Between Rosas and Sarmiento: Notes on Nationalism in Peronist Thought Author(s): Colin M. Winston Source: The Americas, Vol.

39, No. 3 (Jan., 1983), pp. 305-332 Published by: Academy of American Franciscan History Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/981228 . Accessed: 05/03/2011 20:04
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BETWEENROSAS AND SARMIENTO: NOTES ON NATIONALISM IN PERONIST THOUGHT

century Argentinaand the volumes of scholarly,journalistic and partisanexegesis the movementhas generated,historians have yet to reacha minimalconsensuson the natureof Peronism.In the effortshave centurysincePer6n'sfirstfallfrompower,numerous quarter been made to explain, glorify or denigrate his regime. Many antiPeronistshave dismissed theirb&te noireas an unprincipled demagogue, motivated solely by political opportunismand an insatiabledesire to retain power.' Some supportersof the regimeecho its propaganda by picturingPer6n as takingthe first greatstridestowarda politicallyfree, economicallyindependentand socially just Argentina.2CertainantiPeronistsand a numberof foreigncommentators admitthat grudgingly the movementhadpoliticalandideologicalcontent,butthenlabelit as an importedfascistinterlude,an alienvirusthat infectedthe body politicof Argentinajust as it nearedthe end of the long marchtowardsliberal democracy.The London Economist recentlydescribedthe advent of Peronism as an instant replay of Italian Fascism. "The bulk of his werethe lowermiddleclass immigrants who pouredinto the supporters countryfrom impoverished Italy afterthe secondworldwar... The new arrivalscheeredEl Lideras they had cheeredII Duce for two decades.

its to ESPITE crucial of importance thedevelopment twentieth

1Anonymous, Libro negro de la segunda tirania (Buenos Aires, 1958); Eduardo SAnchezZinney, El culto de la infamia. Historia documentada de la segunda tirania Argentina (Buenos Aires, 1958). 2Juan Jos6 HernAndezArregui, Laformacidn de la conciencia nacional (Buenos Aires, 1970).

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Per6n representated same historical the as phenomenon Hitlerand Mussolini..,3 Moreserious writers haveattempted explain,rather to thanexplain Per6n's rule.Recentscholarship concentrated analyzing has on away, specificaspectsof the regimesuch as its electoralsupport,military economic and This backing, policies political trajectory.4 solid,though has aboutthe general limited,research shiedawayfrom speculation nature Peronism a political of as movement hasneglected examine and to theregime's rhetoric mythology. and Thosewhopropagate the ideology, notionof a "creole fascism" from of to transplanted thebanks theTiber the Rio de la Platahavea ready-made of the Peronist interpretation but fascist drained much is of of phenomenon, it is useful onlyif theterm its cognitivecontent.Peronism lackedthe totalitarian of aspirations fascism-the creationof a new state ruledby a singlemassparty,a revolutionized economic a and, system, ultimately, newman.Itscultural mixwasvaried, theirrational but vitalism to was peculiar fascism barely and present.Althoughstaunchlyanti-communist anti-conservative Peronism at the of always accepted, leastrhetorically, basicpostulates and neverpraisedthe mysticalvalue of violence.Some liberalism, of were in but was trappings fascism present Peronism, mostof itscontent missing. This essaywill not discussmisleading and foreignanalogies vague catch-all such as categories, as Peronism "national Instead, populism."5 it looksat Peronism within, from theregime's and through declarations, as a unique of Argentine HowdidPer6n, hispublic in product history.6
3RobertHarvey, "PoorLittleRichBoy.Argentina: Survey," Economist, January a The 26 1980, p. 7. are 4Among the most notablecontributions GeorgeBlanksten,Perdn'sArgentina(Chicago, 1953);CarlosS. Fayt,ed., La naturaleza RobertPotash, The delperonismo(BuenosAires, 1967); CarlosF. DiazAlejandro. Armyandpoliticsin Argentina (Stanford,1969); on Essays theEconomic PeterWaldman, Peronismus, History theArgentine of Der Republic (NewHaven,1970); 1943-1955 (Hamburg,1974). 5Theviewendorsed GinoGermani Authoritarianism, in Fascism NationalPopulism and by (New Brunswick, 1978). 6The conclusionsof this articleare tentativeand not basedon a comprehensive surveyof all Peronist literature. and from 1943to 1953havebeen Manyof Per6n'sspeeches mostof his writings examined.This includesmaterialdirectedto the nationat large,the military,Peronistmilitants, workers and a variety of interest and professionalgroups. This documentationhas been supplemented Eva Per6n'sstatements,the writingsof Peronistpropagandists divergent by of and officialpublications. politicaloriginsand trajectories, the regime's Thesesources,whileby no meansexhaustive, reflect reasonable a cross-section Peronist of attitudes. certain Nevertheless, gaps shouldbenoted.ThePeronist couldyieldsignificant data. Democracia, popular press,especially new Themostperishable inaccessible and documentation-street and memoranda pamphlets intra-party

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rhetoric, picture the Argentinepast and integratehis regimeinto the courseof Argentinehistory?Whatmythsand symbolsdid the Peronists evoke and what did their propagandadescribe as the main lines of divisionand conflict in Argentinesociety, both past and present? How consciouswas the regimeof historicalprecedent whydidit chooseto and highlight certain historical elements and not others? We are not concernedherewith what Per6n reallythoughtbut withhow he wanted his movement and himself to be perceivedby the Argentinepeople. Elucidation of the myths and symbols of Peronist nationalism, not is analysisof the regime'sactual performance, the goal of this study. To understand Peronistrhetoric,however,one mustknowto whomit was directed.Thus we shall touch upon one of the thorniestaspectsof Peronism: its social base. Electoral studies have not resolved this and controversy, the authordoes not pretendto do so here.Butby seeing to which social sectors Per6n appealedand whichimageshe evokedor avoided, a contributionwill be made to our as yet imperfectunderstandingof Peronism'sappeal.7
THETwo ARGENTINAS

Peronistnationalismcan only be comprehended withinthe contextof the "twoArgentinas" emerged that the firstquarter during centuryof the life. Although ethnic, social and economic differences Republic's separatedthe interiorprovincesfrom the city of Buenos Aires and the coast duringthe colonialperiod,not untilthe civilstruggles 1810-1852 of
and publications-hasnot beenavailable thisauthor.In addition,localPeronist to literature would be invaluable ascertaining whatextentthe regime in to tailored appealto fit regional its peculiarities. Due to theseat present unavoidable lacunae article designed this is bothto stimulate further research and presentpreliminary findingsand hypotheses.Becauseof Per6n'sabruptshifts in foreign, economicandclerical havebeenlargely political, policiesafter1953thefinaltwo yearsof the regime omittedfrom this analysis.It is questionable whetherthese policychangeswereaccompanied by commensuratechanges in the Peronist perception of Argentine nationalism and history; sourcesfor the period,bothprimary secondary, as yet too thinto permit and are unfortunately any usefulspeculations this score. on 7GinoGermani PeterH. Smithhavepresented and opposingviewsin thedebateoverPeronism's social base. Germani's latestversionis givenin the previously citedwork.He has soughtto refute Smithin "Elsurgimiento peronismo: rol de los obrerosy los migrantes del el Desarollo internos," econdmico 13 (octubre/diciembre 1973),pp. 435-488.Smith has expressedhis view in "Social PoliticalParticipation, the Riseof Per6n," and PoliticalScienceQuarterly (March mobilization, 84 of in 1972),pp. 55-73.A briefrebuttal Germani appeared Desarollo econdmico (14julio/ septiembre, studiesof Peronism's social base:Little,"Electoral 1974).WalterLittlehas also madeimportant
1969) and in "The Social Base of Peronism," Hispanic American Historical Review 52 (February

Aspects of Peronism," Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs 15 (August 1973), pp.

267-84.

