Juan Carlos Goyeneche
Encyclopedia
Juan Carlos Goyeneche was an Argentine
Catholic
nationalist
politician. Also highly sympathetic to Nazism
, during the Second World War Goyeneche travelled to Nazi Germany
where he met a number of leading figures. He was the son of Mayor of Buenos Aires Arturo Goyeneche and the grandson of a President of Uruguay
.
Juan Peron
had Goyeneche as his confidential agent. He was a close collaborator of the Ausland-Sicherheitsdienst
, the overseas intelligence service of Nazi Germany
. He was a prominent far right
journalist, serving as the editor of the Sol y Luna journal as well as a writer for the Cabildo
magazine. He was notorious for the anti-Semitism
in his writing.
but in actual fact a front group set up by Enrique Ruiz Guiñazú
and Mario Amadeo
to send men into Axis territory. Goyeneche went to Madrid
where he met with the Argentine ambassador Adrián Escobar and consul Aquilino López and the following the month the three crossed into France
where they held a meeting with Pierre Laval
, president of the collaborationist Vichy regime. In Paris
Goyeneche made contact with Schutzstaffel
officer Herbert Knochen who agreed to arrange for Goyeneche to make a trip to Berlin
.
Before this could happen however Goyeneche and Escobar went to Rome
where they held a meeting with Pope Pius XII
. At this meeting they discussed the possibility of an Argentine intervention in Europe in an attempt to negotiatie an end to the war, as well as Escobar's Hispanidad vision of a new Spain
-led sphere of influence in Latin America
. The plan was not taken seriously anywhere, and met particular derision in Brazil
where the press mocked both Argentina's delusions of grandeur and the pro-Nazi agenda of their diplomats.
at the expense of the Nazi state. Accompanied by Gottfried Sandstede, an old friend of Goyeneche who had worked in the German embassy in Buenos Aires
before being expelled for his spying activities, he visited the Eastern Front
to inspect the men of the Blue Division
. Upon his return from Russia
Goyeneche met Otto Reinebeck, the chief of the Latin American Bureau at the Nazi Foreign Ministry, and requested for him to arrange meetings with Adolf Hitler
and Joachim von Ribbentrop
.
On 30 November 1942 Goyeneche met with Ribbentrop at the latter's Westphalia
n estate, with the Hispanophone
Sandstede present as an interpreter. The meeting lasted several hours and Ribbentrop suggested that Germany
was favourable to Argentina's three main wishes i.e. closer trade between the two countries following a Nazi war victory, support for Argentina taking the Falkland Islands
and encouragement of close links between Argentina and Spain. Despite this Goyeneche found Ribbentrop a wholly dislikable individual, dismissing him as "pedantic and close-minded".
Goyeneche's next meeting was with Walter Schellenberg
, the head of the Ausland-Sicherheitsdienst, a group with which Goyeneche was already familiar. Under instructions from Ribbentrop, who hoped that Argentina might be enticed into the war, details of the meetings were allowed to be wired by telegram back to Guiñazú and Amadeo by Goyeneche. The heavily coded messages were nonetheless intercepted and translated by the US War Department.
Whether or not Goyeneche met Hitler during his time in Germany is a matter of some debate. The United States
diplomat W. Wendell Blancke claimed that, whilst in service to General Dwight Eisenhower at the end of the war in Germany, he saw captured Nazi documents that described a meeting between the two taking place on 7 December 1942 at which Hitler reiterated Ribbentrop's pro-Argentina stance. A secret meeting in the Black Forest
was also said to have taken place in 1944 amongst Goyeneche's friends. Goyeneche himself claimed that Ribbentrop had given him a letter written by Hitler but that no meeting had ever taken place. Reinebeck meanwhile, under interrogation, denied that there had been any contact between Goyeneche and Hitler whatsoever.
In January 1943 however Goyeneche did meet Heinrich Himmler
after Schellenberg took him the eastern headquarters of the Reichsführer-SS
. The discussion was largely limited to general ideas, although Himmler expressed similar supportive ideas as Ribbentrop and Goyeneche found him to be much more pleasing company than he had the Foreign Minister.
. He informed the Spanish Foreign Minister that he intended to return to Rome to host a conference at which Catholic delegates from across Europe would meet to discuss how they could "integrate the Christian order in the New Order".
Returning to Rome he held a series of meetings with Monsignor Giovanni Montini as well as two more with Pius XII before eventually meeting Benito Mussolini
. Goyeneche obtained a number of concessions from the Italian
dictator, including a pledge to support Argentina's claim to the Falklands and a guarantee that he would obtain the same unequivocal support from Germany and Japan
. Mussolini also publicly supported a plan to overthrow President Ramón Castillo
and the 1943 Argentine coup d'état followed quickly after this pronouncement.
Goyeneche spent the final months of the war in Spain and from his base in Cadiz
he was in contact with Himmler until near the end. Indeed it has been claimed that Goyeneche facilitated communication between Himmler and Peron at this stage.
had him appointed culture and press secretary at the Casa Rosada
. Goyeneche and Daye however were soon persona non grata as the new government under Pedro Eugenio Aramburu
decided to purge the Nazi sympathisers from public life.
