Arturo Illia
President of Argentina
In office October 12, 1963 – June 28, 1966
Vice President	Carlos Humberto Perette
Preceded by	José María Guido
Succeeded by	Juan Carlos Onganía
Personal details
Born	August 4, 1900 (1900-08-04) Pergamino, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Died	January 18, 1983 (1983-01-19) (aged 82) Córdoba, Argentina
Nationality	Argentine
Political party	UCR/UCRP
Spouse(s)	Silvia Elvira Martorell de Illia (1918–1966); married in 1939.
Profession	Physician

Arturo Umberto Illia (Spanish pronunciation: [arˈtuɾo umˈberto ˈilja]; 1900–1983) was President of Argentina from October 12, 1963, to June 28, 1966, and a member of the centrist UCR.

Biography[link]

Arturo Umberto Illia was born August 4, 1900 in Pergamino, Buenos Aires Province, to Emma Francesconi and Martín Illia, Italian Argentine immigrants from the Lombardy Region.

He enrolled in the School of Medicine at the University of Buenos Aires in 1918. That year, he joined the movement for University reform in Argentina (Reforma Universitaria), which first emerged in the city of Córdoba, and set the basis for a free, open and public university system less influenced by the Catholic Church. This development changing the concept and administration of higher education in Argentina, and in a good portion of Latin America.^[1]

As a part of his medical studies, Illia begun working in the San Juan de Dios Hospital in the city of La Plata, obtaining his degree in 1927.

In 1928 he had an interview with President Hipólito Yrigoyen, the longtime leader of the centrist UCR, and the first freely-elected President of Argentina. Illia offered him his services as a physician, and Yrigoyen, in turn, offered him a post as railroad medic in different parts of the country, upon which Illia decided to move to scenic Cruz del Eje, in Cordoba Province. He worked there as a medic from 1929 until 1963, except for three years (1940–1943) in which he was Vice-Governor of the province.

On February 15, 1939, he married Silvia Elvira Martorell, and had three children: Emma Silvia, Martín Arturo and Leandro Hipólito. Martín Illia was elected to Congress in 1995, and served until his death in 1999.

Political activities[link]

Arturo Illia became a member of the Radical Civic Union when he reached adulthood, in 1918, under the strong influence of the radical militancy of his father and of his brother, Italo. That same year, he began his university studies, with the events of the aforementioned Universitarian Reform taking place in the country.

From 1929 onwards, after moving to Cruz del Eje, he began intense political activity, which he alternated with his professional life. In 1935 he was elected Provincial Senator for the Department of Cruz del Eje, in the elections that took place on November 17. In the Provincial Senate, he actively participated in the approval of the Law of Agrarian Reform, which was passed in the Córdoba Legislature but rejected in the National Congress.

He was also head of the Budget and Treasury Commission, and pressed for the construction of dams, namely Nuevo San Roque, La Viña, Cruz del Eje and Los Alazanes.

In the elections that took place on March 10, 1940, he was elected Vice-Governor of Córdoba Province, with Santiago del Castillo, who became Governor. He occupied this post until the provincial government was replaced by the newly-installed dictatorship og General Pedro Ramírez, in 1943.

From 1948 to 1952, Illia served in the Argentine Chamber of Deputies. Working in a Congress dominated by the Peronist Party, he took an active part in the Public Works, Hygiene and Medical Assistance Commissions.

Election as President of Argentina[link]

Pres. Illia waves during his 1963 inaugural parade. Gen. Juan Carlos Onganía (right), then Head of the Military Joint Chiefs, wore the sash of state instead of Illia, and is said to have later told Adm. Benigno Varela (middle) that he "should keep this photo...it might be prescient, someday."^[1]

After the fall of the populist government of Juan Perón in 1955, a long period of political instability took over Argentina. During this period, the army would have a large influence over the politics of the country, and, even though elections would still take place, these would be marked by a considerable lack of legitimacy, since Peronism (which was supported by a great portion of the Argentine citizenry) would be banned during this period.

From 1955 to 1963 the country had five presidents, of which only one was democratically elected: Arturo Frondizi, who governed the country from May 1, 1958, until his March 29, 1962, overthrow by a military coup. Frondizi's removal was precipitated by his lifting the ban on Peronism ahead of the March 1962 mid-term elections. Among those also affected was Illia, who, though a UCR candidate, was thus barred from office following his election as Governor of Córdoba.

After the fall of Frondizi, the President of the Senate, José María Guido, became interim President of the country, starting a process of 'normalization' which would eventually lead to new elections, on July 7, 1963.

The 1963 elections were made possible by support from the moderate, "Blue" faction of the Argentine military, led by the Head of the Joint Chiefs, General Juan Carlos Onganía and by the Internal Affairs Minister, General Osiris Villegas. Together, they exercised control over Guido's puppet presidency – though they shared his commitment to elections. The UCR, out of power since Yrigoyen's 1930 overthrow, had been divided since their contentious 1956 convention into the mainstream "People's UCR" (UCRP) and the center-left UCRI. The leader of the UCRP, Ricardo Balbín, withdrew his name from the March 10 nominating convention and instead supported a less conservative, less anti-Peronist choice, and the party nominated Dr. Illia for President and Entre Ríos Province lawyer Carlos Perette as his running-mate.^[2]

A military ban on the Popular Front organized by Perón and Frondizi led to their joint call for blank voting as a means of protest. The moderately anti-Peronist UCRP was also hampered by former President Pedro Aramburu's candidacy, which made opposition to Perón central to its platform. Ultimately, however, Illia would win, and despite carrying only a fourth of the vote, he also "defeated" the blank vote option (a proxy for the Perón vote) by 4 points.