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NATIONALISM IN PERONIST THOUGHT

did the Buenos Aires/Provinces dichotomy acquire a clear political dimension. The caudillo Juan Manuel de Rosas championed the Federalistsof the interioragainst the unitariosof the portefto capital (Buenos Aires). Rosas came to symbolize the "authentic"Spanish hinterland, the defense of the Church and landed interests, the maintenanceof the traditionalHispanicsocial and economicstructure, and an authoritarian by politicalstyle characterized the "spontaneous" caudillo. allegianceof the massesto a charismatic Rosas won the first round of the civil war by defeatingBernardino and Rivadavia's portefioforces,but the latterregrouped finallytoppled the caudillo at Caseros in 1852. The most notable anti-Rosistaof this period was Domingo F. Sarmiento whose masterpiece Facundo: the y civilizacidn barbariearticulated idealsof the liberaloppositionto Rosas and crystallized the Buenos Aires/Provinces dichotomy. Sarmiento establishedthe rigid differentiationbetween "civilization" representedexclusively by the liberal, European, secular cosmopolitanism of Buenos Aires and "barbarism," epitomizedby the ignorant inlandmassesand theirruthlesscaudillos.Sarmiento Hispano-Catholic theirHispanic and the liberalstatesmenof his generation utterlyrejected culturaland political heritage.Spanish liberalsclaimedto be reviving liberalslooked exclusively true, medievalSpanishfreedom;Sarmentine to Frenchand Englishmodels of constitutional government.European and Spanishcultureand politics were mutuallyexclusive.8 The portefioliberalsfaced a twin challenge:to buildcivilizationand extirpate barbarism. Sarmiento advocated an explicit program, emphasizing constitutional government, mass education, European immigrationand laissezfaire economics,to assurecivilization's sway.9 Theseconstructive proposalswereaccompanied an all out waragainst by the gaucho who, after Rosas' defeat, became the living symbol of the barbarousinterior. Sarmiento'sadvice to General Mitre reveals the intensityof the portefios'hatredof the cultureof the interior."Do not save gaucho blood. We must treat is as a fertilizerthat will enrichthe 10 country. Blood is their sole human characteristic." The battle lines betweenthe two Argentinascould not have been more clearlydrawn.
8See especially Sarmiento's "Quinta carta a Don Rafael Minvielle," Gaceta de Comercio, Santiago, 28 October 1843, quoted in Peter G. Earle, Prophet in the Wilderness: The Works of Ezequiel Martinez Estrada (Austin, 1971), p. 47. 9Sarmiento in Facundo, quoted by Julio Mafud, Psicologia de la viveza criolla (Buenos Aires, 1971), p. 214. 10Sarmiento in Eduardo Enrique Garcia, Radiograffa politica del general Perdn (Buenos Aires, 1946), p. 5.

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As with all nationalmyths, the porteio/provinciano dichotomy seldom to of dojustice thenuances Popular reality. perceptions simplifies but to history, theyarenot impervious theeffectsof socialandpolitical and traditions living, were BoththeSarmentine Rosista dynamic change. modifications thecentury from thatunderwent during important myths of to rise The and the publication Facundo Per6n's to power. influence legacyduringthe "golden age"of liberal prestigeof the Sarmentine but is two had Argentina indisputable, by theturnof thecentury trends tradition. nation's The withinthe portefio developed pre-1916 political whoseliberalism strictly was formed oligarchy an 61itist and leadership the authoritarian. 61ite Although liberal grudgingly increasingly granted the it reconciled universal Pefialawof 1912) never (under Sdenz suffrage and itselfto defacto democratization reasserted control dejurepolitical conservative suspicious masspolitics, and of the 1930s. Socially during a or these liberalsretained reputation-justified not-as doctrinaire and The laissezfaire economists culturalhispanophobes."1 opposing leader theRadical trend represented Hip6lito was of by Yrigoyen, party. democratized movement and golden liberalism tentatively age Yrigoyen's it ethos.Yrigoyen exhibited even welded to a populist certain typically that Rosistacharacteristics wouldlaterleadadherents bothPortefio of idealsto claimhimastheirown.Among andProvinciano thesewerehis as President mobilize urbanworking to frustrated the classes attempts fromlaissez-faire as andmoveaway economics, wellas hispersonalistic, vaguely caudillo-like, leadershipstyle. But the Radicals'staunch liberalism theirspecial and to left well appeal European immigrants them withinthe Sarmentine fold. The struggle betweenYrigoyen the and conservative 61iteshouldbe viewed,despitehesitantRadicalmoves towardsRosistapositions,as an intra-liberal conflictand not as an instance the two Argentinas of lockedin combat.12 Liberal success after1853precluded revival political of Rosismo, any but the valuesthatRosashadcometo incarnate weretransmitted and
modifiedthroughliteraryculture.Jos6 Hernindez'sgauchoepic Martin Fierro was the literary riposte to Sarmiento'sFacundo. Herndndez interiorand glorifiedthe gauchoas symbolof the "authentic" Argentine lamented his defeat by portefio civilization. In addition to standard
see A 11 liberalism Jos6LuisRomero, History rgentine PoliticalThought On ofA (Stanford, 1963) andNatalioR. Botana,El ordenconservador: politicaargentina la entre1880y 1916(Buenos Aires, 1977). in 12DavidRock, "Radical Elite, 1912-1930" DavidRock,ed., Populismand the Conservative
Argentina in the Twentieth Century (Pittsburgh, 1975), pp. 66-88; J. M. Taylor, Eva Perdn: The Myths of a Woman (Chicago, 1980), pp. 30-33.

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INPERONIST NATIONALISM THOUGHT

Rosista values, the poem emphasizedthe hypocrisyof liberallaw and justice"in Sarmentine Argentina.'3 authorityand the lack of true"social of Martin Fierro was published in the 1870s, but the recrudescence the Rosistaand Hispanicidealsthataccompanied firstsignsof disillusion with the liberal regime during the decade preceding 1914 brought renewedpopularityto the gaucho poem. The epic became a bible for those disgruntledwith the liberal nationalismof the golden age and a symbol of resistanceto an alien orderimposedupon Argentinaby the collusion of domestic and foreign monied interests.'4 Economic nationalism, only implicitin the Rosistatradition,camemore previously and more to the fore. Indirectlythe revivalof Martin Fierro pointed towards the rehabilitationof Rosas himself, but for this his admirers would wait nearlytwentymore years. of The economicrepurcussions the WallStreetcrashprecipitated full a scale social, economic, culturaland politicalcrisisof liberalArgentina. The ensuing atmosphere of strident economic nationalism and conservative fulminationagainstthe vendepatria greatlyfacilitated l61ite of the full resurgence the Rosistatradition.The revivalwas spearheaded scholarswhosere-evaluation of by serious,thoughdistinctlyanti-liberal, alteredArgentinehistoriography.l5 Rosas' rule has substantially More and germaneto this studywas the popularization abuseof this scholarboth novelsand ship by right-nationalists, throughwidelyreadhistorical The right-nationalists were characterized rabid political agitation.'6 by and a anti-liberalism anti-communism, vaguefederalism exaltation and of provincianoagainstportefioideals,authoritarianism militarism, and on traditionalCatholicism,vociferouseconomicnationalism emphasis and a thinly veiled contemptfor the massesaccompaniedby an l61itist conception of society emphasizingorder the hierarchy.They largely in succeeded weldingthesevaluesto resurgent Rosismo.Ingood partthis involvedmerelymakingexplicitandintensifying muchthatwasinherent in the Rosistlegacy.Butthe rightwingnationalists also convertedRosas into a partisan nationalism. figureand a symbolof an anti-populist l61itist drainedfromthe Rosistatradition muchof By so doingtheytemporarily the emphasison the massesand on socialjusticethat had beenmostfully
13 Jos6 HernAndez, MartinFierro,in Mafud,p. 290. 14 ArthurP. Whitaker DavidC. Jordan,Nationalism Contemporary and in LatinAmerica (New York, 1966),p. 55. CliftonB. Kroeber, "RosasandtheRevision Argentine of 15 Inter-American History,1880-1955,"

Review of Bibliography, V. X, No. 1 (January 1960), pp. 3-25. 16Garth M. Hansen, The Argentine Historical Novel, 1840-1970. Unpublished Ph.D.

of Dissertation, University New Mexico,Albuquerque, 1979.,pp. 152-153.

COLIN WINSTON M.

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elaboratiedin Martin Fierro. This would seriouslyimpairthe popular to appealof a mythwhichin manyrespectswas responsive specialneeds in a time of crisis.'7 Thusby 1945two politicalandcultural traditions, datingbackover 100 continuedto inform Argentinethought. The liberalSarmentine years, and ethos, despitethe blows of depression militarycoups,retainedsome vitality, though it had lost its pre-1930 61an. The anti-liberal Rosas/Martin Fierro tradition was more influential than any time between Rosas' defeat and the Great Depression. But it had in part into whose symbolof a rightwingradicalminority degenerated a partisan leadershipand partieswere in disarrayfollowing the allied victory in illiberalmilitaryregime.The Europeand the collapseof the 1943-1945 the forcesembodying Sarmiento traditionwereonly marginally political better positioned. The Radicalsretainedconsiderable popularsupport but were split into rivalfactionsalong ideologicaland personalistlines. The Conservativesmaintainedtheir hold on the 61itebut had proved incapable of adapting to modern mass politics. Socialists and Communiststogethermobilizedonly a minorityof the urbanworking ideas.'" class,andwereoftensuspectfor theirforeignand"un-Argentine" Radicalsplintergroup that later FORJA, a small left-nationalist Only joined the Peronistcoalition,showedsigns of bridgingthe gap between ThusPer6nfaceda fluidpoliticalenvironment, the two Argentinas. with the large grey area betweenintransigent Rosismoand rigidSarmentine liberalismlargelyunoccupied.Peronistself-imageand use of historical precedentwere profoundlyinfluencedby these politicalcircumstances. And the view of the Argentinepast in Per6n's rhetoricwas equally from the natureof the electorateto which he appealed. inseparable
DESCAMISADOS OR CABECITAS NEGRAS?

