Peronism
Encyclopedia
Peronism or Justicialism (Justicialismo), is an Argentine
political movement based on the programmes associated with former President Juan Perón
and his second wife, Eva Perón
. Perón's party, the Partido Justicialista derived its name from the Spanish words for "social justice" (justicia social).
Peronism has been difficult to define according to traditional political classifications, and different periods as well as factions must be distinguished. In general, Peronism is defined by analysts as an authoritarian populism
rooted in the masses (Perón is archetypal in Latin American populism).
The original ideology was based upon Benito Mussolini
's fascism
, advocating a strong centralised government with authoritarian tendencies; the combination of nationalism
and social democracy
; freedom from foreign influences; and a "third way
" approach to economics, which purported to be neither socialist nor capitalist
, but to incorporate elements of both in a corporativist
manner.
Since its dawn in 1945, Peronism has won 8 out of the 10 presidential elections it was not banned from participating in, and Perón himself remains the only Argentine to be elected president three times.
did not strike a sympathetic chord amongst upper-class Argentinians.
Perón's public speeches were consistently nationalist
and populist
. It would be difficult to separate Peronism from corporate nationalism
, for Perón nationalized Argentina's large corporations, blurring distinctions between corporations and government. At the same time, the labor unions became corporate, relinquishing the right to strike in agreements with Perón as Secretary of Welfare in the military government from 1943-45. In exchange, the state was to assume the role of negotiator between conflicting interests.
Overthrown in a coup that started a dictatorship in 1955 (the Revolución Libertadora
), led by General Aramburu
, Perón spent 18 years in exile, mostly in Francisco Franco
's Spain
. Though his feelings for Franco were mixed, Perón never disguised his admiration for Benito Mussolini
's fascist domestic policies.
Perón and his administration never resorted to systematically organized violence or dictatorial rule. To a large extent what stifled his opposition was the resounding electoral victory which put him and his party in power. Perón showed contempt for any opponents, and regularly characterized them as traitors and agents of foreign powers. Perón maintained the institutions of democratic rule, but subverted freedoms through such actions as nationalizing the broadcasting system, centralizing the unions under his control, and monopolizing the supply of newspaper print. At times, Perón also resorted to heavy-handed tactics such as illegally imprisoning opposition politicians and journalists, including UCR leader Ricardo Balbin
, and shutting down opposition papers, such as La Prensa.
Peronism also lacked a strong interest in matters of foreign policy
other than the belief that the political and economic influences of other nations should be kept out of Argentina; he was somewhat isolationist
. Early in his presidency, Perón envisioned Argentina's role as a model for other countries in Latin America and beyond. Such ideas were ultimately abandoned. Despite his oppositional rhetoric, Perón frequently sought cooperation with the U.S. government on various issues.
Perón's fascism was economic and political in character and did not delve into the racism
of Nazi Germany
, though he was sympathetic to the Nazi government. He personally made arrangements for many Nazi war criminals and collaborators to be smuggled to Argentina under false passports after the Second World War. Among them were Joseph Mengele, Adolf Eichmann
, and Erich Priebke
.
Before Perón came to power in Argentina, Argentina had the largest Jewish population in Latin America. After becoming president, he invited members of the Jewish community to participate in his government. One of his advisors was José Ber Gelbard
, a Jewish man from Poland. Peronism did not have anti-Semitic or other racial bias. The Jewish Virtual Library
writes that while Juan Perón had sympathized with the Axis powers, "Perón also expressed sympathy for Jewish rights and established diplomatic relations with Israel in 1949. Since then, more than 45,000 Jews have immigrated to Israel from Argentina." In the book Inside Argentina from Perón to Menem author Laurence Levine, former president of the US-Argentine Chamber of Commerce, writes: "although anti-Semitism existed in Argentina, Perón's own views and his political associations were not anti-Semitic.... While Perón allowed many Nazi criminals to take refuge in Argentina, he also attracted many Jewish immigrants. Argentina has a Jewish population of over 200,000 citizens, the largest in Latin America and one of the largest in the world.
Perón's admiration for Mussolini
is well documented. Many scholars categorize Peronism as a fascist ideology. Carlos Fayt
believes that Peronism was just "an Argentine implementation of Italian fascism
". Hayes reaches the conclusion that "the Peronist movement produced a form of fascism that was distinctively Latin American".