The results were:

• People's Radical Civic Union (Arturo Illia – Carlos Perette): 2,441,000
• Intransigent Radical Civic Union (Oscar Alende – Celestino Gelsi): 1,593,000
• UDELPA-PDP alliance (General Pedro Aramburu – Horacio Thedy): 1,346,000
• Others: 2,272,000
• Blank and invalid votes: 2,058,000

In the electoral college on July 31, 1963, the Illia-Perette ticket obtained 169 votes out of 476 on the first round of voting (70 short of an absolute majority), but the support of three centrist parties on the second round gave them 270 votes, thus formalizing their election.^[3]

Presidency[link]

Illia (right) with Charles de Gaulle in 1964

Arturo Illia became President on October 12, 1963, and promptly steered a moderate political course, while remaining mindful of the spectre of a coup d'état. A UCRP majority in the Senate contrasted with their 73 seats in the 192-seat Lower House, a disadvantage complicated by Illia's refusal to include UCRI men in the cabinet (which, save for Internal Affairs Minister Juan Palmero, would all be figures close to Balbín). Illia also refused military requests to have a general put in charge of the Federal District Police, though he confirmed Onganía as Head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and named numerous "Blue" generals to key posts.^[2]

Countering military objections, he made political rights an early policy centerpiece, however. His first act consisted in eliminating all restrictions over Peronism and its allied political parties, causing anger and surprise among the military (particularly the right-wing "Red" faction). Political demonstrations from the peronist party were forbidden after the 1955 coup, by the Presidential Decree 4161/56, however, five days after Illia's inaugural, a Peronist commemorative act for the October 17 (in honor of the date in 1945 when labor demonstrations propelled Perón to power) took place in Buenos Aires' Plaza Miserere without any official restrictions. Illia similarly lifted electoral restrictions, allowing the participation of Peronists in the 1965 legislative elections. The prohibition over the Communist Party of Argentina and the pro-industry MID (which many in the military, then controlled by cattle barons, termed "economic criminals") was also lifted. Among Illia's early landmark legislation was an April 1964 bill issuing felony penalties for discrimination and racial violence, which he presented in an address to a joint session of Congress.^[2]

Domestically, Illia pursued a pragmatic course, restoring Frondizi's vigorous public works and lending policies, but with more emphasis on the social aspect and with a marked, nationalist shift away from Frondizi's support for foreign investment. This shift was most dramatic in Illia's energy policy.^[4]

Petroleum policy[link]

On November 15, 1963, Illia issued the decrees 744/63 and 745/63, which rendered said oil contracts null and void, for being considered "illegitimate and harmful to the rights and interests of the Nation.".

Frondizi had begun, during his 1958–62 presidency, a policy of oil exploration based on concessions of oil wells to foreign private corporations, leaving the state oil company Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales (YPF) the sole responsibility of exploration and buying oil from private extractors. Arguing that such contracts were negative for the Argentine state and its people (YPF had to assume all the risks of investing in exploration of new wells, the price of oil had risen steadily since the contracts were negotiated, etc.), Illia denounced the Frondizi policy as negative for national Argentine interests, and promised to render the contracts of concession void, renegotiating them.

Minimum, Vital and Mobile Wage Law[link]

On June 15, 1964, the Law 16.459 was passed, establishing a minimum wage for the country. "Avoiding the exploitation of workers in those sectors in which an excess of workforce may exist", "Securing an adequate minimum wage" and "Improving the income of the poorest workers" were listed among the objectives of the project.

With the same aims, the Law of Supplies was passed, destined to control prices of basic foodstuffs and setting minimum standards for pensions.

Education policy[link]

Pres. Illia receives the new President of Chile, Eduardo Frei (3rd from right), in 1965, at Ezeiza Int'l. Airport, whose capacity his administration nearly doubled.

During Illia's government, education acquired an important presence in the national budget. In 1963, it represented 12% of the budget, rising to 17% in 1964 and to 23% in 1965.

On November 5, 1964, the National Literacy Plan was started, with the purpose of diminishing and eliminating illiteracy (At the time, nearly 10% of the adult population was still illiterate). By June, 1965, the program comprised 12,500 educational centers and was assisting more than 350,000 adults of all ages.

Medicaments law[link]

Law 16.462, also known as 'Oñativia Law' (in honor of Minister of Health Arturo Oñativia), was passed on August 28, 1964. It established a policy of price and quality controls for pharmaceuticals, freezing prices for patented medicines at the end of 1963, establishing limits to advertising expenditures and to money sent outside the country for royalties and related payments. The reglamentation of this law by the Decree 3042/65, also forced pharmaceutical corporations to present, to a judge, an analysis of the costs of their drugs and to formalize all their existing contracts.

