. The company...
and Goodyear
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company was founded in 1898 by Frank Seiberling. Goodyear manufactures tires for automobiles, commercial trucks, light trucks, SUVs, race cars, airplanes, farm equipment and heavy earth-mover machinery....
, the electronics firm Philco
Philco
Philco, the Philadelphia Storage Battery Company , was a pioneer in early battery, radio, and television production as well as former employer of Philo Farnsworth, inventor of cathode ray tube television...
and the chemistry firm Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson is an American multinational pharmaceutical, medical devices and consumer packaged goods manufacturer founded in 1886. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company is listed among the Fortune 500....
.
Notable exceptions to these conservative policies were the policies of Luciano Molinas, governor of the Santa Fe Province
Santa Fe Province
The Invincible Province of Santa Fe, in Spanish Provincia Invencible de Santa Fe , is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco , Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Santiago del Estero...
(1932–1936) and one of the leader of the Democratic Progressive Party
Democratic Progressive Party (Argentina)
The Democratic Progressive Party is a provincial political party in Santa Fe, Argentina. It was founded by Lisandro de la Torre at the Savoy Hotel in Buenos Aires on December 14, 1914. One of its founders was the academic Dr...
, and of Amadeo Sabattini
Amadeo Sabattini
Amadeo Tomás Sabattini was an Argentine politician. He served as Governor of Córdoba from May 17, 1936, to May 17, 1940....
, Governor of Córdoba
Governor of Córdoba
This is a list of the Governors of Córdoba. The Governor of the Argentine province of Córdoba is the highest executive officer of the province.-See also:*Politics of Argentina*Córdoba Province...
(1936–1940). The first act of governor Molinas, assuming office on February 20, 1932, was to re-establish the progressive Constitution of the Santa Fe Province established by the Constituent Assembly of 1921, which had been abrogated by the radical governor Enrique Mosca
Enrique Mosca
Enrique Mosca was an Argentine lawyer and politician prominent in the centrist UCR.-Life and times:Enrique Mosca was born in Santa Fe, in 1880...
. He also ensured independence of the judicial system, tax equality, secular education
Education in Argentina
Education in Argentina is a responsibility shared by the national government, the provinces and federal district and private institutions, though basic guidelines have historically been set by the Ministry of Education...
, women's suffrage
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
and right of foreigners' to vote for the election of communal authorities. Molinas' administration also created the Provincial Department of Labour, which ensured the observance of article 28 of the provincial Constitution, concerning the 8 hours day, minimum wages and regulation of child and female labour. Molinas also reduced his salary from 2,500 to 1,800 pesos, suspended payment of the external debt of the province, which permitted Santa Fe's budget to become positive. Henceforth, he subsidized public works under the impulsion of the minister Alberto Casella, leading to increased local employment. He also implemented moderate land reforms, harshly opposed by the conservative and Alvearist radicals, as well as the Sociedad Rural. Finally, he created the Experimental Institute of Agricultural Investigation, a predecessor of the National Agricultural Technology Institute
Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria
The National Agricultural Technology Institute , commonly known as INTA, is an Argentine federal agency in charge of the generation, adaptation and diffusion of technologies, knowledge and learning procedures for the agriculture, forest and agro-industrial activities within an ecologically clean...
(INTA).
However, fearing electoral defeats for the Concordancia
Concordancia (Argentina)
The Concordancia was a political alliance in Argentina. Three Presidents belonging to the Concordance were in power from 1931 to 1943, a period known in Argentina as the "Infamous Decade."...
both in Santa Fe and in the Electoral College, Justo ordered military intervention in the Santa Fe Province on October 3, 1935, sending the Colonel Perlinger and the minister Joaquín F. Rodríguez to take control of the local government. Armed resistance against the federal intervention occurred, but in order to avoid a bloodbath, Molinas and De la Torre rejected the resistance. Rodríguez soon abrogated again the 1921 Constitution and progressively dismantled Molinas' achievements.
Justo had already ordered intervention in the Provinces of San Juan and Tucumán in 1934, and ordered similar military interventions in Catamarca
Catamarca Province
Catamarca is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. The province has a population of 334,568 as per the , and covers an area of 102,602 km². Its literacy rate is 95.5%. Neighbouring provinces are : Salta, Tucumán, Santiago del Estero, Córdoba, and La Rioja...
, Santa Fe
Santa Fe Province
The Invincible Province of Santa Fe, in Spanish Provincia Invencible de Santa Fe , is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco , Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Santiago del Estero...
and Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires Province
The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...
in 1935 (the latter enabling the fraudulent election of Manuel Fresco as governor ). Despite this federal intervention, Marcelo Alvear's Radical party (UCR) decided in 1935 to abandon its abstentionist policy protesting the fraud. Opposed to Alvear's turnaround, in 1935, young Yrigoyenistas from a nationalist background founded FORJA (Fuerza Orientadora Radical de la Juventud Argentina, Radical Orienting Force of Argentine Youth), which had as leaders the Socialist Arturo Jauretche
Arturo Jauretche
Arturo Martín Jauretche was an Argentine writer, politician, and philosopher.-Early years:...