The most widelyheld thesisconcerningPeronism's mass base centers on the political and demographicshifts of the 1930s and 40s which introduceda whole new elementinto Argentineeconomicand political life. Roberto Cort6s Conde has concisely expressedwhat is still the prevailingorthodoxy. To understand Peronism wehaveto remember million what was those men whoin thefouryears from1943 1947 to moved fromthecountryside the to
NavarroGerassi,Los nacionalistas 17Marysa (BuenosAires, 1968),pp. 133-135.

18See Eva Per6n's comments in Evita Evita: Eva Duarte Perdn TellsHer Own by Story. (London, 1978), pp. 15-16, 77.

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who camefromthe most backward areasof the city. A millionpersons clothedand undernourished, withouteducation any or Republic, poorly A the of politicalexperience. millionmenwho had neverknown benefits This that the democracy. wasthe othercountry, whichbeganto approach Aires the of in Buenos and during middle the 1930s which 1945 Europeanized on its doors.19 forcefully pounded it and Gino Germani refinedthisargument butressed withelectoral has data.20According to Germani,the internal migrantsformed a "new in frombluecollarjobs displaced proletariat" thelargecitiesandpartially segmentsof the upwardlymobile"oldproletariat," composedlargelyof and theiroffspring.The old proletarian supposedto have is immigrants in the liberalpluralist civiccultureof BuenosAires.He was, participated in the eyes of the portefio middleclass, a "realworker-educated and socialistor communist, who was neverto be seen democratic; 'obviously' in the Peronist street action."21The new working class brought the ethos back to the capital-for the first time since 1852. Hispano-creole The urban middle classes disdainfullytermed its memberscabecitas with Peronist.Old negras,a racialslurthat quicklybecamesynonymous liberalsconsideredthese "little black heads"(also the name of a style common Argentinesparrow)to be the detritusof nineteenthcentury barbarism,supposedlydefinitivelyerased by Europeanimmigration.22 maintains that the newworkers Germani directparticipation in preferred of politics (such as the massive"bringback Per6n"demonstrations 17 October 1945) under the sway of a charismaticcaudillo to humdrum liberal practices.This tradition,like most other cabecitanegravalues, Germanidoes admit that "was an integralpart of... creole culture."23 Peronismhad a cross-classaspect, but he insists that the Rosista new proletariatwas the movement'sbackboneand gave it its specialcreole and nativistcoloration. Peter Smith has challengedthis interpretation Peronism.24 of Essenof tially, Smithfoundthatthe distribution Peronistvoteswasmuchmore diffusethan the orthodox versionmaintains.Per6n drewsupportfrom the cities, smalltowns and countryside; fromthe youngand the old;and from the middle,lowermiddleand workingclasses.Althoughthe lower
19Roberto Cort6s Conde, "Partidos Politicos," in Jorge A Paita, ed., Argentina, 1930-1960 (Buenos Aires, 1961), pp. 146-147. 20Germani, Authoritarianism, pp. 166-170. 21Ibid, p. 188. 22Ibid., p. 170 and James R. Scobie, Argentina, A City and a Nation (New York, 1970), p. 248. 23Ibid., p. 175. 24Smith, "Social Base," passim.

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classes were the most crucialelementin the Per6n coalition, it was an authenticallymulti-classphenomenon.WhereSmith differsmost with Germaniis over which workersprovidedthe core of Per6n'sfollowing. Smith agrees with Germanithat the industrialproletariatwas overin whelminglyPeronist;but Per6n could claim as many supporters the old workingclass as among internalmigrants.In fact, Per6n "seemsto have obtainedhis most crucialelectoralsupportfrom the old working to class, not from recentcountryside city migrants."25 his AlthoughSmithdoes not makethe inference, findingssupportthe assertionthat the term descamisadorather than cabecitanegra most ones" accuratelydescribesthe averagePeronistworker.The "shirtless were seen both by themselvesand by the 61iteas essentiallydefinedby their working class status: both old and new proletarianscould be descamisados. Cabecitanegra,withits racialovertonesandhintsof rural and provincialorigin,couldonly be correctlyappliedto partsof the new workingclass. It includeda classcomponentbut this was overshadowed by ethnic and culturalfactors. Both terms were derisivelyapplied to Peronistsby their enemies,but the regimeembraced conceptof the the descamisado while cabecita negra became virtually a forbidden expressionunderPer6n. This alone suggeststhat the movementwanted to appealto theentireworkingclassandnot to one segmentoveranother. Perhapsby lookingat Peronistrhetoric,by seeingto whichsocialsectors Per6ndirectedhis message,it will be possibleto determine whichviewcabecitanegraor descamisado-is more accurate.Did Per6n explicitly appeal to the Hispano-creolepast, the Rosista and Martin Fierro tradition? he insteadinvokethe liberalnationalism Rivadavia Did of and Sarmiento? did Per6n attemptto get mileageout of both traditions Or while remainingfirmlycommittedto neither?Finally,Per6n may have wanted to supersede the Rosas/Sarmiento dichotomy in order to popularizea more accurateand/or politicallymore useful division of Argentinesociety.
BETWEEN ROSAS AND SARMIENTO

It has long been assumed by many that Peronismwas an updated versionof Rosismoand that Per6nhimselfwas consciousof this parallel and used it to his advantage.The Per6n-Rosasequationhas been most The avidlydisseminated liberalanti-Peronists. officialexposureof the by
regime's iniquities is The Black Book of the Second Tyranny, the first
25Ibid., p. 63.

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IN THOUGHT NATIONALISM PERONIST

being Rosas's dictatorship.26The liberal anti-Peronists explicitly comparedtheir cause with that of the victors of Caseros and of the Sarmientotradition in general. In The Cult of Infamy by the liberal to SanchezZinney,references Rosas in the index are exceededonly by to Per6n himself. The parallelbetween Rosas and Per6n is the those that book'schiefunifyingconcept.The authormaintains both Per6nand Rosas attemptedto mobilizethe masses,not to createa new socialorder "Rosasspeaksof order; Per6n on butto imposedespotism all Argentines. of power;both, with differentterms,imposeabsolutism." The parallel 27 Ezcurra Rosas. de is extendedto encompassEva Per6nand Encarnaci6n The two wives workedbehindthe scenes beforetheir spousesachieved full power, both specialized in orchestrating and receiving mass adulation, and Eva and Encarnaci6n shared the conviction that must be eitherPeronists/Rosistasor traitors."Evitaseemed Argentines of to be a reincarnation Ezcurra(de Rosas)."28 in Anti-Peronists have beenmoresuccessful pointingout theirview of the similaritiesbetween Rosas and Per6n than in demonstrating how the Per6n manipulated Rosas tradition.Thishas lead some observers to the accuracyof the parallel.GeorgeBlanksten,writingduring question the last yearsof the regime,maintained that Per6nwas tryingto straddle are the two traditionsand that "Argentines not quite surewhich of the is two Argentinas Per6n's."29 He didnot, however,specifyexactlyhow or why Per6n straddledthe gap between Rosas and Sarmiento,and the generaltone of the work-full of effortsto tar Per6nas a fascistand as a crypto-Rosista--detractedfrom his hypothesis. J. M. Taylor has wisdom:that Per6n proposedpreciselythe oppositeof the conventional the Sarmiento at leastuntil 1947.Shecitesa actuallyappropriated legacy, speech by Eva Per6n of 25 April 1947 in which she speaks of her husband'spossession of the "seatof Rivadavia."30 Though suggestive, her thesisis basedon too scantyevidence(one citation)to meritserious And it is contradicted a wealthof data, some of which consideration. by will be presentedin this essay. The remainder this studywill analyzehow Per6ncameto gripswith of the two Argentinas why he adoptedthe solutionhe did. The general and that emergesis of a very carefuland deliberatebalancingact picture
26LibroNegro,passim. 27SAnchez Zinney,pp. 40, 91. 28Ibid., p. 99. 29Blanksten, 230. p. 30Taylor, 30. p.

