We explain what the Liberating Revolution was, its main events and its general characteristics.
The Liberating Revolution began in 1955 and ended in 1958.
What was the Liberating Revolution?
The Liberating Revolution was an Argentine civic-military movement that overthrew the government of Juan Domingo Perón on September 16, 1955 and ruled the country until May 1, 1958. The government of the Liberating Revolution was a military dictatorship that set out to “de-Peronize” Argentina, reestablish the 1853 Constitution and call for new elections in 1958 that, with the banning of Peronism, gave victory to the radical Arturo Frondizi.
The term “Liberating Revolution” was used by the movement that carried out the coup d’état in the sense of liberation from the authoritarianism of the previous regime, whose legislation and political structure it intended to dismantle. Its main architects were Admiral Isaac Rojas, retired General Eduardo Lonardi (who served as president in 1955) and Lieutenant General Pedro Eugenio Aramburu (president between 1955 and 1958).
Although the motto after the coup was “neither winners nor losers”the government of the Liberating Revolution applied repressive measures such as the imprisonment of Peronist officials and union leaders. After a failed attempt at a Peronist military coup in June 1956, the Aramburu government ordered the execution of around thirty military and civilian personnel involved.
In the cultural field, During this period there was a significant promotion of sciencewith the creation of the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) and the installation of Argentina’s first nuclear reactor.
In 1957, the Radical Party split into two factions: one more aligned with the military government, which formed the Unión Cívica Radical del Pueblo, and a faction more inclined to approach Peronism, which formed the Unión Cívica Radical Intransigente and won the elections of 1958. This put an end to the stage of the Liberating Revolution.
See also: Peronism
Background of the Liberating Revolution
Before the September coup there were other attempts to overthrow Perón.
Since 1946, Argentina was governed by General Juan Domingo Perón.who, thanks to a reform of the Constitution in 1949, was able to be re-elected for a second term beginning in 1952.
The Peronist government’s labor legislation provoked the support of a large part of the labor movement Peronism, but political persecution and state control of the economy provoked opposition from broad social sectors. The effects of the economic model implemented by Perón were especially felt from 1949 onwards, when inflation and the shortage of foreign currency began to worsen.
In 1951 there was an attempted coup d’état, led by some officers of the Armed Forces.which quickly failed and led to the imprisonment of the participants. In 1953, explosions during a CGT (General Confederation of Labour) event led to a series of fires in opposition premises and the imprisonment of thousands of political leaders.
In this climate of violence, opposition from student sectors increased and a confrontation between the government and the Catholic Church began. A sector of Catholicism supported the bombing of the Casa Rosada and the Plaza de Mayo carried out on June 16, 1955 by Navy planes with the aim of assassinating Perón. The result was the death of around three hundred civilians. The Peronist reaction was the burning and looting of churchesTwo months later, Perón gave a famous speech in which he warned that “when one of ours falls, five of theirs will fall.”
The coup of September 16, 1955
Eduardo Lonardi wanted to reach an agreement with the Peronist union leaders.
The military uprising began on September 16, 1955 in Córdobaled by retired general Eduardo Lonardi, and in other places such as Puerto Belgrano (Buenos Aires province). The Navy supported Lonardi while the rest of the Armed Forces were divided between those who supported the rebels and those who defended the government.
The troops loyal to the government acted reluctantly. On September 20, Perón sent his resignation and took refuge on a Paraguayan ship.On September 21, the coup was successful and two days later Lonardi assumed the provisional presidency of the nation. Perón traveled to Paraguay in October, where the government of Alfredo Stroessner granted him political asylum.
Lonardi served as president de facto for two months, with Admiral Isaac Rojas as vice president and with the support of Catholic and nationalist groups. During that time he tried to implement measures related to the slogan “neither victors nor vanquished”, which involved not treating Peronism as an enemy, maintaining part of the current social legislation and reaching an agreement with Peronist political and trade union leaders.
However, the most anti-Peronist sector of the movement exerted pressure to overthrow Lonardi and this He was replaced by Lieutenant General Pedro Eugenio Aramburu on November 13, 1955.The vice presidency continued to be occupied by Isaac Rojas, who also chaired the National Advisory Board, which was made up of representatives of the majority of the country’s political forces (with the exception of Peronism and Communism). At this time, the term “gorilla” began to be used to identify anti-Peronists.