One of the most vocal critics of Peronism was the noted Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges
. After the Perón ascended to the presidency in 1946, Borges spoke before the Argentine Society of Writers (SADE), saying
, in particular, was conserved by supporters, while despised by the "national bourgeoisie
". In the 1960s, John William Cooke's writings became an important source of left-wing revolutionary Peronism. Left-wing Peronism was represented by many organizations, from the Montoneros
and the Fuerzas Armadas Peronistas to the Peronist Youth, the Frente Revolucionario Peronista and the Revolutionary Peronist Youth, passing by Peronismo en Lucha or Peronismo de Base, which supported a Marxist viewpoint. On the other hand, older Peronists formed the base of the orthodox bureaucracy, represented by the Unión Obrera Metalúrgica (Augusto Vandor
, famous for his 1965 slogan "For a Peronism without Perón," and declaring as well: "to save Perón, one has to be against Perón", or José Ignacio Rucci
). Another current was formed by the 62 Organizaciones "De pie junto a Perón", led by José Alonso
and opposed to the right-wing Peronist unionist movement. In the early 1970s, left-wing Peronism rejected liberal democracy and political pluralism as the mask of bourgeois domination. The anti-communist right-wing Peronism also rejected it, in the name of corporatism, claiming to return to a "Christian and humanist, popular, national socialism".
By 1970, many groups from opposite sides of the political spectrum had come to support Perón, from the left-wing and Catholic Montoneros
to the fascist-leaning and strongly anti-Semitic Movimiento Nacionalista Tacuara, one of Argentina's first guerrilla movements. In March 1973, Héctor José Cámpora
, who had been named as Perón's personal delegate, was elected President of Argentina
. A few months after Perón's return and the subsequent Ezeiza massacre, during which the Peronist Left and Right violently clashed, new elections
were held in September. José Cámpora, a left-wing Peronist, was replaced by interim President Raúl Alberto Lastiri
, while Perón chose to openly support the Peronist right. On October 1, 1973, senator Humberto Martiarena, who was the national secretary of the Superior Council of the National Justicialist Movement, publicized a document giving directives to confront "subversives, terrorist and Marxist groups" which had allegedly initiated a "war" inside the Peronist organizations. From then on, the Superior Council took a firm grip on the Peronist organizations to expel the Left from it. On that same day, a meeting took place among President Raúl Lastiri, Interior Minister Benito Llambí, Social Welfare Minister José López Rega
, general secretary of the Presidency José Humberto Martiarena and various provincial governors, which has been alleged to have been the foundational act of the Alianza Anticomunista Argentina
death-squad.
(PJ), which was the only Peronist party for a long time. During the government of Carlos Menem
a group of legislators led by Carlos Álvarez, known as the "Group of 8", left the party, claiming that the government was not following Peronist doctrines. They created a new party, the "Frente Grande" (Broad Front)
. A short time later, José Octavio Bordón
left the PJ as well, fearing that he might lose a primary election
against Menem, so he created his own party to take part in the 1995 elections, and allied with Álvarez' Broad Front in the Frepaso coalition. Similar breakaway movements followed frequently after that, creating many small parties which were led by single politicians claiming to be the authentic inheritors of Peronism.
The PJ did not participate as such during the 2003 elections
. The party allowed all three precandidates to run for the general elections, using small parties created for that purpose. Néstor Kirchner
won the elections running on a Front for Victory
ticket. As he did not disband his party after the election, Kirchnerism
relies on both the PJ and the Front for Victory.
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...
political movement based on the programmes associated with former President Juan Perón
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...
and his second wife, Eva Perón
Eva Perón
María Eva Duarte de Perón was the second wife of President Juan Perón and served as the First Lady of Argentina from 1946 until her death in 1952. She is often referred to as simply Eva Perón, or by the affectionate Spanish language diminutive Evita.She was born in the village of Los Toldos in...
. Perón's party, the Partido Justicialista derived its name from the Spanish words for "social justice" (justicia social).
Peronism has been difficult to define according to traditional political classifications, and different periods as well as factions must be distinguished. In general, Peronism is defined by analysts as an authoritarian populism
Populism
Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...
rooted in the masses (Perón is archetypal in Latin American populism).
