La Vanguardia (Argentina)
Encyclopedia
La Vanguardia is an Argentine newspaper
, founded by Socialist Party
leader Juan B. Justo
in 1894.
, Esteban Jiménez, Augusto Kühn, Isidro Salomó, and Juan Fernández. Its first issue was published on April 7, 1894, and Jiménez served as its first typographer. The paper's first editorial was titled "This country is transformed" and analyzed the prevailing economic and social policy
from a Marxist perspective.
The newspaper, printed initially in a San Telmo
neighborhood boarding house, became a gathering point for socialists active in Argentina in the late nineteenth century. These meetings would result in the establishment of the Socialist Party
in 1896, and La Vanguardia became the party's official journal.
Co-operative movement leader Nicolás Repetto
succeeded Justo as its editor-in-chief in 1901, and in 1905, was first sold openly on street corners. The paper's Mexico Street offices in the Constitución
ward were destroyed by arson
during the Centennial
celebrations of 1910, however.
lawyer, became its director in 1916. He had founded Revista Socialista Internacional with Alicia Moreau
in 1908; Moreau married the party's leader, Juan B. Justo, in 1914. Disaffected member of the party, including Augusto Kühn and Rodolfo Ghioldi, established a rival publication, Adelante, in 1916, though without success.
The Socialist Party grew significantly in Buenos Aires
and Mar del Plata
following the 1912 enactment of the Sáenz Peña Law
guaranteeing a secret ballot
and universal (male) suffrage
. The party split, however, during their 1927 convention, and Senator Justo died in January 1928. Two socialist tickets thus competed in the 1928 elections, and La Vanguardia, edited since 1925 by Américo Ghioldi
(Rodolfo's brother), would endorse the Authentic Socialist Party, led by Congressman Mario Bravo
; neither ticket made gains, however.
The prominence the party had earned, however, allowed them to inaugurate a landmark Rivadavia Avenue
headquarters in 1927 (the Casa de Pueblo), from which La Vanguardia would also be published. Ghioldi and Bravo led the publication during Argentina's "Infamous Decade
," when the right-wing Concordance
regime that took power in fraudulent elections held in 1931 perpetuated itself by the same tactics. Censorship made La Vanguardias publication more intermittent in the ensuing years. It was suspended four times in 1942, and following a coup d'état in 1943
, an edict mandating that all newspaper articles carry their writers' full names in their bylines forced it to shut down again.
in 1946
had been opposed by most Socialists. Its readership, despite (and arguably because) of ongoing intimidation, reached a historic high of 280,000 copies daily during the mid-1940s. Using a noise ordinance as a pretext, its presses were shut down by a municipal order on August 27, 1947. Led by Luis Pan, its editors opened a clandestine press in Ranelagh
, a southern suburb of Buenos Aires, and though this facility was later discovered by police, La Vanguardia continued to appear as a weekly newspaper
.
Much of the Socialist Party's leadership, as well as its journal's staff, would be imprisoned during Perón's successful 1951 re-election campaign
, and only the willingness of El Sol editor-in-chief Emilio Frugoni to include La Vanguardia as a last-page supplement kept the periodical in publication. The following year, however, its remaining staff created an international edition of La Vanguardia printed in Montevideo
, Uruguay
, on Bible paper
to facilitate its distribution abroad.
A Peronist riot on April 15, 1953, triggered by bombs detonated at the Plaza de Mayo
during a mass gathering resulted in the destruction of the Casa del Pueblo. The building survived initially. Its interiors, including a 70,000-volume library and the editorial bureau of La Vanguardia, were destroyed, however. The paper's Montevideo edition responded by applauding the Bombing of Plaza de Mayo
(in which over 300 died) as a "historic day against the tyranny of an arrogant man."
. The two factions (Palacios and Alicia Moreau de Justo
's Argentine Socialist Party, and Ghioldi and Repetto's more anti-Peronist Democratic Socialist Party
) would each publish separate editions of La Vanguardia, with Juan Antonio Solari and Alicia Moreau de Justo as editors of each.
The absorption of the Argentine Socialist Party into the Popular Socialist Party
(PSP) in 1972 made the leader of the PSP, Guillermo Estévez Boero
, director of La Vanguardia Popular. The ongoing division of both the party and the journal precluded any refurbishment of the derelict Casa del Pueblo, and in 1974, the once-grand neo-classical building was demolished.
The reunification of the Socialist Party in 2002 restored the ailing La Vanguardia as the party's sole official publication. The journal would be published irregularly, however, with an average of one issue every four months. Its director, Américo Schvartzman, founded and edited El Miércoles, a socialist weekly in Concepción del Uruguay, Entre Ríos, from 2000 to 2007.
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
, founded by 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....
leader Juan B. Justo
Juan B. Justo
Juan Bautista Justo was an Argentine physician, journalist, politician, and writer. After finishing medical school he joined the Unión Cívica Radical, later participating in the foundation of the Socialist Party in 1896, of which he was chief director until his death...
in 1894.