, Raúl Scalabrini Ortiz
Raúl Scalabrini Ortiz
Raúl Scalabrini Ortiz was an Argentine writer, journalist, essayist and poet, friend of Arturo Jauretche and Homero Manzi, and loosely associated with the political group Fuerza de Orientación Radical de la Joven Argentina .Scalabrini Ortiz was born in Corrientes, the son of the naturalist Pedro...
and Gabriel del Mazo. FORJA's motto was: "We are a colonial
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
Argentina, we want to be a free Argentina." Among other things, FORJA denounced the silence of the government on many problems such as the creation of the Central Bank, "economic sacrifices imposed in benefices of foreign capitalism", "petroleum politics
Petroleum politics
Petroleum politics have been an increasingly important aspect of diplomacy since the rise of the petroleum industry in the Middle East in the early 20th century...
", "arbitrary military interventions", "restrictions to freedom of opinion", "incorporation to the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
", "suppression of relations with Russia", "parliamentary investigations", "the Senate crime", etc.
The workers' movement
At the time of the 1930 coup, three trade unionsTrade unions in Argentina
Trade unions in Argentina have traditionally played a strong role in the politics of the nation. The largest trade union association, the Confederación General del Trabajo has been a force since the 1930s, and approximately 40% of workers in the formal economy are unionized.- The FORA :The...
existed in Argentina: the Confederación Obrera Argentina (COA, founded in 1926 and linked to the Socialist Party
Socialist Party (Argentina)
The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in Argentina. The history of socialism in Argentina began in the 1890s, when a group of people, notably Juan B. Justo, expressed the need for a greater social focus....
), the Unión Sindical Argentina (USA, anarcho-syndicalist) and the FORA V
Argentine Regional Workers' Federation
The Argentine Regional Workers' Federation , founded in 1901, was Argentina's first national labor confederation...
(dissolved by Uriburu). On September 20, 1930, the COA and the USA merged in the General Confederation of Labour
General Confederation of Labour (Argentina)
The General Confederation of Labour of the Argentine Republic is a national trade union centre of Argentina founded on September 27, 1930, as the result of the merge of the USA and the COA trade union centres...
(CGT), although the two rival tendencies remained.
Meanwhile, the syndicalist current of the CGT was discredited, because of its supporting alliance with the government in order to achieve social advances, while the socialist current proposed open opposition, tied to political support to the Socialist party. The syndicalist current was in particular affected by its agreements with the pro-fascist governor of Buenos Aires, Manuel Fresco (1936–1940). The latter, who had been elected during one of the "most burlesque" and "fraudulent" elections of the Infamous Decade (according to the words of the US embassador ), commissionned the architect Francisco Salamone
Francisco Salamone
Francisco Salamone was an Argentine architect of Italian descent who, between 1936 and 1940, during the Infamous Decade, built more than 60 municipal buildings with elements of Art Deco style in 25 rural communities on the Argentine Pampas within the Buenos Aires Province...
various buildings, which combined Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
, functionalism
Functionalism (architecture)
Functionalism, in architecture, is the principle that architects should design a building based on the purpose of that building. This statement is less self-evident than it first appears, and is a matter of confusion and controversy within the profession, particularly in regard to modern...
, Futurism
Futurism
Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century.Futurism or futurist may refer to:* Afrofuturism, an African-American and African diaspora subculture* Cubo-Futurism* Ego-Futurism...
and Fascist architecture
Fascist architecture
Rationalist-Fascist architecture was an Italian architectural style developed during the fascism regime and in particular starting from the late 1920s. It was promoted and practiced initially by the Gruppo 7 group, whose architects included Luigi Figini, Guido Frette, Sebastiano Larco, Gino...
s.
Although the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
and the subsequent rural exodus
Rural exodus
Rural flight is a term used to describe the migratory patterns of peoples from rural areas into urban areas.In modern times, it often occurs in a region following the industrialization of agriculture when fewer people are needed to bring the same amount of agricultural output to market and related...
had brought many politically inexperienced workers to Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, the spontaneous import substitution industrialization enabled, starting in 1935, coupled to the strengthening of trade unions, enabled wages' increase. Henceforth, a 48-hour general strike
General strike
A general strike is a strike action by a critical mass of the labour force in a city, region, or country. While a general strike can be for political goals, economic goals, or both, it tends to gain its momentum from the ideological or class sympathies of the participants...
was launched in January 1936 by workers' in construction, during which 3 workers and 3 policemen were killed.