See also: De facto government
The presidency of Pedro Eugenio Aramburu
Pedro Eugenio Aramburu promoted a policy of “de-Peronization.”
In the Peronist sectors This Revolution is considered in a negative waydefining it as the ‘Shooting Revolution‘ in the wake of the civilians and military personnel who were shot in 1956 as punishment for their rebellion during the uprising of General Juan José Valle, which emerged from the Peronist Resistance. These shootings were published by the journalist Rodolfo Walsh.
Aramburu became president on November 13, 1955. with the support of the most anti-Peronist sectors of the Armed Forces and liberal groups in civil society. His assumption implied an important change with respect to the provisional presidency of Lonardi, since He banned the Peronist Party, intervened in the CGT and most of the unions, and imprisoned Peronist officials and union leaders. and banned the use of symbols associated with Perón. Even Eva Perón’s corpse was seized, but only returned in 1971.
Despite these and other measures, Peronism retained the support of broad sectors of society and continued to influence national politics.. Thus was born the Peronist resistance, as the attempts to resist proscription through strikes, sabotage and acts of violence were called, with the encouragement of Perón himself from exile. There was also a call from Perón to vote for Arturo Frondizi (of the Intransigent Radical Civic Union) in the 1958 elections, against the candidate of the Radical Civic Union of the People, Ricardo Balbín.
Politics and economy of the Liberating Revolution
The success of the 1955 coup led to the closure of Congress, the intervention of the provinces and the dismissal of the members of the Supreme Court of Justicewho had been appointed by the Peronist government. Other institutions previously controlled by the Peronist regime were also intervened, such as universities, to which autonomy was returned.
Along with the positions of president and vice president, A National Advisory Board was established, made up of civilians from various political parties. The diary was returned The Press to its former owners, who had lost it due to an expropriation law in 1951, and the press and communication media were distributed among different political and ideological sectors (excluding Peronism).
In economic terms, the Liberating Revolution did not have a clear direction. He implemented some liberal measures, such as closing the IAPI (Argentine Institute for the Promotion of Trade) created in 1946 to exercise state control over foreign trade. However, he also used interventionist mechanisms, such as price controls. In addition, He was responsible for Argentina’s accession to the IMF (International Monetary Fund) on the recommendation of economist Raúl Prebisch.
The Liberating Revolution gave a boost to science with the aim of encouraging economic modernization. CONICET was created in early 1958, and its first president was Bernardo Houssay, Nobel Prize winner in Medicine. Scientific institutes were also founded and Argentina’s first nuclear reactor was installed.
The constitutional reform of 1957
In May 1956, the Aramburu government repealed the 1949 Constitution, which had been sanctioned during Perón’s presidency. In this way, reestablished the Constitution of 1853 and called for a Constituent Convention to agree on a new constitutional reform.
In July 1957 Elections for constituent convention members were held, which, due to the proscription of Peronism and Perón’s call to vote blank, resulted in 24% blank votesThe two parties that received the most votes were the Radical Civic Union of the People (headed by Ricardo Balbín), which obtained 24%, and the Intransigent Radical Civic Union (headed by Arturo Frondizi) with 21%.
The Constituent Convention met in Santa Fe and, although Frondizi’s sector withdrew, managed to ratify the Constitution of 1853 and the addition of article 14 bis which recognised a series of labour and social rights (and which was included in the 1994 reform that is currently in force). Aramburu subsequently set the elections for president and other positions for February 1958.
The shootings of 1956
The 1956 shootings were investigated by journalist Rodolfo Walsh.
In June 1956, A group of Peronist military and civilians attempted a coup against Aramburu’s government but was quickly put down. As a result, The government declared martial law and ordered the shooting of around thirty people. (military and civilian), including the main leader of the uprising: General Juan José Valle.
The 1956 shootings provoked rejection from many social sectors. Journalist Rodolfo Walsh conducted an investigation about the facts he published in his book Operation Massacre from 1957, adapted to the big screen in 1972. This book made public the execution of five civilians in José León Suárez, province of Buenos Aires. When Aramburu was kidnapped and murdered by the Peronist armed organization Montoneros in 1970, one of the reasons listed to justify his execution was his responsibility in these shootings.
The 1958 elections
The 1958 elections brought the radical Arturo Frondizi to the presidency.
Political persecution and state censorship during the years of…