Both supporters, detractors and impartial observers of Illia agree that this policy helped array opposition by business interests that was decisive in his eventual overthrow by a military coup.

Economic policy[link]

In the economic sphere, Arturo Illia's presidency was characterised by regulation of the public sector, a decrease of the public debt, and a considerable push for industrialization. The Syndicate of State Businesses was created, to achieve a more efficient control of the public sector. Among his brief presidency's most notable public works initiatives were the Villa Lugano housing development (in the poorest section of Buenos Aires) and El Chocón Dam, then the largest such project in Argentina.

National GDP had contracted by 2.4% in 1963; it expanded by 10.3% in 1964 and 9.1% in 1965. Industrial GDP had shrunk by 4.1% in 1963; it leapt by 18.9% in 1964 and 13.8% in 1965. The external debt was reduced from 3.4 billion dollars to 2.7 billion.^[4]

The median real wage grew by 9.6% during calendar 1964, alone, and had expanded by almost 25%,by the time of the coup.^[5] Unemployment declined from 8.8% in 1963, to 5.2% on 1966.

Ironically, the Argentine middle class (who were generally as anxious as anyone to see President Illia leave office) benefited even more: auto sales leapt from 108,000 in 1963 to 192,000 in 1965 (a record at the time).^[6]

Cabinet[link]

^[7]

End of Presidency[link]

Pres. Illia (left) is escorted out of the Casa Rosada by supporters during the 1966 coup. There was reason to believe his life was in danger.

Organized labour initially supported Illia for his expansionist economic policy. This support turned to antagonism during 1964, however, as secret plans for Perón's return from exile took shape. Accordingly, CGT labor union head José Alonso called a general strike in May, and became a vocal opponent of the president's – this antagonism intensified after Perón's failed attempt to return in December, and during 1965, CGT leaders began publicly hinting at support for a coup.^[2]

Legislative elections took place on March 17, and despite the unions' hostility towards Illia, Peronists were free of the restrictions existing up to 1963. Thanks to this, the Peronists presented their own party lists, rallying behind the Popular Union. The Popular Union won the popular vote (3,278,434 votes against Illia's UCRP, which obtained 2,734,970 votes), and elected 52 Congressmen (the first time Peronists had been allowed to do so in a decade).^[4]

The triumph of the Peronists shook the Argentine Armed Forces, both among internal military factions linked to the Peronist movement, and in particular among the large section of the army which remained strongly anti-Peronist. In addition, a campaign against the government was also being carried out by important parts of the media, notably Primera Plana and Confirmado, the nation's leading newsmagazines. Seizing on minimally relevant events such as the President's refusal to support Operation Power Pack (Lyndon Johnson's ill-justified, April 1965 invasion of the Dominican Republic), Illia was nicknamed "the turtle" in both editorials and caricatures, and his rule was vaguely referred to as "slow," "dim-witted" and "lacking energy and decision," encouraging the military to take power and weakening the government even more; Confirmado went further, publicly exhorting the public to support a coup and publishing a (non-scientific) opinion poll touting public support for the illegal measure.^[2]

Under the planning of the Commander of the First Division of the Army, General Julio Alsogaray, and with the support of the military, economic groups, a considerable part of the media, and numerous politicians (notably UCRI leader Oscar Alende, former President Frondizi, and Alsogaray's brother, right-wing economist Alvaro Alsogaray), the military coup took place on June 28, 1966. General Alsogaray presented himself in Illia's office that day, at 5:00 a.m, and 'invited' him to resign his post.^[7]

Illia refused to do so at first, citing his role as Commander-in-Chief, but at 7:20, after seeing his office invaded by military officers and policemen with grenade launchers, he was forced step down. The next day, General Juan Carlos Onganía became the new Argentine President.

Illia lost his wife, Silvia Martorell, to cancer in November of that year. He then relocated to the upscale Buenos Aires suburb of Martínez, though he would still make frequent trips to Córdoba. He continued participating in politics actively insupport of the UCR until his death in Córdoba on January 18, 1983.

Following a state memorial in Congress, Arturo Umberto Illia was buried in La Recoleta Cemetery, in Buenos Aires.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Arturo Umberto Illia

• Arturo Illia, su vida, principios y doctrina, by Ricardo Illia, Ediciones Corregidor.
• La caída de Illia, by Mario Antonio Verone, Editorial Coincidencia.
• Historia del radicalismo, by Mario Monteverde, GAM Ediciones.
• La presidencia de Illia, by Pedro Sánchez, CEAL.
• Poder militar y sociedad política en Argentina (Tomo II, 1943–1973), by Alan Rouquié, Emecé Editores.
• ¿Qué es el radicalismo?, by Raúl Alfonsín, Editorial Sudamericana.