Ortiz and Castillo administration (1938–1943)
Roberto Marcelino Ortiz and Ramón S. Castillo's candidacies, respectively as president and vice-president, for the 1938 elections were launched at the British Chamber of Commerce, and supported by its president William Mc Callum. Ortiz, a former Alvearista, was fraudulently elected, and assumed his new office in February 1938. However, without much success, he attempted to clean up the country's corruption, ordering federal intervention in the Province of Buenos Aires, governed by Manuel Fresco, and cancelling the fraudulent elections which had been won by the conservative Alberto Barceló.Federico Pinedo, still Minister of Economy, presented on 18 November 1940 an "Economic Reactivation Plan", which was to implement some protectionist
Protectionism
Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between states through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other government regulations designed to allow "fair competition" between imports and goods and services produced domestically.This...
measures and building of social lodging in order to face the crisis. He also proposed the nationalization of the British railways, having agreed upon advantageous terms for their owners with them beforehand. However, the conservatives voted against his plan, which led him to resign.
During World War II, Argentina maintained the same neutrality it had adopted during the first World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, which was advantageous for Great Britain. Although the USA attempted to push the country into the war, during the January 1942 Rio de Janeiro Conference, Argentina resisted, with support from the British. A few months later, in June 1942, Ortiz resigned because of his sickness, and died a month later.
He was replaced by his vice-president Castillo, who began to work to launch the candidacy of Robustiano Patrón Costas
Robustiano Patrón Costas
Robustiano Patrón Costas was a conservative Argentine politician and businessman who served as interim President of the nation and governor of his native province. He led the National Democratic Party....
, vice-president of the Senate and sugar entrepreneur, who had supported him in 1938. Meanwhile, the Democratic Union political coalition (which included the Radical Civic Union
Radical Civic Union
The Radical Civic Union is a political party in Argentina. The party's positions on issues range from liberal to social democratic. The UCR is a member of the Socialist International. Founded in 1891 by radical liberals, it is the oldest political party active in Argentina...
, the Democratic Progressive Party
Democratic Progressive Party (Argentina)
The Democratic Progressive Party is a provincial political party in Santa Fe, Argentina. It was founded by Lisandro de la Torre at the Savoy Hotel in Buenos Aires on December 14, 1914. One of its founders was the academic Dr...
, as well as the Socialist Party
Socialist Party (Argentina)
The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in Argentina. The history of socialism in Argentina began in the 1890s, when a group of people, notably Juan B. Justo, expressed the need for a greater social focus....
and the Communist Party) had been formed in 1942. Their electoral platform, aimed against endemic corruption, announced the needs to guarantee "freedom of thought and assembly" and "labor union rights", as well as vouching for "active solidarity with the people struggling against the Nazi-Fascist aggression".
June 1943 coup
On 4 June 1943, the nationalist faction of the army, gathered around the Grupo de Oficiales Unidos (GOU, formed in March 1943) opposed both to corruption and to the Left, overthrew Castillo in a coup. Composed under the initiative of the colonel Miguel A. Montes and Urbano de la Vega, the GOU included as main members the colonel Juan Domingo Perón and Enrique P. González. Sympathisers of Nazi GermanyNazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and Fascist Italy
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
, the GOU established General Pedro Ramírez
Pedro Pablo Ramírez
General Pedro Pablo Ramírez was de facto President of Argentina from June 7, 1943 to February 24, 1944. He was the founder and leader of the Guardia Nacional, Argentina's Fascist militia....
as chief of state, despite a short attempt by General Arturo Rawson
Arturo Rawson
Arturo Rawson was the President of Argentina from June 4, 1943 to June 7, 1943.-Biography:Born in Santiago del Estero, Rawson attended Argentina’s Military College, which he graduated from in 1907 and subsequently taught at for a time. Rawson rose through the ranks of the Argentine Army and was...
to claim the office.
Administrations of the Infamous Decade
- José Félix UriburuJosé Félix UriburuGeneral José Félix Benito Uriburu y Uriburu was the first de facto President of Argentina, achieved through a military coup, from September 6, 1930 to February 20, 1932.-Biography:...
(1930–1931) - Agustín Pedro JustoAgustín Pedro JustoGeneral Agustín Pedro Justo Rolón was President of Argentina from February 20, 1932, to February 20, 1938...
(1932–1938) - Roberto Marcelino Ortiz (1938–1940)
- Ramón S. Castillo (1940–1943)
'Second' Infamous Decade
The 10-year-long presidency of Carlos MenemCarlos Menem
Carlos Saúl Menem is an Argentine politician who was President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. He is currently an Argentine National Senator for La Rioja Province.-Early life:...
(two consecutive periods, 1989–1999) has been referred to as the "second" (or "new") Infamous Decade by strong critics of its neoliberalist
Neoliberalism
Neoliberalism is a market-driven approach to economic and social policy based on neoclassical theories of economics that emphasizes the efficiency of private enterprise, liberalized trade and relatively open markets, and therefore seeks to maximize the role of the private sector in determining the...
policies and its perceived corruption, especially from the left wing. The period 1999–2001 under Fernando de la Rúa
Fernando de la Rúa
Fernando de la Rúa is an Argentine politician. He was president of the country from December 10, 1999 to December 21, 2001 for the Alliance for Work, Justice and Education ....
is sometimes included, as a continuation of those policies.
External links
- Década Infame at Todo-Argentina (Spanish)
- Portal Planeta's article (Spanish)