Juan Perón and Post-War Populism
About the Document
In 1943, a military coup removed Ramon Castillo from power in Argentina.
Immediately, the military instituted a plan to improve Argentina's economy by
reducing its reliance on foreign markets and improving its own industrial base. The
military thought that organized labor unions hindered industrial development. A young
Col. Juan Domingo Perón disputed this, and from his post as Minister of Labor and
Welfare, supported the working classes.
After his election to the presidency in 1946, Perón sought to further develop the
Argentine economy. His wife, Eva Duarte Perón, served as his liaison to the workers
and was beloved by Argentines for her social justice and women's suffrage campaigns.
Unfortunately for Juan Perón, the Argentine economy sagged from 1948 until his
downfall in 1955. Perón's relationship with labor and the common people suffered after
Eva's death in 1952 from cancer. Finally, Perón lost the support of the military that had
brought him to power and popularity. Included below is a brief outline of Perón's
economic beliefs.
The Document
2. OBJECTIVES
From today onwards we shall industrialize the country so that our work may be done
by Argentine workers and so that they may earn what foreign workers earned before.
This is what industrialization means to us. To accomplish this cycle we shall complete
and intensify the economic cycle of production and consumption, we shall produce
more, and value that production in view of our own industrialization and commerce,
avoiding exploitation and increasing the consumption. When this cycle is closed, we
shall be able to provide our country with 80 or 90 per cent of our production and we
shall only export 10 or 20 per cent, because it is necessary to convince ourselves that
the money of a man from Catamarca or Santiago del Estero is worth as much as that of
the English, Americans or Japanese. All this problem is in itself simple if one tries to
solve it, but it gets complicated when one cannot or does not want to solve it. We have
our orientation clearly defined and a plan of action that will take us directly to the
achievement of the objectives we are looking for. (July 30th, 1947)
3. EVERYTHING SHOULD BE ARGENTINE
Foundations have already been laid for the national tin-plate factory -- an article of
trade which is taking too long in getting to our country -- in which the containers we
need to export our production in will be manufactured. Due to the lack of a factory of
tin-plate containers, the Republic has lost many thousands of millions of pesos; and we
have not had any tin-plate factory before because certain foreigners that negotiated
with our food production, objected to it. But in the future we shall have the containers
that our production requires, the ships necessary to transport it, and those who in
previous times commanded here as if they were in their own land, we will have to
submit and receive our products canned by Argentine hands, transported by Argentine
railways and taken to Europe by Argentine ships. (March 2nd, 1947)
Source: Juan Domingo Perón, Perón Expounds His Doctrine (Buenos Aires:
Subsecretaría de Informaciones de la Presidencia de la Nación Argentina, 1948), pp.
53, 146–7, 149.
Analysis Questions
1. Could you support this plan if you were a poor farmer? An urban laborer? A wealthy
landowner? Why or why not?
2. What is the main goal behind the Plan de Ayala? How will it be achieved?
3. Who does the plan blame for the failure of the revolution thus far?
4. Who is blamed for the economic problems of the common citizens and the farmers? Do
you agree?