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Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín
President of Argentina
In office December 10, 1983 – July 8, 1989
Vice President	Víctor Hipólito Martínez
Preceded by	Reynaldo Bignone
Succeeded by	Carlos Saúl Menem
Personal details
Born	(1927-03-12)March 12, 1927 Chascomús, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Died	March 31, 2009(2009-03-31) (aged 82) Buenos Aires, Argentina
Nationality	Argentine
Political party	Radical Civic Union
Spouse(s)	María Lorenza Barreneche
Profession	Lawyer
Signature

Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín (March 12, 1927 – March 31, 2009) was an Argentine lawyer, politician and statesman, who served as the President of Argentina from December 10, 1983, to July 8, 1989. Alfonsín was the first democratically elected president of Argentina following the military government known as the National Reorganization Process. He was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation in 1985, among numerous other such recognitions.^[1]

Life and times[link]

Early life and entry into politics[link]

Alfonsín was born in the city of Chascomús, in eastern Buenos Aires Province, to Ana María Foulkes and Raúl Serafín Alfonsín, and raised in the Roman Catholic faith. Following his elementary schooling he enrolled at the General San Martín Military Lyceum, where he graduated after five years as a second lieutenant. He became affiliated with the centrist Radical Civic Union (UCR) in 1945 while taking an active role in the reform group, Intransigent Renewal Movement. He enrolled at the University of Buenos Aires Law School, from where he graduated in 1950 and returned to Chascomús as an attorney. He married María Lorenza Barreneche the same year.^[2]

Alfonsín founded a local newspaper (El Imparcial) and was elected to the city council in 1951. Running as a UCR candidate for a seat in the Chamber of Deputies (the lower house of the Argentine Congress) later that year, he lost to an opponent supported by the country's newly elected populist leader, Juan Perón. His periodical's opposition to the increasingly intolerant Perón led to Alfonsín's incarceration in 1953. A violent September 1955 coup d'état (the self-styled Revolución Libertadora) brought Perón's reign to an end, however, and the resulting ban of Peronist political activity returned the UCR to its role as Argentina's most important political party.^[3]

Alfonsín during his successful 1963 congressional campaign.

He was elected to the Buenos Aires provincial legislature in 1958 on the UCRP ticket, a faction of the UCR slightly to the right of the winners of the 1958 election, the UCRI. Alfonsín was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1963, becoming one of President Arturo Illia's most steadfast supporters in Congress; he lost his seat when a military coup removed Illia from office in 1966. Developing differences with the party's moderately conservative leader, Ricardo Balbín, Alfonsín announced the formation of a Movement for Renewal and Change within the UCR in 1971. He stood for the UCR's nomination for the 1973 presidential election with Conrado Storani as his running mate, but lost to Balbín, who was in turn defeated by Perón's Justicialist Party.^[3] Argentina's return to democracy in 1973 did not improve the country's difficult political rights climate. An increasingly violent conflict between far-left and far-right groups led to a succession of repressive measures, mostly against the former. Amid spiraling violence in December 1975, Alfonsín helped establish the Permanent Assembly for Human Rights.^[4]

The March 1976 coup against the hapless President Isabel Perón did not lead to the Permanent Assembly's closure and, instead, prompted its affiliated lawyers, including Alfonsín, to lend their services to the growing ranks of friends and relatives of the disappeared, arguably risking their lives to do so. Alfonsín was among the few prominent Argentine political figures to vocally oppose President Leopoldo Galtieri's April 1982 landings on the Falkland Islands.

The 1981 collapse of conservative economist José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz's free trade and deregulatory policies and the defeat in the Falklands War, among other reasons, led the National Reorganization Process to seek a "democratic exit" in 1983, and new general elections were held on October 30. Alfonsín, who had been elected leader of the party in July that year, defeated Justicialist Party candidate Ítalo Lúder by 12 points, carrying a majority in the Chamber of Deputies and, though garnering only 18 of 46 seats in the Senate and 7 of 22 governors, the UCR's Alejandro Armendáriz scored an upset victory in Buenos Aires Province, home to one in three Argentines. Alfonsín persuaded President Reynaldo Bignone to advance the inaugural three months and he took office on December 10.^[5]

Presidency[link]

A new beginning[link]

Alfonsín receives the presidential attributes from the last dictator, Gen. Reynaldo Bignone.

Inaugural speech of President Raúl Alfonsín (Spanish). Source: Televisión Pública Argentina

Alfonsín receives the CONADEP report on the Dirty War from the president of the commission, Ernesto Sábato (center).

Chief among Alfonsín's full platter of inherited problems was an economic depression stemming from the 1981-82 financial collapse and its resulting US$43 billion foreign debt, which demanded interest payments that, alone, swallowed all of Argentina's US$3 billion trade surplus. The economy had recovered modestly in 1983 as a result of Bignone's lifting of wage freezes and crushing interest rates imposed by the Central Bank's "Circular 1050;" but inflation raged at 400%, GDP per capita remained at its lowest level since 1968 and fixed investment, 40% lower than in 1980.^[6] Naming a generally center-left cabinet led by Foreign Minister Dante Caputo and Economy Minister Bernardo Grinspun (his campaign manager), Alfonsín began his administration with high approval ratings and with the fulfillment of campaign promises such as the inaugural of a nutritional assistance program for the 27% of Argentines under the poverty line at the time, as well as the recission of Bignone's April 1983 blanket amnesty for those guilty of human rights abuses and his September decree authorizing warrantless wiretapping. Defense Minister Raúl Borrás advised Alfonsín to remove Fabricaciones Militares, then Argentina's leading defense contractor, from the Armed Forces' control, ordering the retirement of 70 generals and admirals known for their opposition to the transfer of the lucrative contractor.