The original ideology was based upon 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....
's fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
, advocating a strong centralised government with authoritarian tendencies; the combination of nationalism
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...
and social democracy
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
; freedom from foreign influences; and a "third way
Third Position
Third Position is a revolutionary nationalist political ideology that emphasizes its opposition to both communism and capitalism. Advocates of Third Position politics typically present themselves as "beyond left and right", instead claiming to syncretize radical ideas from both ends of the...
" approach to economics, which purported to be neither socialist nor capitalist
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
, but to incorporate elements of both in a corporativist
Corporatism
Corporatism, also known as corporativism, is a system of economic, political, or social organization that involves association of the people of society into corporate groups, such as agricultural, business, ethnic, labor, military, patronage, or scientific affiliations, on the basis of common...
manner.
Since its dawn in 1945, Peronism has won 8 out of the 10 presidential elections it was not banned from participating in, and Perón himself remains the only Argentine to be elected president three times.
Perón's policies
Perón's ideas were initially widely embraced by a variety of different groups in Argentina across the political spectrum. Perón's personal views would eventually become a burden on the ideology; for example, his anti-clericalismAnti-clericalism
Anti-clericalism is a historical movement that opposes religious institutional power and influence, real or alleged, in all aspects of public and political life, and the involvement of religion in the everyday life of the citizen...
did not strike a sympathetic chord amongst upper-class Argentinians.
Perón's public speeches were consistently 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...
and populist
Populism
Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...
. It would be difficult to separate Peronism from corporate nationalism
Corporate nationalism
Corporate nationalism is a phrase that is used to convey various meanings, including:*A political culture, in which members believe the basic unit of society and the primary concern of the state is the corporate group rather than the individual, and that the interests of the corporate group are the...
, for Perón nationalized Argentina's large corporations, blurring distinctions between corporations and government. At the same time, the labor unions became corporate, relinquishing the right to strike in agreements with Perón as Secretary of Welfare in the military government from 1943-45. In exchange, the state was to assume the role of negotiator between conflicting interests.
Overthrown in a coup that started a dictatorship in 1955 (the Revolución Libertadora
Revolución Libertadora
The Revolución Libertadora was a military uprising that ended the second presidential term of Juan Perón in Argentina, on September 16, 1955.-History:...
), led by General 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...
, Perón spent 18 years in exile, mostly in Francisco Franco
Francisco 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...
's 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...
. Though his feelings for Franco were mixed, Perón never disguised his admiration for 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....
's fascist domestic policies.
Perón and his administration never resorted to systematically organized violence or dictatorial rule. To a large extent what stifled his opposition was the resounding electoral victory which put him and his party in power. Perón showed contempt for any opponents, and regularly characterized them as traitors and agents of foreign powers. Perón maintained the institutions of democratic rule, but subverted freedoms through such actions as nationalizing the broadcasting system, centralizing the unions under his control, and monopolizing the supply of newspaper print. At times, Perón also resorted to heavy-handed tactics such as illegally imprisoning opposition politicians and journalists, including UCR leader Ricardo Balbin
Ricardo Balbín
Ricardo Balbín was an Argentine lawyer and politician, and one of the most important figures of the centrist Radical Civic Union , for which he was the presidential nominee four times: in 1951, 1958, and twice in 1973....
, and shutting down opposition papers, such as La Prensa.
Peronism also lacked a strong interest in matters of foreign policy
Foreign policy
A country's foreign policy, also called the foreign relations policy, consists of self-interest strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests and to achieve its goals within international relations milieu. The approaches are strategically employed to interact with other countries...
other than the belief that the political and economic influences of other nations should be kept out of Argentina; he was somewhat isolationist
Isolationism
Isolationism is the policy or doctrine of isolating one's country from the affairs of other nations by declining to enter into alliances, foreign economic commitments, international agreements, etc., seeking to devote the entire efforts of one's country to its own advancement and remain at peace by...
. Early in his presidency, Perón envisioned Argentina's role as a model for other countries in Latin America and beyond. Such ideas were ultimately abandoned. Despite his oppositional rhetoric, Perón frequently sought cooperation with the U.S. government on various issues.