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betweenthe portefioand provincianotraditions.Per6n took from each Argentineethos only what suitedhim and ignoredthe most divisiveand potentiallydisruptiveaspects of both traditions.From the heritageof Rivadaviaand Sarmientohe extractedthe concepts of freedom,civiliversuscaudillaje of and, most important all, political zation, conduccidn From the legacyof Rosas and MartinFierrohe emphasized legitimacy. Argentinidad,populism,political authorityand the twin pillarsof his Thiswillbecomeclearer regime,socialjusticeandeconomicnationalism. after a brief look at how Per6n treated the principletheses of each tradition. The most direct way to tackle this problemis to examinefirst how Peronist literatureportrays Argentine history. UnfortunatelyPer6n himselfis of little aid here:his overwhelmingly practical speechescontain only brief allusions to historicaltopics. One must turn to the regime's specifically historical publications and combine them with the few insightsthat can be gleanedfrom Per6n'sspeeches. The most prominent characteristicof the two Peronist histories consultedhere is their emphasison the Independence strugglesand the life of San Martinto the virtualexclusionof all elsesavethe Peronistera. selectedfrom the nations past, of which half occurredbefore 1820and half after 17October1945!Betweenthe adoptionof the nationalflagand Per6n's emergenceas a national figure the most noteworthy,indeed deathin virtuallythe sole, event this pamphletmentionsis San Martin's This emphasis on San Martin is not due to the pamphlet's 1850.31 the of death.San publicationto commemorate centenary the Liberator's Martinwas the only importantfigurein ArgentinehistorywhomPer6n consistentlyinvoked.His speechesto the militaryareregularly prefaced by an encomium to the great General whose military, political and personalvirtuesare, in the wordsof the SyntheticHistory,an "example of a life which the nation as a whole has assimilatedand yearns to 32 imitate." Most surprising the lackof anymentionof Rosasin theseworks.The is argentina, which has a brief section on history, the colonial and are independence periodsthroughthe 1826electionof Rivadavia covered
31Anonymous, Synthetic History of the Argentine Republic (Buenos Aires, 1950), passim. 32Juan Per6n, Discursos del Excmo. Sr. Presidente de la nacidn General Perdn dirigidas a las fuerzas armadas, 1946-1951 (Buenos Aires, 1951); Synthetic, pp. 16-17.

In the Synthetic History of the Argentine Republic ten key events are

Synthetic History simply skips over this era. In the huge La nacidn

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in some detail, and then the storyjumps to San Martin'sdeathand the constitutionof 1853. Rosas is a non-person.33 Sarmientois partially ignored.Although,unlikeRosas,his namedoes crop up occasionallyin Peronistliterature,he is no Peronisthero. The Peronistassessmentof the Sarmentinetraditionis contradictory. The social and economic aspects of liberal Argentina are mercilessly but castigated; in the politicalspherethe legacyof the liberalgenerations of 1853and 1880is praised.The SyntheticHistorydescribes century the second colonial period, duringwhich preceedingPer6n as Argentina's was controlled by foreign monopolies and the nation's everything industrialdevelopmentwas deliberatelysabotagedby the "visibleand invisible agents of international capitalism" and their Argentine This was a common motif of Per6n's speeches. The accomplices.34 President described his own regime as precipitatingthe Argentine from an old lethargythat had lasted more than a people's"awakening Eva was if anythingmorevituperative categorical her and in 35 century." of of denunciations the infamous"century oligarchy" the nationhad that endured. 36 Peronisthistoriesdo give tacit approvalto the achievements the of of 1853and 1880,but only insofaras they contributed the to generations consolidation of the Argentinestate. Per6n was anxious to political appear as the legitimate political-though not social or economiclegateeof liberalArgentina.Thus La nacidnargentina picturesthe 1853 constitutionjoined by a blue-white-blue (the national colors) striped ribbon to the 1949 Peronist constitution. The coverage of post-1853 events is brief, strictly factual, and emphasizesnation building:the federalizationof Buenos Aires (1880), the introductionof universal But (1896)andtheadoptionof thesecretballotin 1912.37 the conscription realsignificance theseeventsandof theliberalpoliticallegacywas of only to preparethe groundfor the floweringof Peronism. overcome period civilwars, National the of the Constitutionratified is Having in 1853and the country to ascendin the concert nationsuntil of begins with of reform 1949, the splendour which at of arriving, the constitutional are that is sociallyjust, today we Argentines so proud:a fatherland free economically andpolitically sovereign.38
33Luis Babler, La nacidn Argentina: justa, libre, soberana (Buenos Aires, 1950), pp. 15-17. 34Synthetic, 53. p. 35Evita by Evita, p. 37. 36 bid., p. 53. 37Babler, pp. 15-27. 38 Ibid., p. 26.

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of tradition WhilePeronistsacceptedthe contributions the Sarmiento to Argentina's political sovereignty,they excoriatedit for its failureto free"Republic.But Per6n establisha "sociallyjust"and "economically did not turn to Rosas to fill the gaps, though he did evoke part of the caudillo by Rosista tradition.Insteadof mentioningthe controversial of the gaucho MartinFierroas a Rosista name he employedthe image surrogate. Throughout Per6n's speeches and in Peronist literature MartinFierrois quoted, usuallyfor some explicitpoliticalor economic purpose.Per6n implicitlyequatedthe gaucho with the descamisadoby of referringto both as representatives "dispossedclasses."39 Enrique of Eduardo,a left wing Peronist,praisedMartinFierroas a "precursor the descamisadosin civic militancy(who) standsat attentionbeforehis leader, PresidentPer6n..."40 for In additionto providinga gloriousprecedent the mobilizationof MartinFierroservedPeronismas the idealsymbolof the descamisados, one of its two top goals: socialjustice. In La nacidnargentinasnippets fromthe gauchoepic areprintedbeneathcolorillustrations the depicting of thepoorin pre-Peronist In a conference plight days.41 sponsoredbythe Horacio Rega delivereda lectureentitledProyeccidn social del regime, Martin Fierro which analyzed the injustices committed against the Theseevils, gauchoandthe absenceof socialjusticein liberalArgentina. suchreforms however,werewellon theirwayto beingeradicated through as the Estatutodel Peon. The sufferingsof MartinFierroand his sons, their lack of essentialservices,health care, housing and food, will all become things of the past as Per6n consolidates and expands his beneficentrule.42 Per6ncouldfindverylittledirectsupportin MartinFierroforhisgoal of aggressive economic nationalism leading to total economic Per6n was a thoroughgoing independence. dependentista long beforeit was properly fashionable. It would be hard to overemphasizethe resonanceof this aim in Peronistrhetoric,at least duringthe regime's first eight or so years. Nearly everypublic utteranceby the President, whetherdirectedto the army,descamisados, school teachers, academics, or businessmen to the nationat large,containsat leasta passingreference
39Juan Per6n, Discurso del Presidente de la nacidn Argentina General Juan Perdnpronunciado la Wdurante visita de los delegados al Congreso General Constituyente del Partido Peronista (Buenos Aires, 1947), np.

p. 4?Eduardo, 7. 41Babler,p. 7.
42Horacio Rega Molina, Proyeccidn social del Martin Fierro (Buenos Aires, 1950), pp. 27.

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to the stupendous advantages that will accrue from economic

independence. Per6n even issued a Declaration of Economic

had all (1947),whichboastedthat Argentina liquidated its Independence debts and now owned all of its nationalpatrimony.But Per6n did not make use of the Rosistatraditionof economicautarchyas a precedent. Neitherdid he use Sarmiento his followersas liberalwhippingboys. and It would have been too blatantlycontradictory praise the portefio to traditionfor its politicalcontributions thenimmediately around and turn and blast it for selling Argentinainto economic slavery. Still, Per6n wantedto condemnthe socio-economiclegacy of the men of 1853and 1880. He managedto do this while not appearingto be explicitlyantiSarmientoby never naming names. The constant attacks on a vague oligarchyreflectedthis strategy,and also pointed the way towardsthe formulation of a dichotomy designed to overshadow the Rosas/ Sarmientodivision. Anotherkey elementin the Rosas/ Sarmientooppositionis education and the role of intellectualism. Sarmiento considered educationto be one of civilizationandhis effortsto foment of the fundamental prerequisites earnedhimthelabelof "Schoolmaster President." It literacyand learning is generally assumed that Per6n categorically rejected the liberal intellectualtraditionin favor of the more practical,intuitiveknowledge associatedwith the interior.Blankstencited EducationMinisterOscar Ivanissevich's attacks on "parasitic... intellectualism" evidenceof a as Peronistanimusagainstcultureandeducation.43 representative How was this statement? Per6ncome down solidlyon the side of Rosismoon Did this questionbut not on others? To judge by the evidenceof Per6n'sspeechesandthe regime's publications Blankstenis somewhat in error. Of course a definitive answer cannotbe ventured withouta studyof Peronisteducational policy,school textbooks and curricula.Nevertheless, appearsthat here, as in other it areas, Per6n attempted to steer a course between barbarie and In and not civilizacidn. generalPer6npraised learning culture, onlywhen addressingintellectualsbut also when talking to workers.Culture is frommaterialprogress mustbe assiduously and fomentedin inseparable a well rounded and reorganizeduniversity system.44He urges the descamisadosto acquirea good education"withoutthe cultivationof
43Blanksten, p. 187 44Juan Per6n, Discurso del Presidente de la nacidn Argentina General Perdn. Pronunciado en el acto de homenaje tributado por las universidades argentinas al otorgarsele el titulo de doctor "honoris causis" por su obra en favor de la cultura nacional (Buenos Aires, 1947).