Appointing renowned playwright Carlos Gorostiza as Secretary of Culture and exiled computer scientist Dr. Manuel Sadosky as Secretary of Science and Technology, hundreds of artists and scientists returned to Argentina during 1984. Gorostiza abolished the infamous National Film Rating Entity, helping lead to a doubling in film and theatre production. The harrowing La historia oficial (The Official Story) was released in April 1985 and became the first Argentine film to secure an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Alfonsín created the National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons (CONADEP) to document their human rights abuses. Led by renowned novelist Ernesto Sábato, the CONADEP documented 8,960 forced disappearances and presented the President with its findings on September 20. The report drew mixed reactions, however, as its stated total of victims fell short of Amnesty International's estimate of 16,000 and of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo's estimate of 30,000.

Alfonsín had leading members of leftist groups prosecuted early on, leading to jail sentences for, among others, Montoneros leader Mario Firmenich. He sought to improve relations with Peronists by pardoning former President Isabel Perón in May 1984 for her prominent role in the early stages of the Dirty War against dissidents and for her alleged embezzlement of public funds, though his January introduction of legislation providing for secret ballot labor union elections led to massive opposition by the CGT, Argentina's largest, and handed his administration its first defeat when the Senate struck it down in February by one vote.

Relations with the United States suffered when Alfonsín terminated the previous regime's support for the Contras, and two meetings with U.S. President Ronald Reagan failed to ease Reagan's opposition to economic concessions towards Argentina. Alfonsín did, however, initiate the first diplomatic contact with the United Kingdom since the Falklands War two years earlier, resulting in the lifting of British trade sanctions. Proposing a Treaty with Chile ending a border dispute over the Beagle Channel, he put the issue before voters in a November 25, 1984, referendum and won its approval with 82%.^[7]

Tackling inflation and impunity[link]

Inheriting a foreign debt crisis exacerbated by high global interest rates, Alfonsín had to also contend with shattered business confidence and record budget deficits. GDP grew by a modest 2% in 1984, though fixed investment continued to decline and inflation rose to 700%. Losses among the panoply of State enterprises, service on the public debt and growing tax evasion left the federal budget with a US$10 billion shortfall in 1984 (13% of GDP). Unable to finance it, the Central Bank of Argentina "printed" money and inflation, which galloped at around 18% a month at the end of the dictatorship, rose to 30% in June 1985 (the world's highest, at the time). Attempting to control record inflation (prices had risen twelvefold in a year), his new Minister of the Economy, Juan Sourrouille, launched the Austral Plan, by which prices were frozen and the existing currency, the peso argentino, was replaced by the Argentine austral at 1,000 to one.^[8]

Sharp budget cuts were enacted, particularly in military spending which, including cutbacks in 1984, was slashed to around half of its 1983 level. Responding to financial sector concerns, it also introduced a mechanism called desagio, by which debtors whose installments were based on much higher built-in inflation would received a temporary discount compensating for the sudden drop in inflation and interest rates; indeed, inflation (30% in June) plummeted to 2% a month for the remainder of 1985. The fiscal deficit fell by two-thirds in 1985, helping pave the way for the first meaningful debt rescheduling since the advent of the crisis four years earlier. Sharp cuts in military spending also fed growing discontent in the military, and a number of bomb threats and acts of sabotage at numerous military bases were blamed on hard-line officers, chiefly former 1^st Army Corps head Gen. Guillermo Suárez Mason, who fled to Miami following an October arrest order.^[8]

Former members of Argentina's last dictatorship endure opening statements in their 1985 trial for human rights abuses.

Unable to persuade the military to court martial officers guilty of Dirty War abuses, Alfonsín sponsored the Trial of the Juntas, whose first hearing began at the Supreme Court on April 22, 1985. Prosecuting some of the top members of the previous military regime for crimes committed during the Dirty War, the trial became the focus of sudden international attention and, on December 9, the tribunal handed down life sentences against former President Jorge Videla and former Navy Chief Emilio Massera, as well as 17-year sentences against three others. For these accomplishments, Alfonsín was awarded the first Prize For Freedom of the Liberal International and the Human Rights Prize by the Council of Europe, never before awarded to an individual. Four defendants were acquitted, however, notably former President Leopoldo Galtieri, though he and two others were court-martialed in May 1986 for malfeasance during the Falklands War, receiving 12-year prison sentences.^[9]

These developments contributed to a strong showing by the UCR in the November 1985 legislative elections. They gained one seat in the Lower House of Congress and would control 130 of the 254 seats. The Justicialists lost eight seats (leaving 103) and smaller, provincial parties made up the difference. Alfonsín surprised observers in April 1986 by announcing the creation of a panel entrusted to plan the transfer of the nation's capital to Viedma, a small coastal city 800 km (500 mi) south of Buenos Aires. His proposals boldly called for constitutional amendments creating a Parliamentary system, including a Prime Minister, and were well received by the Lower House, though it encountered strong opposition in the Senate.