Perón's fascism was economic and political in character and did not delve into the racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
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...
, though he was sympathetic to the Nazi government. He personally made arrangements for many Nazi war criminals and collaborators to be smuggled to Argentina under false passports after the Second World War. Among them were Joseph Mengele, Adolf Eichmann
Adolf Eichmann
Adolf Otto Eichmann was a German Nazi and SS-Obersturmbannführer and one of the major organizers of the Holocaust...
, and Erich Priebke
Erich Priebke
Erich Priebke is a former Hauptsturmführer in the Waffen SS. In 1996 he was convicted of war crimes in Italy, for participating in the massacre at the Ardeatine caves in Rome, on March 24, 1944...
.
Before Perón came to power in Argentina, Argentina had the largest Jewish population in Latin America. After becoming president, he invited members of the Jewish community to participate in his government. One of his advisors was José Ber Gelbard
José Ber Gelbard
José Ber Gelbard was an Argentine activist and politician.-Career:Gelbard was born in Radomsko, Poland, in 1917. In 1930 Gelbard emigrated to Argentina with his parents and siblings. They settled in Tucumán, north of Buenos Aires. Those were tough times and Gelbard had to make a living as a...
, a Jewish man from Poland. Peronism did not have anti-Semitic or other racial bias. The Jewish Virtual Library
Jewish Virtual Library
Jewish Virtual Library is an online encyclopedia published by the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise . Established in 1993, it is a comprehensive website covering Israel, the Jewish people, and Jewish culture.-History:...
writes that while Juan Perón had sympathized with the Axis powers, "Perón also expressed sympathy for Jewish rights and established diplomatic relations with Israel in 1949. Since then, more than 45,000 Jews have immigrated to Israel from Argentina." In the book Inside Argentina from Perón to Menem author Laurence Levine, former president of the US-Argentine Chamber of Commerce, writes: "although anti-Semitism existed in Argentina, Perón's own views and his political associations were not anti-Semitic.... While Perón allowed many Nazi criminals to take refuge in Argentina, he also attracted many Jewish immigrants. Argentina has a Jewish population of over 200,000 citizens, the largest in Latin America and one of the largest in the world.
Perón's admiration for 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....
is well documented. Many scholars categorize Peronism as a fascist ideology. Carlos Fayt
Carlos Fayt
Carlos Santiago Fayt is an Argentine lawyer, politician, academic and a member of Supreme Court of Justice of Argentina since 1983....
believes that Peronism was just "an Argentine implementation of Italian fascism
Italian Fascism
Italian Fascism also known as Fascism with a capital "F" refers to the original fascist ideology in Italy. This ideology is associated with the National Fascist Party which under Benito Mussolini ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943, the Republican Fascist Party which ruled the Italian...
". Hayes reaches the conclusion that "the Peronist movement produced a form of fascism that was distinctively Latin American".
One of the most vocal critics of Peronism was the noted Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo , known as Jorge Luis Borges , was an Argentine writer, essayist, poet and translator born in Buenos Aires. In 1914 his family moved to Switzerland where he attended school, receiving his baccalauréat from the Collège de Genève in 1918. The family...
. After the Perón ascended to the presidency in 1946, Borges spoke before the Argentine Society of Writers (SADE), saying
"Dictatorships breed oppression, dictatorships breed servility, dictatorships breed cruelty; more loathsome still is the fact that they breed idiocy. Bellboys babbling orders, portraits of caudilloCaudilloCaudillo is a Spanish word for "leader" and usually describes a political-military leader at the head of an authoritarian power. The term translates into English as leader or chief, or more pejoratively as warlord, dictator or strongman. Caudillo was the term used to refer to the charismatic...
s, prearranged cheers or insults, walls covered with names, unanimous ceremonies, mere discipline usurping the place of clear thinking... Fighting these sad monotonies is one of the duties of a writer. Need I remind readers of Martín FierroMartín FierroMartín Fierro is a 2,316 line epic poem by the Argentine writer José Hernández. The poem was originally published in two parts, El Gaucho Martín Fierro and La Vuelta de Martín Fierro . The poem is, in part, a protest against the modernist tendencies of Argentine president Domingo Faustino Sarmiento...
or Don SegundoDon Segundo SombraDon Segundo Sombra is a 1926 novel by Argentine rancher Ricardo Güiraldes. Like José Hernández's poem Martín Fierro, its protagonist is a gaucho. However, unlike Hernandez's poem, Don Segundo Sombra does not romanticize the figure of the gaucho, but simply examines the character as a shadow cast...
that individualism is an old Argentine virtue."