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which men in many ways approach the level of the irrational."45 Statements like these abound in Peronist literature.They not only dissociatePeronistworkersfrom the vulgar,animal-likeimage held of themby the elite but they explicitlyrejectthe crudestform of the Rosista culturalformulation. fact, Per6n'ssearchfor intellectual In legitimiation and acceptanceby academiccircles reachedludicrouslevels. In a talk given beforethe First NationalCongressof Philosophyin Mendozahe touched on, betweenlatin citations, the developmentof medievaland renaissancephilosophy,the concept of naturallaw in Hobbes, Kant's categoricalimperative,Vico, Heidegger,Hegel, Aristotle,the essential problems of theology, etc. Clearly only a professionally trained philosophic name dropper could have prepared so wideranging, and a "learned," "impressive" scholarlydisquisition.But Per6n had a behind this preposterousspeech: he wanted to be known as purpose Solon as well as her Pericles.46 Argentina's However Peronists did not blindly imitate liberal Argentina's educationaland culturalpolicies. Although Per6n did not indulge in public condemnationsof excessive intellectualismhe did urge that primary education be more practical and directed toward specific needsratherthan"encyclopedaic."47 nacidnargentina does La Argentine not claim that the regime has merely expanded and democratized educationalopportunitiespreviouslyavailableonly to the 61ite;it has altered the essential focus of education. The previousemphasison a materialistconception of life has been replacedby the "exaltationof formativeand spiritualvalues."Primaryeducationis now "humanist, truly Argentine"instead of "essentiallyverbalist and encyclopedist." Greatstridesin adult,technical, vocationalandextensioneducation have been made. Finally, voluntary religious*instruction has been reinstituted.48 The spiritof theseeducational whileclearlycriticalof portefio reforms, amountsto a rejectionof civilizationin favor Europeanlearning,hardly of intuitive,irrational barbarism. reforms,if carried wouldhave The out, reducedthe outputof liberalartsgraduates lawyers theuniversities and in and increased the number of engineering,technical and vocational students-possibly a salutorychange.The complaintsof encyclopedism
45Juan Per6n, Habla Perdn (Buenos Aires, 1951), p. 224. 46Juan Per6n, Conferencia del Ecmo. Sr. Pres. Gral. Juan Perdn. Pronunciada en el acto de clausura del Primer Congreo Nacional de Filosofla (Buenos Aires, 1948), passim. 47Juan Per6n, Perdn Expounds his Doctrine (Buenos Aires, 1948), p. 227. 48Babler, pp. 239-253.

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and verbalismdid move Peronismaway from a rigidacceptanceof the Sarmiento attitudetowardeducationandculture legacy,but the regime's remainedcloser to that of the "SchoolmasterPresident"than to the Rosista image. is Closelyrelatedto educationand intellectualism the debateoverthe versusSpanishculturalemphasisof Peronism.Per6nis someEuropean of timesviewedas a representative hispanidad Rosistanativisttradiand tionalismand utterlyopposedto Sarmentine and hispanophobia cultural This perceptionis more accuratethan the accepted cosmopolitanism. versionof Per6n'seducationalattitudes,but it still must be modifiedin orderto avoid picturingPer6nas wholeheartedly the embracing Rosista tradition.The realityis considerably more complex. The concept of hispanidad-as opposed to the liberal and secular hispanismo-was largely elaboratedduring the 1930s by the Spanish rightwing idealogueRamirode Maeztu. In his Defenseof Hispanidad Maeztu blamed liberalismand democracyfor the decadence of the Hispanicworld and longed for a restorationof the CatholicMonarchy and a renewalof the Catholic Spirit throughoutsociety. Only such a radicalrebirthcould restoreSpain and the Hispanicworldto the role of "the arm of God on earth" and rekindle the evangelizingmission symbolizedby the union of the cross and the sword.49 Maeztuwas well known to the rightwing CatholicArgentineintellito gentsia. He had been Spanishambassador Buenos Aires duringthe 1920s and frequentlycontributedto nationalistjournals. His call for forces of Russiancommunismand unity againstthe twin anti-Catholic American economic imperialism beneath the banners of religion, authority, and spiritualism was enthusiasticallyreceived by many of Argentines.Maeztubecamefor the rightwing-nationalists the 1930s what CharlesMaurrashad been for their precursors the 1920s.50 of The emergence integralist of Catholicism hispanidad crucialfor and is this essay becausemanyof the rightwing-nationalists wererevising who or popularizingthe historicalreputationof Rosas were concurrently propagating the ideas of Maeztu and similarly inclined Argentine thinkers such as Julio Meinvielle. This resulted in a confused but significant fusion of the rightwing-nationalists' partisan positions, hispanidad,and Rosismo. Much of hispanidadwas indeedinherentin
49Navarro, p. 124. 50Ibid., p. 125.

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Catholicismof Rosismo, but seldom had the anti-liberalauthoritarian the interiorbeen expressedwithsuchferocity.The rightwing-nationalist appropriationof the Rosista legacy had alreadyreduced the myth's onlymadematters popularappeal;the fusionof Rosismoandhispanidad worse. Givenwhatwe alreadyknowof Per6n'sattitudetowardsRosismoand his firm oppositionto rightwing-nationalist attemptsto capitalizeon his it would be surprisinghad he adopted the rhetoric of popularity, in someof theideas hispanidad its entirety.AlthoughPer6nmanipulated and occasionallyemployedthe word itself, overtauthoriof hispanidad elitismand clericalism wereall eithergreatly tarianism,anti-liberalism, from his speeches.On the otherhand softenedor completelyeliminated the less political core of hispanidad-the exaltation of Spanish and Catholic values-is well represented.Per6n refers to the Argentine of Republicas, with Spain,thejoint "heiress Spanishspirituality." The 51 two nationsare often praisedas the twin forcesdestinedto defendthis fromthe threatof "Eurasian SocialRevolution" spiritualpatrimony (i.e., whicheven now "approaches latinwest."Per6nevoked the communism) the union of the cross and the swordand was especially fond of imagery the dangerof communismis so derivedfrom Castilianliterature. Thus, great that "today, more than ever, it is necessaryto resucitateDon Quijoteand open the tomb of the Cid Campeador."52 While Per6n'sdilutedhispanidadwas considerably divisivethan less the rightwing-nationalist version,he evidentlyfelt that it was sufficiently to Rosista,and thereforepoliticallycontroversial, haveits full dissemination restrictedto audiences of carefullychosen intellectuals.While vague praise for the Spanish tradition can be found in his general speeches, the most specific condemnationsof Europeanculture are reserved for the confines of the Argentine Academy. There Per6n discussedperhapsthe touchiestproblemof the two Argentinas: role the of the immigrants.No similar passage has been unearthedin other Peronistmaterial; usuallythis questionis simplyignored.Thefollowing extract may indicatewhat Per6n reallythought but it is morelikelyan example of his panderingto an audience of right wing intellectuals. Whateverthe cause it is radically atypical of mainstreamPeronist with its clearcutvision of BuenosAiresand the immigrants propaganda as the "anti-Argentina."
51Perdn Expounds, p. 18. 52Juan Per6n, Discurso del Presidente de la nacidn Juan Perdn. Pronunciada en la Academia Argentina de Letras con motivo del dia de la raza, y come homenaje en memoria de Don Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra en el cuarto centenario de su nacimiento (Buenos Aires, 1947), p. 31.