Early history
La Vanguardia was founded by Juan B. JustoJuan B. Justo
Juan Bautista Justo was an Argentine physician, journalist, politician, and writer. After finishing medical school he joined the Unión Cívica Radical, later participating in the foundation of the Socialist Party in 1896, of which he was chief director until his death...
, Esteban Jiménez, Augusto Kühn, Isidro Salomó, and Juan Fernández. Its first issue was published on April 7, 1894, and Jiménez served as its first typographer. The paper's first editorial was titled "This country is transformed" and analyzed the prevailing economic and social policy
Generation of '80
The Generation of '80 was the governing elite in Argentina from 1880 to 1916. Members of the oligarchy of the provinces and the country's capital, they first joined the League of Governors , and then the National Autonomist Party...
from a Marxist perspective.
The newspaper, printed initially in a San Telmo
San Telmo
San Telmo is the oldest barrio of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is a well-preserved area of the Argentine metropolis and is characterized by its colonial buildings. Cafes, tango parlors and antique shops line the cobblestone streets, which are often filled with artists and dancers.San Telmo's...
neighborhood boarding house, became a gathering point for socialists active in Argentina in the late nineteenth century. These meetings would result in the establishment of 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....
in 1896, and La Vanguardia became the party's official journal.
Co-operative movement leader Nicolás Repetto
Nicolás Repetto
Nicolás Repetto was an Argentine physician and leader of the Socialist Party of Argentina.-Biography:Nicolás Repetto was born in Buenos Aires in 1871 and enrolled at the prestigious Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires, a public college preparatory school. He was introduced to politics by a friend and...
succeeded Justo as its editor-in-chief in 1901, and in 1905, was first sold openly on street corners. The paper's Mexico Street offices in the Constitución
Constitución
Constitución is Spanish for "constitution" and may refer to:Geography*Argentina**Barrio Constitución, a neighborhood in central Buenos Aires, where the Constitución train station is located....
ward were destroyed by arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
during the Centennial
Argentina Centennial
The Argentina Centennial was celebrated on May 25, 1910. It was the 100th anniversary of the May Revolution, when viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros was ousted from office and replaced with the Primera Junta, the first national government.-Context:...
celebrations of 1910, however.
Prominence
Enrique del Valle Iberlucea, a Spanish ArgentineSpanish Argentine
Spanish settlement in Argentina, that is the arrival of Spanish emigrants in Argentina, took place firstly in the period before Argentina's independence from Spain, and again in large numbers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries...
lawyer, became its director in 1916. He had founded Revista Socialista Internacional with Alicia Moreau
Alicia Moreau de Justo
Alicia Moreau de Justo was an Argentine physician, politician, pacifist and human rights activist.Born to French parents in London, United Kingdom, the Moreau family moved to Argentina while Alicia was still a child....
in 1908; Moreau married the party's leader, Juan B. Justo, in 1914. Disaffected member of the party, including Augusto Kühn and Rodolfo Ghioldi, established a rival publication, Adelante, in 1916, though without success.
The Socialist Party grew significantly 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...
and Mar del Plata
Mar del Plata
Mar del Plata is an Argentine city located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, south of Buenos Aires. Mar del Plata is the second largest city of Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" had apparently the sense of "sea of the Río de la Plata region" or "adjoining sea to the Río de la Plata"...
following the 1912 enactment of the Sáenz Peña Law
Sáenz Peña Law
The Sáenz Peña Law was Law 8871 of Argentina, sanctioned by the National Congress on 10 February 1912, which established the universal, secret and mandatory male suffrage though the creation of an electoral list...
guaranteeing a secret ballot
Secret ballot
The secret ballot is a voting method in which a voter's choices in an election or a referendum are anonymous. The key aim is to ensure the voter records a sincere choice by forestalling attempts to influence the voter by intimidation or bribery. The system is one means of achieving the goal of...
and universal (male) suffrage
Universal suffrage
Universal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens...
. The party split, however, during their 1927 convention, and Senator Justo died in January 1928. Two socialist tickets thus competed in the 1928 elections, and La Vanguardia, edited since 1925 by Américo Ghioldi
Américo Ghioldi
Américo Ghioldi was an Argentine educator, publisher and prominent Socialist politician.-Life and times:...
(Rodolfo's brother), would endorse the Authentic Socialist Party, led by Congressman Mario Bravo
Mario Bravo
Mario Bravo was an Argentine politician and writer.-Life and times:Born in La Cocha, Tucumán Province, in 1882, Bravo enrolled at the University of Buenos Aires, and earned a Law Degree in 1905 after submitting his thesis on labor legislation...
; neither ticket made gains, however.
The prominence the party had earned, however, allowed them to inaugurate a landmark Rivadavia Avenue
Rivadavia Avenue
Avenida Rivadavia is one of the principal thoroughfares in Buenos Aires, Argentina, extending from downtown Buenos Aires to the western suburb of Merlo.-History:...
headquarters in 1927 (the Casa de Pueblo), from which La Vanguardia would also be published. Ghioldi and Bravo led the publication during Argentina's "Infamous Decade
Infamous Decade
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...
," when the right-wing Concordance
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."...
regime that took power in fraudulent elections held in 1931 perpetuated itself by the same tactics. Censorship made La Vanguardias publication more intermittent in the ensuing years. It was suspended four times in 1942, and following a coup d'état in 1943
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...