Economic concerns continued to dominate the national discourse, and the sharp fall in global commodity prices in 1986 stymied hopes for lasting financial stability. The nation's record US$4.5 billion trade surplus was cut in half and inflation had declined to 50% in the twelve months to June 1986 (compared to 1,130% to June 1985). Inflation, which had been targeted for 28% in the calendar year, soon began to rise, however, exceeding 80% in 1986. GDP, which had fallen by 5% in 1985, recovered by 7% in 1986, led by a rise in machinery purchases and consumer spending.^[6] Repeated wage freezes ordered by Economy Minister Sourouille, however, led to an erosion in real wages of about 20% during the Austral Plan's first year, triggering seven general strikes by the CGT during the same period. The President's August appointment of a conservative economist, José Luis Machinea, as President of the Central Bank pleased the financial sector; but it did little to stymie continuing capital flight. Affluent Argentines were believed to hold over US$50 billion in overseas deposits, by then.^[10] Alfonsín stepped up his itinerary of state visits abroad, securing a number of trade deals.^[11]

The President's international esteem for his human rights record suffered in December 1986, when on his initiative Congress passed the Full Stop Law, which limited the civil trials against roughly 600 officers implicated in the Dirty War to those indicted within 60 days of the law's passage, a tall order given the reluctance of many victims and witnesses to testify. Despite these concessions, a group identified as Carapintadas ("painted faces," from their use of camouflage paint) loyal to Army Major Aldo Rico, staged a mutiny of the important Army training base of Campo de Mayo and near Córdoba during the long weekend of Easter in 1987. Negotiating in person with the rebels, who objected to ongoing civil trials but enjoyed little support elsewhere in the Armed Forces, Alfonsín secured their surrender. Returning to the Casa Rosada, where an anxious population was waiting for news, he announced: La casa está en orden y no hay sangre en Argentina. ¡Felices pascuas! ("The house is in order and there's no blood in Argentina. Happy Easter!"), to signify the end of the crisis.

His subsequent appointment of General Dante Caridi as Army Chief of Staff further strained relations with the military and in June, Congress passed Alfonsín's Law of Due Obedience, granting immunity to officers implicated in crimes against humanity on the basis of "due obedience." This law, condemned by Amnesty International, among others, effectively halted most remaining prosecutions of Dirty War criminals. The climate of tension between those on either side of the issue was aggravated by the suspicious death in 1986 of Defense Minister Roque Carranza while in the Campo de Mayo military base^[12] and by the September 1987 discovery of the body of prominent banker Osvaldo Sivak, the victim of a police-orchestrated ransom kidnapping netting over a million US dollars.^[13] Amid this political turn to the right, Alfonsín did manage the passage of the legalization of divorce, helping resolve the legal status of 3 million adults (1 in 6) who were separated from their spouse. He also passed the Antidiscrimination Law of 1987, a bill supported by Argentina's sizable Jewish and Gypsy communities. He was awarded the Moisés (Moses) Prize by the Argentine Jewish community for the accomplishment.

A turn for the worse[link]

CGT leader Saúl Ubaldini, Alfonsín's most visible opponent, called 13 general strikes during that era.

A severe drought early in 1987 led to a new decline in exports, which reached their lowest level in a decade, nearly cancelling the vital trade surplus and leaving a US$6 billion current account deficit. The problem and the efforts of Alfonsín's debt negotiator, Daniel Marx, helped secure the record rescheduling of US$19 billion in foreign public debt (a third of the total); but speculators' concerns led to a sudden fall in the value of the austral, which lost half its value between June and October. As most Argentine wholesalers accepted only U.S. dollars at the time, this inevitably led to higher inflation, which leapt from 5% monthly in the first half of 1987 to 20% in October. Unimpressed by Alfonsín's appointment of a Labor Minister from within the CGT's ranks, their leader, Saúl Ubaldini, called two more general strikes during the year (hundreds of smaller, sectoral strikes erupted, as well).

A positive rapport between Alfonsín and the new, democratically-elected President of Brazil, José Sarney, helped lead to initial agreements for a common market between the two nations and Uruguay in January 1988. Meeting in the Uruguayan resort of Punta del Este, they agreed to subsidize intra-regional exports with a special currency for the purpose (the Gaucho). A new Minister of Public Works, Rodolfo Terragno, an academic with a long history in the UCR, prevailed on the administration to allow a novel, if controversial, search for needed foreign exchange: privatizations. A number of factories and rail lines were offered for sale and, in September 1987, the effort yielded its first results with the sale of Austral Airlines, a domestic carrier. Subsequent instability and the fallout from the Wall Street Crash of 1987 dampened further deals, however, and left Sourouille little choice but to raise taxes. GDP managed a 3% rise in 1987, led by higher construction spending, though inflation rose to 175% and real wages declined around 10%, leaving them lower than they were in 1983.^[14]

The President of Brazil, José Sarney, with Alfonsín at the Iguazu Falls. Their positive rapport led to a free trade treaty that later became Mercosur.