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...
Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
nationalist
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
politician. Also highly sympathetic to Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
, during the Second World War Goyeneche travelled to Nazi Germany
Nazi 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...
where he met a number of leading figures. He was the son of Mayor of Buenos Aires Arturo Goyeneche and the grandson of a President of Uruguay
President of Uruguay
The President of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay is the head of state of Uruguay. His or her rights are determined in the Constitution of Uruguay. Conforms with the Secretariat of the Presidency, the Council of Ministers and the Director of the Office of Planning and Budget, the executive branch...
.
Right-wing activity
During his time as a Colonel in the Argentine ArmyArgentine Army
The Argentine Army is the land armed force branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic and the senior military service of the country.- History :...
Juan Peron
Juan Perón
Juan Domingo Perón was an Argentine military officer, and politician. Perón was three times elected as President of Argentina though he only managed to serve one full term, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency...
had Goyeneche as his confidential agent. He was a close collaborator of the Ausland-Sicherheitsdienst
Sicherheitsdienst
Sicherheitsdienst , full title Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS, or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. The organization was the first Nazi Party intelligence organization to be established and was often considered a "sister organization" with the...
, the overseas intelligence service of Nazi Germany
Nazi 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...
. He was a prominent far right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
journalist, serving as the editor of the Sol y Luna journal as well as a writer for the Cabildo
Cabildo (magazine)
Cabildo is an Argentine magazine which is considered the main press organ of nationalist Catholicism in the country. First published in the 1970s and then inactive during most of the 1990s, the magazine has become notorious for its xenophobic and anti-Semitic editorial line.The first issue of...
magazine. He was notorious for the anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
in his writing.
European trip
In April 1942 Goyeneche travelled to Europe as a diplomat, ostensibly to attned a function of the "Hispanic Council", supposedly a cultural group established by Francisco FrancoFrancisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
but in actual fact a front group set up by Enrique Ruiz Guiñazú
Enrique Ruiz Guiñazú
Enrique Ruiz Guiñazú was an Argentinean politician who is best remembered for his spell as Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship in the 1940s.-Rise to prominence:...
and Mario Amadeo
Mario Amadeo
Mario Amadeo was an Argentine conservative nationalist politician, diplomat and writer who served as a minister in the government of Eduardo Lonardi...
to send men into Axis territory. Goyeneche went to Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
where he met with the Argentine ambassador Adrián Escobar and consul Aquilino López and the following the month the three crossed into France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
where they held a meeting with Pierre Laval
Pierre Laval
Pierre Laval was a French politician. He was four times President of the council of ministers of the Third Republic, twice consecutively. Following France's Armistice with Germany in 1940, he served twice in the Vichy Regime as head of government, signing orders permitting the deportation of...
, president of the collaborationist Vichy regime. In Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
Goyeneche made contact with Schutzstaffel
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
officer Herbert Knochen who agreed to arrange for Goyeneche to make a trip to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
.
Before this could happen however Goyeneche and Escobar went to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
where they held a meeting with Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII
The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....
. At this meeting they discussed the possibility of an Argentine intervention in Europe in an attempt to negotiatie an end to the war, as well as Escobar's Hispanidad vision of a new Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
-led sphere of influence in Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
. The plan was not taken seriously anywhere, and met particular derision in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
where the press mocked both Argentina's delusions of grandeur and the pro-Nazi agenda of their diplomats.
In Nazi Germany
Goyeneche finally made it to Berlin in October 1942 where he was placed at the Hotel AdlonHotel Adlon
Hotel Adlon is a hotel on Unter den Linden, the main boulevard in the Berlin city centre, directly opposite the Brandenburg Gate.-First Hotel Adlon 1907-1945:...
at the expense of the Nazi state. Accompanied by Gottfried Sandstede, an old friend of Goyeneche who had worked in the German embassy in 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...
before being expelled for his spying activities, he visited the Eastern Front
Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
to inspect the men of the Blue Division
Blue Division
The Blue Division officially designated as División Española de Voluntarios by the Spanish Army and 250. Infanterie-Division in the German Army, was a unit of Spanish volunteers that served in the German Army on the Eastern Front of the Second World War.-Origins:Although Spanish leader Field...
. Upon his return from Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
Goyeneche met Otto Reinebeck, the chief of the Latin American Bureau at the Nazi Foreign Ministry, and requested for him to arrange meetings with Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
and Joachim von Ribbentrop
Joachim von Ribbentrop
Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop was Foreign Minister of Germany from 1938 until 1945. He was later hanged for war crimes after the Nuremberg Trials.-Early life:...
.