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I haveto affirmwithsadnessthat a good partof the greatcultural legacythat we receivedfrom Spain we have forgottenor barteredaway for ridiculous who squandered theirfortunes by foreignideas,introduced thoseindividuals in gay and cosmopolitancities and returned(to Europe)singingpraisesto theirown dissipation,and by those who arrivedherefrom the guttersof the world and, by means of direct and constant contact with our people, in an succeeded infiltrating indefineable sentiment repudiation of towards the of tradition.53 spontaneousmanifestations everypart of the Hispano-creole Per6n usually avoided these crude frontal assaults on the European contribution to Argentina. He adopted an ingenious pattern which in effect obviated the Europe/ Spain dichotomy. Per6n seldom praised 19th and 20th century secular liberal culture per se. He did, however, laud Greco-Roman classicism as the fountainhead of the Western spirit. Sarmiento would hardly have disagreed, except that for an Argentine liberal the traditions of the ancient world passed through Renaissance Italy and Enlightenment France, finding their New World expression in the "civilized" portefio outlook. For Per6n, however, the transmission runs from Greece and Rome to golden age Spain and then to America. "The culture of the Latin race in America, despite its authentically Spanish stamp, achieved a universal hierarchy and the flavour of eternity because it knew how to fuse the peninsular soul and the ancient molds of greco-latin classicism."54Thus, through a tortuous and highly questionable revision of a thousand years of intellectual history, Per6n manages to retain the essentials of hispanidad while letting in the Sarmentine tradition in by the back door. "Our homage to Mother Spain also constitutes adherence to Western Culture."55So what initially appeared to be an unequivocal acceptance of Hispano-creole Rosista hispanidad becomes a subtle and nuanced transformation of those values. Peronism was clearly closer to Rosas than Sarmiento in this matter, but Per6n refused to identify himself with the most extreme proponents of hispanidad and never severed his links to the European porteno outlook. Although Peronist hispanidad used the symbols and cliches of Catholicism, it emphasized Spanish military, cultural and spiritual achievements, rather than religion per se. The role of Catholicism and the Church remains perhaps the single most obscure aspect of the regime. Per6n's initial modus vivendi with the Church reinstated religious instruction in schools and gained the regime support from most of the hierarchy.
53Juan Per6n, Discurso... Nacional, p. 25. 54Ibid, p. 47. 55Per6n, Discurso ... nacimiento, p. 8.

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it of But fromthe beginning wasa marriage convenience. Certainly like Franco's "National Catholicism" in nothing developed Peronist became intense was it Whenrightwingclerical too pressure Argentina. claimsthat the regime two religious Blanksten stifled.56 had promptly one Catholicism aimed theinterior and at policies, basedon traditional Catholicism portefio for and another This "temperate" consumption.57 habitof usingbothRosasandSarmiento withPer6n's wouldaccord to the hilt, but in lieu of adequate documentation must remainan it the for audiences Certainly Catholicism propagated national hypothesis. at timesdownright washighly heretical. Per6nblithely Eva unorthodox, her to her the compared husband Christ, ownwanderings during nights before17 October1945as her Calvary, the attitude thosewho and of their hands"of Per6nto that of Pilate.In an enthusiastic "washed of celebrations writesthat the she description the annual17 October descamisados shout "tomorrow Saint Per6n'sday."Not is joyously Eva True,Godwas surprisingly feltthe needto justifyherCatholicism. not always herlipsbuthewasalways herheart on in her through loveof "I thedescamisados. ama Christian a Catholic practice faith and and my as bestI can."58 cult Despitethesedenialsa popular of Per6ngrewwhichmayhave undermined formalreligion.Peronist workers claimed that "Per6n is God for us, so muchso that we cannotconceiveof heavenwithout 59 Per6n." A firstgradereader of deaththat"shewasa explained Eva's and for that reasonshe flew to God."60 was Per6nhimself not Saint, aboveflirting withheresy.
No. What failed notChristianity.is manwhohasfailed applying has is It it by hasnever beenproperly by man,because tried the wrongly. Christianity yet world never just.Christianity come when reigns has been will true love among menand amongthe peoples; love can onlycomewhenmenand the but are peoples justicialists.61

It is doubtful whether mostpassionate the Peronist clericcouldhave of thisimplicit of Christianity Justicialism. with approved equation It is not knownwhether cultof Per6nat all displaced the traditional the massesor merelysupplemented The it. religiouspractice among
56Blanksten, p. 236. 57Ibid, p. 230. 58Eva Per6n, pp. 22, 26, 99, 145. 59Blanksten, p. 235. 60Taylor, p. 107 61Eva Per6n, p. 173.

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existenceof such a cult has been challengedand any role it widespread in gradually turningthe Churchagainstthe regimeis unclear.But played if one keepsin mindthe shallowness PeronistChristianity Per6n's of and overtlyopportunistic dealingswith the Church,the regime'sconversion to anti-clericalism after 1953becomesless astonishing.Clearlythe truely Catholic portion of the population, whether they subscribedto an integristor liberalreligion,could get little satisfactionfrom the regime. This was Per6n'sleast successful jugglingact. A finalaspectof the Rosas/ Sarmiento dualityis the viewof leadership and the masses. Anti-Peronists harkened back to the anti-Rosista traditionto legitimizetheirviewof the Peronistmasses."Rosas'enemies sawthe plebeianelementof Federalism a hordeof gauchos,blacksand as the of mulattoes,readyto overwhelm 'civilization' the cosmopolitancity of Buenos Aires."Likewisethe Peronistmasseswereseen as irrational, sexually charged,violent and totally lackingin the etiquetteand good tastethat resultfromcorrectupbringing. course,as mentioned Of earlier, the Sarmentinetradition did recognize the existence of a rational, educated,chieflyimmigrant workingclass--supposedlynot infectedwith Peronism.62 The Rosista view of the masses takes many of the Sarmentine characteristics givesthema positiveconnotation.Thusthe massesare but acknowledgedto be emotive and instinctual,but this is good. Nevertheless some of the liberal accusations-uncontrolled sexuality and violence-were too negativeto be transformed weresimplyignored. and Centralto the Rosistaconceptionof the massesis theirnatural direct and responseto a trueleader.Sucha charismatic figure-the caudillo-exerts an almost magical hold over the masses. The portefioliberalsderided such mass movements(even Yrigoyenismearnedthe epithet in 61itist liberal circles of "magicalRadicalism") and advocateda rationaland didactic leadership style, which would at least attract the "good 63 workers." As with all the previouslystudiedexamples,Per6ndid not plumpfor one traditionor the other. His viewson the massesand leadership if are, thanthe Peronistnorm.Several trendscan anything,evenmoresyncretic be extractedfrom Peronistthought,butit is too earlyto saywhich,if any, was dominant.

62Taylor, pp. 121-123. 63Ibid., p. 115.

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One Peronisttactic is to portraythe masses as supremelyintelligent and totallysovereign.All that is required the wellbeingof the polityis for freedomfor the massesto make theirwishesknown. Per6n reducesthe leaderto the passiveexecutorof the people'swill. He humblydescribes himselfas "merelythe executingarm of the popularwill... My virtues must be based on the correctand honorableexecution of the people's 64 thesestatements usuallymadebeforethe are desires." Not surprisingly this appreciated concernfor its every generalpublicwhichundoubtedly whim and fancy. Butin whatappearsto be Per6n'smostcommonapproach allocates he a muchmoreactiverole to the leader.Theessenceof thisroleis expressed in Per6n's distinction between two leadershipstyles, caudillajeand books on this conduccidn.Per6n wrote one of his few semi-coherent subject,Conduccidn politica, a collectionof rambling speechesoriginally of given before aspiringPeronistfunctionaries the SuperiorSchool of Peronism.Accordingto one of these lectures"thedifferencethat exists between the caudillo and the conductor is natural. The first does circumstantialthings. The caudillo exploits disorganizationand the conductor takes advantage of organization. The caudillo does not educate, rather he perverts. The conductor educates, teaches, and creates.65 Educate,teach, create. Is this Sarmientospeaking?Per6n rushesto and of identifyhis own techniquewith conduccidn decriesthe prevalence in history.Therehas neverbeen(before1945)a true caudillaje Argentine Argentine conductor. The nefarious caudillajethat has plagued the nationin the past was causedby a lackof civiccultureanda generally low culturallevel.Thiscausedthe massesto followcharismatic leadersrather than men who represented ideals and goals. Once again, this line of could havecomefromthepenof Alberdior Sarmiento, it is but reasoning the reincarnationof the caudillo Rosas, the "secondtyrant,"who is speaking.66 Per6n details precisely how conducci6n improves upon caudillaje. Firstlyit appealsto the rationalin man. Per6nevendeniesthat"personal exists as relevantleadershiptool; all that is necessaryto magnetism" succeedas a leaderis to possesscorrectideasand expressthemwith real
64Juan Per6n, Teoria y prdctica de la liberacidn econdmica, social y politica de la Repiblica (Buenos Aires, 1949), p. 15. 65Juan Per6n, Conduccidn politica (Buenos Aires, 1973), p. 177. 66Ibid, p. 38.