This turn for the worse helped to a significant setback for Alfonsín's UCR in local and legislative elections in September 1987. The UCR lost 13 seats in Congress (leaving 117). Though still enjoying a 12-seat advantage over Justicialists, this deprived the UCR of its absolute majority in the Lower House and, five seats short of a majority in the Senate, this effectively suspended much of the UCR's legislative agenda, particularly the planned transfer of the capital to the Patagonia region. UCR governors fared even worse: the 1987 mid-term election left only two, toppling, among four others, Governor Armendáriz of the paramount Province of Buenos Aires. Ongoing military discontent reached a flash point when Major Aldo Rico, the instigator of the Easter Rebellion, escaped from house arrest and promptly organized a second mutiny in January 1988; this mutiny was, again, quickly subdued. The resulting tension and continuing stagflation set the stage for Alfonsín's announcement that elections, scheduled for October 1989, would be moved up five months earlier.

The campaign made strange bedfellows of Alfonsín and the CGT during the May 1988 Justicialist Party convention. The CGT was adverse to the frontrunner for the nomination, Buenos Aires Governor Antonio Cafiero. The President, in turn, preferred to see his struggling UCR (14 points behind in the polls) matched against Cafiero's rival, Carlos Menem, a little-known and flamboyant governor of one of the nation's smallest provinces. The primaries resulted in an upset, however, and Menem was nominated the Justicialist Party's standard bearer. The UCR, for its part, made a safe choice: Eduardo Angeloz, the centrist governor of Córdoba Province (Argentina's second-largest) and the most prominent UCR figure not closely tied to the unpopular Alfonsín.^[15]

The Austral Plan continued to disintegrate as the economy slipped back into recession. Inflation continued at 15-20% a month and in August, reached 27%. Foreign debt installments fell into arrears in April when Alfonsín ordered the Central Bank to curtail payments. Coinciding with the Southern Hemisphere's change of seasons, Economy Minister Sorouille announced a Plan Primavera ("Springtime Plan") on August 3, whose centerpiece was a price truce agreed on with 53 leading wholesalers. The plan also included a fresh wage freeze, however, triggering a September 9 general strike by the CGT that turned violent when police repressed demonstrators at the Plaza de Mayo.^[15]

Violent and white collar crime were of increasing concern among the public and, though the judicial system scored a victory when Banco Alas executives were convicted the same day for fraud committed against the Central Bank totalling US$110 million, their receiving a suspended sentence in exchange for the return of half the funds and the subsequent discovery of a sub-rosa "parallel customs" operated by National Customs Director Juan Carlos Delconte cast serious doubts on Alfonsín's commitment against large-scale corruption, which had become endemic to Argentine government and business during the 1970s.^[16]

President Alfonsín (in civilian attire) at the scene of the January 1989 attack on the barracks at La Tablada. He faced three military rebellions during his term, and one leftist mutiny.

Alfonsín obtained INTERPOL's cooperation in extraditing fugitive Army Corps leader Gen. Guillermo Suárez Mason (a leading Dirty War perpetrator whose control over YPF nearly bankrupted the state oil concern in 1983) and Argentine Anticommunist Alliance mastermind José López Rega, who were found exiled in the United States and returned to stand trial in 1987. The President's relationship with the military remained tenuous. Continuing military budget cuts and opposition to democratic rule led the extremist Carapintadas to stage a third mutiny on December 1, receiving support from disaffected members of the Coast Guard, among others. The impasse lasted six days, resulting in the arrest of their leader, Col. Mohamed Alí Seineldín, an Army officer with a long history of violence and anti-semitism. In the interest of compromise, Alfonsín announced a modest military budget increase and the dismissal of the moderate Gen. Dante Caridi as Army Chief of Staff. A January 23, 1989 attack on the Regiment of La Tablada by a leftist armed organization led to 39 deaths and tested Alfonsín's improved rapport with the military, which was consequently given wide latitude to prosecute the matter, leading to the alleged torture of a number of the conspirators.^[17]

The economy had benefited only modestly from lower inflation, which had fallen from 27% in August to 5-10% monthly for the rest of 1988. Owing to the mid-year recession, GDP fell 2% in 1988 and inflation rose to 380% while real wages continued to slide.^[18] Exports did recover and the trade surplus rose to nearly US$4 billion. The Springtime Plan, however, increasingly depended on its reserves to shore up the austral, whose stability guaranteed lower inflation rates. In so doing, the Central Bank shed almost all its US$3 billion in reserves and, in heavy trading on "Black Tuesday," February 7, 1989, the U.S. dollar gained around 40% against the austral. The sudden drop in the austral's value threatened the nation's tenuous financial stability and, later that month, the World Bank recalled a large tranche of a loan package agreed on in 1988, sending the austral into a tailspin: trading at 17 to the dollar in January, the dollar quoted at over 100 australes by election day, May 14. Inflation, which had been held below 10% a month as late as February, rose to 78.5% in May, shattering records and leading to a landslide victory for the Justicialist candidate, Carlos Menem. Polling revealed that economic anxieties were paramount among two-thirds of voters and Menem won in 19 of 22 provinces, while losing in the traditionally anti-Peronist Federal District (Buenos Aires).^[19]

The nation's finances did not stabilize after the election, as hoped. The dollar doubled in value that next week, alone and, on May 29, riots and looting broke out in the poorer outskirts of a number of cities, particularly Rosario. Inflation continued its dizzying rise: 114% a month in June and 197% in July. Income poverty leapt from around 30% to 47% during the debacle^[20] and the economy shrank by 7% in 1989, pushing per capita GDP to its lowest level since 1964.^[6] Having declared his intention to stay on until inaugural day, December 10, these events and spiraling financial chaos led Alfonsín to transfer power to President-elect Menem on July 8.