, an edict mandating that all newspaper articles carry their writers' full names in their bylines forced it to shut down again.
Persecution
The election of populist leader Juan PerónJuan 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...
in 1946
Argentine general election, 1946
The Argentine general election of 1946, the last for which only men were enfranchised, was held on 24 February. Voters chose both the President and their legislators and with a turnout of 83.4%, it produced the following results:-President:aAbstentions....
had been opposed by most Socialists. Its readership, despite (and arguably because) of ongoing intimidation, reached a historic high of 280,000 copies daily during the mid-1940s. Using a noise ordinance as a pretext, its presses were shut down by a municipal order on August 27, 1947. Led by Luis Pan, its editors opened a clandestine press in Ranelagh
Ranelagh, Buenos Aires
Ranelagh is a locality in Berazategui Partido, in the southeastern section of Greater Buenos Aires.-History:Ranelagh was initially developed by the Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway, which opened a station at the site in 1911, and formed La Compañía de Tierras del Sud to oversee the real estate...
, a southern suburb of Buenos Aires, and though this facility was later discovered by police, La Vanguardia continued to appear as a weekly newspaper
Weekly newspaper
A weekly newspaper is a general-news publication that is published on newsprint once or twice a week.Such newspapers tend to have smaller circulations than daily newspapers, and are usually based in less-populous communities or small, defined areas within large cities; often, they may cover a...
.
Much of the Socialist Party's leadership, as well as its journal's staff, would be imprisoned during Perón's successful 1951 re-election campaign
Argentine general election, 1951
The Argentine general election of 1951, the first to have enfranchised women at the national level, was held on 11 November. Voters chose both the President and their legislators and with a turnout of 88.0%, it produced the following results:-President:...
, and only the willingness of El Sol editor-in-chief Emilio Frugoni to include La Vanguardia as a last-page supplement kept the periodical in publication. The following year, however, its remaining staff created an international edition of La Vanguardia printed in Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
, Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
, on Bible paper
Bible paper
Bible paper is a thin grade of paper used for printing books which have a large number of pages. Technically it is called lightweight offset paper and is a type of woodfree uncoated paper. It is used for making Bibles, encyclopedias and dictionaries. This paper grade often contains cotton or linen...
to facilitate its distribution abroad.
A Peronist riot on April 15, 1953, triggered by bombs detonated at the Plaza de Mayo
Plaza de Mayo
The Plaza de Mayo is the main square in downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is flanked by Hipólito Yrigoyen, Balcarce, Rivadavia and Bolívar streets....
during a mass gathering resulted in the destruction of the Casa del Pueblo. The building survived initially. Its interiors, including a 70,000-volume library and the editorial bureau of La Vanguardia, were destroyed, however. The paper's Montevideo edition responded by applauding the Bombing of Plaza de Mayo
Bombing of Plaza de Mayo
The bombing of Plaza de Mayo was a massacre which took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on June 16 1955.At 12:40 pm, a number of aircraft from the Argentine Navy and Air Force strafed and bombed Plaza de Mayo square in Buenos Aires, in what remains to this day the largest aerial bombing ever on...
(in which over 300 died) as a "historic day against the tyranny of an arrogant man."
Division and reunification
President Perón was overthrown in 1955, and La Vanguardia resumed its regular edition with a circulation of 200,000. The Socialist Party, however, suffered a new schism ahead of the 1958 electionsArgentine general election, 1958
The Argentine general election of 1958 was held on 23 February. Voters chose both the President and their legislators and with a turnout of 90.9% , it produced the following results:-President:aAbstentions....
. The two factions (Palacios and Alicia Moreau de Justo
Alicia Moreau de Justo
Alicia Moreau de Justo was an Argentine physician, politician, pacifist and human rights activist.Born to French parents in London, United Kingdom, the Moreau family moved to Argentina while Alicia was still a child....
's Argentine Socialist Party, and Ghioldi and Repetto's more anti-Peronist Democratic Socialist Party
Democratic Socialist Party (Argentina)
The Democratic Socialist Party was a political party in Argentina formed in 1959 as a division of the Socialist Party.The most important figure of the PSD was Alfredo Bravo, a teacher and civil rights activist, which was a deputy and the presidential candidate of the Socialist Party in the 2003...
) would each publish separate editions of La Vanguardia, with Juan Antonio Solari and Alicia Moreau de Justo as editors of each.
The absorption of the Argentine Socialist Party into the Popular Socialist Party
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....
(PSP) in 1972 made the leader of the PSP, 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...
, director of La Vanguardia Popular. The ongoing division of both the party and the journal precluded any refurbishment of the derelict Casa del Pueblo, and in 1974, the once-grand neo-classical building was demolished.
The reunification of the Socialist Party in 2002 restored the ailing La Vanguardia as the party's sole official publication. The journal would be published irregularly, however, with an average of one issue every four months. Its director, Américo Schvartzman, founded and edited El Miércoles, a socialist weekly in Concepción del Uruguay, Entre Ríos, from 2000 to 2007.