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conviction.67 Secondly Per6n supplements appeals to reason with

disciplinedand organizedindoctrination.The role of the leaderis not merelyto expresscogentideas but to convertthe massesinto an organic and indoctrinatedwhole. Per6n is not contemplating or brainwashing mind control but educationand organization. is if Theconductor nothing theelements conducci6n notprepared of are and involvemerelyleading. involves, It first,organization; second,education; and third,teaching; fourth, training fifth,leading.68 Per6n'selaboration conducci6n of seemsto comeas closeas possibleto an unequivocalacceptanceof at least part of the Sarmentine tradition. But no sooner do we turn the page in ConduccidnPolitica than the argumentstilt toward a Rosista approach, highlightingthe intuitive, and themestypicalof thepreviously execrated caudillo. spiritual religious This is not due to a change of view to suit a new audience:the two are approaches foundin the samebook, evenin the samespeech.At times Per6n seems to want a half way house betweenthe appealto mindand heart. He describeshis successin buildingup his followingfrom 19431945to his "controlover the heartsof thousandsof men"but hastensto addthathe also appealed theirreason.At one pointhe strikesa balance to betweenheartand mind:"inconducci6nit is necessary developreason to 69 to the maximum,but withoutkillingintuition." Theeffectis somewhat that "itis not sufficientto understand to spoiledwhen we readelsewhere be able to lead;neitherreflectionnor reasonenablea personto leadthe crowds.Crowdsare led intuitivelyand only God can give intuition."70 And Eva's numerousportraitsof her husbandas a mysticalhypnotic figure plentifullysupplied with the "personalmagnetism"Per6n had deridedamount to a Peronistversion of the Fiihrerprinzip.71 to Thus,as in most otherareas,Per6nas leaderattempted pose as heir of both Rosas and Sarmientowithout becomingexplicitly associated with either.Butthe directlyopposednotionsof the two traditionson the massesand the role of leadersmadea synthesisor compromise between them next to impossible.So Per6n was forced to evoke both legacies, along with a few feeble efforts at reconcilingthem, and hope that the contradictions werenot too stark.To judgeby his ten yearsin officeand
67Ibid., p. 294. 68Ibid., p. 32. 69Ibid., pp. 54, 85. 70Perdn Expounds, p. 80. 71See Per6n, Teoria y prdctica, pp. 60-61 and the extracts in Milciades Pefia, ed., El Peronismo: seleccidn de documentos para la historia (Buenos Aires, 1973), pp. 107-9.

capableof beingled ... Becauseof this,to leadis difficult,becauseit doesnot

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his success at the polls, voters were not overly annoyed by these inconsistencies.
NEITHER ROSAS NOR SARMIENTO

Why was Per6n so careful to avoid overt appeals to the Rosista traditionwhile simultaneously to subscribing some of its ideals?In large this was becauseof the divisivenatureof the Rosaslegacy.To have part associatedhimselfwith the caudillowouldhave quickly unambiguously a large portion of the populationfor whom Rosas, however alienated littleelsebutcrudetyranny.Per6nhadno vaguely,had cometo represent intentionof throwingaway the supportof the lower middleand middle and who hadprovidedYrigoyen classimmigrants theiroffspring withthe with the factionalism bulkof his votes, but had becomedisillusioned and heirs. empty promisesof his numerousself-proclaimed Certainlythe appropriationof Rosas by the rightwing-nationalists drasticallyreducedhis usefulnessto Per6n. Although a few rightists hailed Per6n as a cross between Rosas and Mussolini, others were immediately disgusted by his rhetorical enthusiasmfor democracy, freedom and elections, as well as by his support of the government's break-offof relationswith the axis powers in 1945. Per6n used these ramagainstliberaldemocratic when ideologuesas a battering politicians the latterwere in eclipseduring 1943-1945, quicklydiscardedthem and and whenthe windschanged (alongwithanti-semitic pro-axisposturing) in 1945. Per6n found the leftwing-nationalists FORJA much more of a few rightwing-nationalists enter the Per6n coalition as did useful; individuals but were closely watched and expelled at the slightest provocation.72 Per6n could hardlyshut out the rightwing-nationalists embrace and the figurethey had canonized.A left wingPeronisthas explainedwhyhe believesthat Per6nunderno circumstances wouldhaveexplicitlyexalted the Rosista legacy. The liberal oligarchy"perceived Rosas the antiin European tradition without discrimination and ultramontane clericalism,and thus the defensive characterof Rosas' policies was converted into a symbolof 'tyranny' a clevercampaign theoligarchy of by that knew full well how to use the mental excrescencesof ideological Rosismo."73 Hernindez Arregui clearly believes that this smear campaignpervertedthe Rosista legacy, but he cannotdeny its efficacy. Thus both exaltation by the right and denigration by the liberals
Zuleta,El nacionalismo 72Enrique argentino(BuenosAires, 1975),pp. 512-13. 73HernAndez Arregui,pp. 278-281.

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combinedto renderRosas uselessto a movementthat aspiredto broad popularmobilizationunderthe rhetoricof democracyand freedom. Per6n did, however, evoke those themes of Rosismo that could be detached from the person of Rosas himself:Catholicism,hispanidad, partial anti-intellectualism,positive evaluation of the crowd, and charismatic leadership.But, as this essay has detailed,he triedto soften them so they did not appearto seriouslythreatenthe civilizedportefio ideal. One of Peronism'sconstantlaments-the lack of socialjusticein not Argentina-was butressed by RosasbutwithMartinFierro.Thiswas a politicchoice,sincemost portefioscould look upon Hernindez'spoem as a classic of Argentineliterature,which brilliantlychronicleda past epoch that must be embalmedand preservedas part of the nation's MartinFierrowas not exactlya nationalsymbol,butit wasa patrimony. far less threatening image to a portefiothan, say, the Mazorca,Rosas' secretpolice. Per6n handledthe Sarmientotraditionequallygingerly.He had to at least tacitly acceptthe political achievements the liberalsin orderto of his rule. He also neededto strengthenhis unimpressive antilegitimize fascist and democratic credentials. The defeat of the Axis was in of accompanied Argentinaby the weakening the pro-German military in government which Per6nhad first made his mark.Just as he rejected to rightwing-nationalist supportbecauseit contributed the "Per6nNazi" so he could ill afford to belittle the liberal democratic stereotype, Sarmentine heritageif he hopedto extricatehimselffromthe failuresof the past. As with Rosas, Per6n could not fully embraceSarmiento.To have done so wouldhavealienatedtoo manykey sectorsof theelectorate. The cabecitasnegrasand all Argentines who revelledin the nativisttradition could hardlyrespondwarmlyto evocationsof a manwho hadurgedthat gauchoblood be spreadlike cow manureover the Pampas.Finally,any but the most narrowly politicalapprovalof the liberalsof 1853and 1880 would have been difficultto squarewith Per6n'stirelesscampaignfor economicindependence. spiritof economicnationalism cresting The was in post-warArgentina; disassociate to oneselffromthe laissezfaireimage of the nineteenthcenturyliberalswas only politicalcommon sense. The basic problemPer6n faced is that few truly nationalArgentine myths and symbols existed. Nearly every political leader or work of literaturewith public resonanceis associatedwith the divisivenational for San dichotomyandthususelessas an instrument politicalintegration. Martinis perhapsthe only great Argentineacceptedby both camps;in