From the 1960s to modern day
The absence of Perón, who lived for 20 years in exile in Francoist Spain, is an important key to understanding Peronism. After he went into exile, he could be invoked by a variety of Argentine sectors opposed to the current state of affairs. The personality cult of Eva PerónEva Perón
María Eva Duarte de Perón was the second wife of President Juan Perón and served as the First Lady of Argentina from 1946 until her death in 1952. She is often referred to as simply Eva Perón, or by the affectionate Spanish language diminutive Evita.She was born in the village of Los Toldos in...
, in particular, was conserved by supporters, while despised by the "national bourgeoisie
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
". In the 1960s, John William Cooke's writings became an important source of left-wing revolutionary Peronism. Left-wing Peronism was represented by many organizations, from the Montoneros
Montoneros
Montoneros was an Argentine Peronist urban guerrilla group, active during the 1960s and 1970s. The name is an allusion to 19th century Argentinian history. After Juan Perón's return from 18 years of exile and the 1973 Ezeiza massacre, which marked the definitive split between left and right-wing...
and the Fuerzas Armadas Peronistas to the Peronist Youth, the Frente Revolucionario Peronista and the Revolutionary Peronist Youth, passing by Peronismo en Lucha or Peronismo de Base, which supported a Marxist viewpoint. On the other hand, older Peronists formed the base of the orthodox bureaucracy, represented by the Unión Obrera Metalúrgica (Augusto Vandor
Augusto Vandor
Augusto Timoteo Vandor was an Argentine trade unionist leader, military and politician.-Career:Vandor was born Bovril, Entre Ríos Province, to a Dutch father and a French mother, in 1923. He enlisted in the Argentine Navy in 1940, and later became an officer in the ARA Comodoro Py warship...
, famous for his 1965 slogan "For a Peronism without Perón," and declaring as well: "to save Perón, one has to be against Perón", or José Ignacio Rucci
José Ignacio Rucci
José Ignacio Rucci was an Argentine politician and union leader, appointed general secretary of the CGT in 1970...
). Another current was formed by the 62 Organizaciones "De pie junto a Perón", led by José Alonso
José Alonso
José Alonso may refer to:*José Alonso , Spanish athlete*José Alonso , Argentine trade-unionist*José Alonso *Jose Alonso , co-discoverer of element Seaborgium...
and opposed to the right-wing Peronist unionist movement. In the early 1970s, left-wing Peronism rejected liberal democracy and political pluralism as the mask of bourgeois domination. The anti-communist right-wing Peronism also rejected it, in the name of corporatism, claiming to return to a "Christian and humanist, popular, national socialism".
By 1970, many groups from opposite sides of the political spectrum had come to support Perón, from the left-wing and Catholic Montoneros
Montoneros
Montoneros was an Argentine Peronist urban guerrilla group, active during the 1960s and 1970s. The name is an allusion to 19th century Argentinian history. After Juan Perón's return from 18 years of exile and the 1973 Ezeiza massacre, which marked the definitive split between left and right-wing...
to the fascist-leaning and strongly anti-Semitic Movimiento Nacionalista Tacuara, one of Argentina's first guerrilla movements. In March 1973, Héctor José Cámpora
Héctor José Cámpora
Héctor José Cámpora Demaestre was president of Argentina from 25 May until 13 July 1973.Cámpora, affectionately known as el Tío , was born in the city of Mercedes, in the Province of Buenos Aires...
, who had been named as Perón's personal delegate, was elected President of Argentina
Argentine general election, March 1973
The first Argentine general election of 1973 was held on 11 March. Voters chose both the President and their legislators and with a turnout of 85.5%, it produced the following results:-President:...
