Cold War, Peronism and Anti-Communism in Argentina (1943-1983)

BOHOSLAVSKY, ERNESTO Y FRANCO, MARINA; FRANCO, MARINA

Argentina´s right-wing universe during the democratic period (1983-2023). Processes, actors, and issues

Routledge

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2023; p. 8 - 22

Opposition between Peronism and Anti-Peronism has largely been considered the most important political conflict in Argentina during the second half of the 20th century. Scholar literature tended to perceive that recurrent coups d’Etat and political instability in the period between 1946 and 1983 were mainly due to the lack of capacity of the political system to absorb and neutralize that bitter conflict. Supposedly, the intense Anti-Peronism displayed by the ruling class and rightist parties would have left a very little political room to the Cold war’ problems that affected more other Latin American countries. However, we propose that Anti-Communism actually played a relevant political role by promoting long lasting repressive manu military regimes and by fueling Armed Forces’ messianic political projects. Argentine political and military elites shared some particular ways to understand what Peronism was and what it could eventually become that was framed not just by national scenarios but by the more transnational Cold War ideological framing. The article reviews the enactment of repressive laws, the apocalyptic military perceptions on the communist expansion and links to Peronist unions and activists.