Later years[link]

Alfonsín with President Néstor Kirchner (May 2004)

Alfonsín was forced to step down as President of the UCR following that party's defeat at the September 1991 midterm elections. He defeated former Governor Armendáriz for the post in 1993, however, on anticipation of a power-sharing deal with the then-popular President Carlos Menem. Alfonsín and Menem signed the November 1993 Olivos Pact, through which the two largest Argentine parties agreed to support a constitutional reform which (among other things) provided the party in opposition increased representation in the Senate and paved the way for President Menem's reelection. He resigned as leader of the UCR after their poor performance in the 1995 elections; but he continued to be an important figure within the party, negotiating a successful alliance with the center-left Frepaso (who garnered 30% in 1995), ahead of the 1997 midterm elections.

Alfonsín suffered a serious automobile accident en route to a campaign event in June 1999, though he recovered quickly.^[21] He was returned as leader of the UCR in October 2000 amid growing difficulties surrounding President Fernando de la Rúa, a prominent UCR figure elected in 1999 on the Alliance ticket with the center-left Frepaso.^[22] He was elected Senator for Buenos Aires Province in October 2001, but health problems led him to step down after a year, to be replaced by Diana Conti.

President Cristina Kirchner unveils a bust of President Alfonsín at the Casa Rosada. Alfonsín is seated in the middle.

In 2006, Alfonsín supported a faction of the UCR that favoured the idea of carrying an independent candidate for the 2007 presidential elections. The UCR, instead of fielding its own candidate, endorsed Roberto Lavagna, a center-left economist who presided over the dramatic recovery in the Argentine economy from 2002 until he parted ways with President Néstor Kirchner in December 2005. Unable to sway enough disaffected Kirchner supporters, Lavagna garnered third place.

Alfonsín was a member of the Club of Madrid^[23] and was honored by President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner with a bust of his likeness at the Casa Rosada on October 1, 2008. He was the only former Argentine president to receive that homage during his lifetime.

Death[link]

Alfonsín's memorial service at the Argentine National Congress.

Alfonsín's mausoleum in La Recoleta Cemetery.

Alfonsín's mausoleum in La Recoleta Cemetery (July 2011).

Alfonsín died on 31 March 2009, at the age of 82, after being diagnosed a year before with lung cancer and enduring a surgery intervention in the United States. He died peacefully in his home, surrounded by his family. Argentina declared three days of national mourning following his death through 2 April 2009. He was buried in La Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires.

Thousands of Argentines mourned his death by crowding Callao Avenue in Buenos Aires, waiting to accompany Dr. Alfonsín to his final resting place. The media captured the popular sentiment by pointing out that "the Argentine people wants to send a message: it is time to return to the values taught to us by Dr. Alfonsín: honesty, hard work, justice and equality for all."

Some critics point out that he failed to stave off a deep economic crisis; but his political achievements were of such magnitude, that they were summed up by President Cristina Kirchner when she unveiled his bust in 2008: "Whether you like it or not, you are a symbol of the return of democracy."

Notable quotes[link]

With democracy we eat, with democracy we educate, with democracy we heal.

Argentina has developed a culture of democracy no one can now undo: the merest attempt would fill every plaza in the Republic with the awesome sight of the people demanding the protection of any legal right, if for but one individual.

No president has the right to endlessly demand sacrifices from his people.

Ideas go on, men don’t. Men succeed or fail, but it is the ideas that transform themselves into torches that keep democracy alive.

See also[link]

• Alfonsín stamps

References[link]

External links[link]

• Biography by CIDOB Foundation (Spanish)
• Raúl Alfonsín's Project Syndicate op/eds
• Krauss, Clifford. "Raúl Alfonsín, Former Argentine Leader, Dies," The New York Times, Wednesday, April 1, 2009.
• Obituary by the Associated Press
• Raúl Alfonsín at the Notable Names Database
• Raúl Alfonsín at the Internet Movie Database
• Raúl Alfonsín at Encyclopædia Britannica

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v t e Radical Civic Union Related parties or alliances Civic Union Intransigent Radical Civic Union Alliance for Work, Justice and Education Radical presidents of Argentina Hipólito Yrigoyen Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear Arturo Frondizi Arturo Umberto Illia Raúl Alfonsín Fernando de la Rúa Other Radicals Leandro N. Alem Arturo Jauretche Ricardo Balbín Eduardo Angeloz Rodolfo Terragno Julio Cobos Ricardo Alfonsín Key events Revolution of the Park 1916-1930 period Trial of the Juntas