On 30 November 1942 Goyeneche met with Ribbentrop at the latter's Westphalia
Westphalia
Westphalia is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Arnsberg, Bielefeld, Dortmund, Minden and Münster.Westphalia is roughly the region between the rivers Rhine and Weser, located north and south of the Ruhr River. No exact definition of borders can be given, because the name "Westphalia"...
n estate, with the Hispanophone
Hispanophone
Hispanophone or Hispanosphere denotes Spanish language speakers and the Spanish-speaking world. The word derives from the Latin political name of the Iberian Peninsula, Hispania, which comprised basically the territory of the modern states of Spain and Portugal.Hispanophones are estimated at...
Sandstede present as an interpreter. The meeting lasted several hours and Ribbentrop suggested that Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
was favourable to Argentina's three main wishes i.e. closer trade between the two countries following a Nazi war victory, support for Argentina taking the Falkland Islands
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
and encouragement of close links between Argentina and Spain. Despite this Goyeneche found Ribbentrop a wholly dislikable individual, dismissing him as "pedantic and close-minded".
Goyeneche's next meeting was with Walter Schellenberg
Walter Schellenberg
Walther Friedrich Schellenberg was a German SS-Brigadeführer who rose through the ranks of the SS to become the head of foreign intelligence following the abolition of the Abwehr in 1944.-Biography:...
, the head of the Ausland-Sicherheitsdienst, a group with which Goyeneche was already familiar. Under instructions from Ribbentrop, who hoped that Argentina might be enticed into the war, details of the meetings were allowed to be wired by telegram back to Guiñazú and Amadeo by Goyeneche. The heavily coded messages were nonetheless intercepted and translated by the US War Department.
Whether or not Goyeneche met Hitler during his time in Germany is a matter of some debate. The United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
diplomat W. Wendell Blancke claimed that, whilst in service to General Dwight Eisenhower at the end of the war in Germany, he saw captured Nazi documents that described a meeting between the two taking place on 7 December 1942 at which Hitler reiterated Ribbentrop's pro-Argentina stance. A secret meeting in the Black Forest
Black Forest
The Black Forest is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and south. The highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 metres ....
was also said to have taken place in 1944 amongst Goyeneche's friends. Goyeneche himself claimed that Ribbentrop had given him a letter written by Hitler but that no meeting had ever taken place. Reinebeck meanwhile, under interrogation, denied that there had been any contact between Goyeneche and Hitler whatsoever.
In January 1943 however Goyeneche did meet Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
after Schellenberg took him the eastern headquarters of the Reichsführer-SS
Reichsführer-SS
was a special SS rank that existed between the years of 1925 and 1945. Reichsführer-SS was a title from 1925 to 1933 and, after 1934, the highest rank of the German Schutzstaffel .-Definition:...
. The discussion was largely limited to general ideas, although Himmler expressed similar supportive ideas as Ribbentrop and Goyeneche found him to be much more pleasing company than he had the Foreign Minister.
Italy and Spain
Soon after the Himmler meeting Goyeneche left Germany and briefly returned to Spain to have lunch with Ramón Serrano SúñerRamón Serrano Súñer
Ramón Serrano Súñer , was a Spanish politician during the first stages of General Francisco Franco's dictatorship, the Spanish State, between 1938 and 1942, when he held the posts of President of the Political Junta Política of Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las JONS , and Interior and...
. He informed the Spanish Foreign Minister that he intended to return to Rome to host a conference at which Catholic delegates from across Europe would meet to discuss how they could "integrate the Christian order in the New Order".
Returning to Rome he held a series of meetings with Monsignor Giovanni Montini as well as two more with Pius XII before eventually meeting Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
. Goyeneche obtained a number of concessions from the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
dictator, including a pledge to support Argentina's claim to the Falklands and a guarantee that he would obtain the same unequivocal support from Germany and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Mussolini also publicly supported a plan to overthrow 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...
and the 1943 Argentine coup d'état followed quickly after this pronouncement.
Goyeneche spent the final months of the war in Spain and from his base in Cadiz
Cádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
he was in contact with Himmler until near the end. Indeed it has been claimed that Goyeneche facilitated communication between Himmler and Peron at this stage.
In Argentina
When Peron was overthrown in 1955 Goyeneche initially found himself remaining in favour as his close friend Pierre DayePierre Daye
Pierre Daye was a Belgian Nazi collaborator and follower of Rexism, who exiled himself to Juan Peron's Argentina after World War II....
had him appointed culture and press secretary at the Casa Rosada
Casa Rosada
La Casa Rosada is the official seat of the executive branch of the government of Argentina, and of the offices of the President. The President normally lives at the Quinta de Olivos, a compound in Olivos, Buenos Aires Province. Its characteristic color is pink, and is considered one of the most...
. Goyeneche and Daye however were soon persona non grata as the new government under Pedro Eugenio Aramburu
Pedro Eugenio Aramburu
Pedro Eugenio Aramburu Silveti was an Argentine Army General. Born in Río Cuarto, Córdoba on May 21, 1903. He was a major figure behind the military coup against Juan Perón in 1955. He became de facto president of Argentina from November 13, 1955 to May 1, 1958...
decided to purge the Nazi sympathisers from public life.