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fact the Rosas-MartinFierro traditionand the Rivadavia-SarmientoSaenzPefialegacyboth tracetheiroriginsbackto thegloriousLiberator. In some respects San Martin is an ideal symbol. A great soldier, magnanimousin victory and concerned with the whole continent's in welfare,he refusedto becomeenmeshed internecine politicsandlefthis for Francebeforethe fatefulnationaldualismfullyjelled.Thus country he can be claimedby both sides. But the very briefnessof San Martin's careerand his longexile alsoreducehissymbolicusefulness. a military As man and patriot he left no substantivepolitical, economic, social or cultural legacy. Peronist propagandaexalts his personal virtues of and courage,honesty,straight speaking selfreliance,butit is hardpressed to extract much more. Indeed if this were possible then the Liberator probably would have been appropriatedearly on by one of the two traditionsand his unifyingfunction, small as it is, would have been compromised. Fromthis analysis-the carefulbalancebetweenRosasand Sarmiento and the exaltation of San Martin-it appears that Per6n aimed his messageat a wide,crossclassand geographically dispersed constituency. The President took carenot to offendthe cabecitasnegrasbut he did not courtthemto the detriment his otherfollowers.Similarly, triednot of he to offendthe lower,lower-middle middleclassimmigrant and vote, while retaining "nativist" support. The evidence from Peronist rhetoric basewascrosssupportsPeter Smith'sconclusionsthat the movement's class, thoughespeciallyaimedat the entireworkingclass,whetherold or new. Thus descamisado, with its exclusivelyclass connotations,seemsa moreaccuratedescriptionof a Peronistworkerthancabecitanegrawith its interior, ethnicRosistaovertones.Butdid Per6nadopthis deliberately balancedpositiononly out of politicalexpedience, of the needto weld out an electoralmajority? This certainlyaccountsfor much of his together attitude. Though not simply a brutal demagogue,as often pictured, Per6n was not excessivelypreoccupiedwith ideals and principles.His and Rosas/ Sarmientocompromisewas designedto avoid controversy finesse troublingcontradictions.It was not an intellectuallycoherent synthesis that incorporated the best of the two traditions while both. Nevertheless,Per6n had other motives for playing transcending down the Rosas/ Sarmientobifurcation.He seemsto have thoughtthat anotherdichotomymore accurately expressedthe social, economicand of Argentinaand could be used more effectivelyin political reality
politics, not because it was not divisive but because it would alienate only a tiny minority of the populace. This simple dichotomy of the people and/ or the nation versus the oligarchy did not replace the older division.

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Per6n'sattemptsto dancearoundthe most fractious aspectsof the indicatethat he wellunderstood continuing traditional its dichotomy But of rooted Argentine in power. heconceived thenewdichotomy-also andmuch likely backfire less to history-asequally powerful, politically. The struggle the between virtuous Argentine peopleandthe corrupt isthegreat theme Peronist of nationalism. vendepatria oligarchy unifying of socialjusticeand economic The regime's were goals independence war and accomplished through'unrelenting onthecontemptible oligarchs This their facilitated regime's the efforts deto foreign paymasters. theme emphasizethe traditionaldichotomy because it cut across the split. The distinctionimplied no geographic portefio/provinciano The differentiation. menu in and peupleof townandcountry, agriculture A were could worker industry, bothpraised. descamisado bea bluecollar in Buenos Airesor a poorpeasant Tucumin. in Likewise menacing the could be a portefio industrialist the proprietor a cattle or of oligarch in theinterior. ranch Neither thenewdistinction withitthe did deep carry of cultural landowners baggage thetwo Argentinas. Hispano-creole (or werecondemned withcosmopolitan industrialists) along owners; factory andthesupposedly old dissolved into antagonistic andnewproletariats undifferentiated of descamisados. Per6nwasshrewd. an mass But Not to he to as yielding callsto classwarfare, attempted harmonize, in his of that blurring theRosas/Sarmiento dichotomy, concepts others might haveassumed be hopelessly to contradictory. Thisarticle cannot how the fullyillustrate Per6n manipulated people/ In parthe varied approach suithisaudience his to oligarchy opposition. the of It as through altering definition theoligarchy. is oftenpictured an isolated of and allied interests clique landowners industrialists, to foreign and utterlyunrepresentative the nation.Whenaddressing of workers, Per6n sometimesadopted a class, ratherthan populist, however, the to all of analysis, expanding oligarchy include theclassenemies the descamisados. generallyhe emphasized But class copaternalism, operation,and the unity of "the people"againstall anti-national elements.74 wasleftto Eva,in a curious division labor, accentuate of to It thecorporate of Per6n's class and that identity working supporters assure
it was not lost amidst calls to national solidarity. In contrast to the President she vituperatively denounced the privileged and enthuthe Juan siasticallychampioned specificclass interestsof the workers.75
74Perdn Expounds, pp. 24, 46-47, 179; Juan and Eva Duarte de Per6n, Cabildo abierto del Justicialismo (Buenos Aires, 1951), p. 13. 75Eva Per6n, pp. 6, 58-59, 79-83.

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in described essentially the context,has accurately Corradi, a different ambivalent natureof the Peronistpeople/ flucoligarchy dichotomy, cross-class as it did between and calls to corporatist appeals tuating worker insurgency. in was to Per6n's strategy to usethe stateapparatus order forgea new that of fromabove would of coalition classes a support program national
capitalistdevelopmentwith mass participation.In so doing he coined an

to was to ideologywhich,whileappealing classinterests, flexibleenough on based lessspecific forms identification. thiswayhe of In promote solidarity a wasableto accommodateheterogeneous constituency.76

Per6n manipulatedthe descamisado-people-nation/ oligarchy with and acumen flexibility. didnot,however, He create dichotomy great It thisopposition. hadrootsin thelatenineteenth when massive century, first a urban and immigration produced significant European proletariat the It populated Pampas. wasfirstfullyarticulated Hip61ito by Yrigoyen, theRadical President. wasthefirst "intransigent" Significantly, Yrigoyen Argentine important politiciansince San Martinto be claimedby of and traditions. Per6n partisans boththeRosista Sarmentine Similarly recruited adherents the Rosista from of and camp(elements theChurch and the cabecitasnegras)and the army, right wing nationalists, Sarmentine the Radicals,the old proletariat, (FORJA,disgruntled Labor andPer6n facedthesimilar of holding Party). Yrigoyen challenge frombothendsof thetraditional a together massbasedrawn spectrum. For Per6nthis chieflymeantwooingboth the old and newworking For the classes. Yrigoyen problem to create alliance was an between his classfollowing a partially middle and creoleworking immigrant largely class.Thathisattempt attract to worker faileddoesnot support largely the diminish significance theeffort.It was,as DavidRockhasnoted, of an objective that Per6n,undermuchmorefavorable circumstances, wouldrevivewithsuccess. it any wonder bothleaders Is that carefully between RosasandSarmiento turned and instead viewsof to navigated Argentinehistory and society less likely to fragmenttheir fragile
coalitions?77 The Rosas/ Sarmiento dichotomy, with all of its cultural baggage and racial innuendo, continued to inform Argentine reflections on national76Juan E. Corradi, "Between Corporatism and Insurgency: Peronist Ideology," in Terms of Conflict; Ideology in Latin American Politics, Morris J. Blachman and Ronald G. Hellman, eds. (Philadelphia, 1977), p. 111. 77Rock, p. 79 and Germani, Authoritarianism, p. 142. The comparison with Yrigoyen is tentative as it is based solely on secondary sources. A full scale study of his attitudes on the subjects covered in this article is necessary before anything firm can be ventured on this matter.

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ismnthroughout the Peronist period. Yet the demographic,cultural,

economicand politicalevolutionof the nation since 1880had createda new social reality that the nineteenthcentury model could not fully The fixed in the mindsof many accommodate. old oppositionsremained and expressedauthenticpopularperceptions.But alone the Argentines old dichotomy inadequatelydescribedthe changed conditions of an urbanizing,industrializingnation undergoingthe throes of its first experiencein mass politics. This only partiallyunderminedits effecwas tivenessas a divisivenationalmyth;Per6n'sformulation an attempt to both supplementand displacethe old myth with a newerone. The did successof his endeavouris debatable.Anti-Peronists not hesitateto witheveryconceivable tar the "tyrant" aspectof the Rosistalegacy.And it is ironic that Per6n'sfall was in large measuredue to his failureto betweenRosasand Sarmiento thereligiousquestion on remainstraddled his last years in power. In a still inexplicablefeat of political during incompetencehe managedto alienate both Rosista integristCatholics Christian Democrats.Themostpuzzling and Sarmentine in phenomenon of the endurance the old mythsis thatoncein the oppositionat leastsome Peronists began to assert "a positive association with the figure of The pro-Rosas passage cited earlierby HerndndezArregui, Rosas."78 writtenfive yearsafterPer6n'sejectionfrompower,is a pointedexample. And the name chosen by a Peronist guerilla movement of the early seventies-the montoneros-was calculatedto evoke Rosistasentiment. Of coursethe oppositionnormallyneedsa sharper cuttingedgethanthe in power,andit mustlive on mythandsymbolrather thanoff graft regime and patronage. These few indicationsdo suggest, however, that this remarkable mass perception, despite changed circumstances and alternative myths, retains considerable vitality and adaptability. Argentinamay spend many more years oscillatingbetweenRosas and Sarmiento.
The University Wisconsin of Madison, Wisconsin
COLIN

M.

WINSTON

78Taylor, p. 31.