. A few months after Perón's return and the subsequent Ezeiza massacre, during which the Peronist Left and Right violently clashed, new elections
Argentine general election, September 1973
The second Argentine general election of 1973 was held on 23 September. Turnout was 85.5%, and it produced the following results:-Background:...
were held in September. José Cámpora, a left-wing Peronist, was replaced by interim President Raúl Alberto Lastiri
Raúl Alberto Lastiri
Raúl Alberto Lastiri was an Argentine politician who was interim president of Argentina from July 13, 1973 until October 12, 1973. Lastiri, who presided over the Argentine Chamber of Deputies, was promoted to the presidency of the country after Héctor Cámpora and Vicente Solano Lima resigned...
, while Perón chose to openly support the Peronist right. On October 1, 1973, senator Humberto Martiarena, who was the national secretary of the Superior Council of the National Justicialist Movement, publicized a document giving directives to confront "subversives, terrorist and Marxist groups" which had allegedly initiated a "war" inside the Peronist organizations. From then on, the Superior Council took a firm grip on the Peronist organizations to expel the Left from it. On that same day, a meeting took place among President Raúl Lastiri, Interior Minister Benito Llambí, Social Welfare Minister José López Rega
José López Rega
José López Rega was Argentina's Minister of Social Welfare during the Peronist government started in 1973 by Juan Perón and continued after Perón's death in 1974 by his third wife and vice-president, Isabel Martínez de Perón , until the coup d'etat of 1976 that initiated the so-called National...
, general secretary of the Presidency José Humberto Martiarena and various provincial governors, which has been alleged to have been the foundational act of the Alianza Anticomunista Argentina
Alianza Anticomunista Argentina
The Argentine Anticommunist Alliance was a right-wing death squad active in Argentina during the mid-1970s, particularly active under Isabel Perón's rule . Initially associated with the Peronist right, the organisation was bitterly in conflict with the Peronist left and other left organizations...
death-squad.
Legacy
The official Peronist party is the Justicialist PartyJusticialist Party
The Justicialist Party , or PJ, is a Peronist political party in Argentina, and the largest component of the Peronist movement.The party was led by Néstor Kirchner, President of Argentina from 2003 to 2007, until his death on October 27, 2010. The current Argentine president, Cristina Fernández de...
(PJ), which was the only Peronist party for a long time. During the government of Carlos Menem
Carlos 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:...
a group of legislators led by Carlos Álvarez, known as the "Group of 8", left the party, claiming that the government was not following Peronist doctrines. They created a new party, the "Frente Grande" (Broad Front)
Broad Front
Broad Front may refer to:*Broad Front , Argentine political party*Broad Front , Paraguayan political party,...
. A short time later, José Octavio Bordón
José Octavio Bordón
José Octavio Bordón is an Argentine politician and diplomat.-Life and times:Born in Rosario in 1945, Bordón graduated in sociology from the Universidad del Salvador in Buenos Aires in 1970. He was Professor of Political Sociology at Universidad Nacional de Cuyo from 1972 to 1976, and again from...
left the PJ as well, fearing that he might lose a primary election
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
against Menem, so he created his own party to take part in the 1995 elections, and allied with Álvarez' Broad Front in the Frepaso coalition. Similar breakaway movements followed frequently after that, creating many small parties which were led by single politicians claiming to be the authentic inheritors of Peronism.
The PJ did not participate as such during the 2003 elections
Argentine general election, 2003
Argentina held presidential and parliamentary elections on Sunday, April 27, 2003. Turnout was 78.2% and the results were as follows:-Argentine Congress:-Background:...
. The party allowed all three precandidates to run for the general elections, using small parties created for that purpose. Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Carlos Kirchner was an Argentine politician who served as the 54th President of Argentina from 25 May 2003 until 10 December 2007. Previously, he was Governor of Santa Cruz Province since 10 December 1991. He briefly served as Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations ...
won the elections running on a Front for Victory
Front for Victory
The Front for Victory is a Peronist political party and electoral alliance in Argentina, although it is formally a faction of the Justicialist Party. Both the former President Néstor Kirchner and the current President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner belong to this party, located on the left-wing...
ticket. As he did not disband his party after the election, Kirchnerism
Kirchnerism
Kirchnerism is a term used to refer to the political philosophy and supporters of Néstor Kirchner, president of Argentina from 2003 to 2007, and of his wife Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, President from 2007...
relies on both the PJ and the Front for Victory.