A History of Argentina in the Twentieth Century: Updated and Revised Edition

Chapter 8: Advance and Retreat, 1983–1989

The Democratic Illusion The new president, Raúl Alfonsín, assumed the presidency on December , , and a crowd gathered in the Plaza de Mayo for his inauguration. To signal both the continuities and the break with the country’s previous political tradition, he jettisoned the practice of speaking from the “historic balconies ” of the presidential palace. Instead, he chose to speak from the nearby Cabildo, the historic seat of municipal government and since independence a symbol of Argentine democracy. As in , the multitude that spilled into the streets during the presidential inauguration believed that the citizenry had attained power. It was soon evident, however, that there was still resistance on the part of enemies thought to have been defeated, as well as difficulty in satisfying the welter of accumulated demands that society wanted to see immediately addressed. Perhaps such expectations were due to the fact that, in addition to a long-standing belief in a provident state, there was the conviction—encouraged by the triumphant presidential candidate—that the return of democracy implied the solution to all problems. But the problems persisted, especially in the economy, though in the electoral campaign little mention was made of them. In addition to structural eight Advance and Retreat, 1983–1989 . . . . . 255 problems, the economy had been in a state of confusion, almost in chaos, since . The country was plagued with runaway inflation, an escalating foreign debt with pressing repayment deadlines, and insufficient resources for attending to society’s multiple demands, from education to public health to the salaries of state employees; finally, the government was markedly unable to manage the economic crisis. The uncertainty surrounding the ability of the democratic government extended to other areas, where the country’s corporative powers—business, the military, the unions, the Church—had demonstrated their still enormous strength, though almost all of these sectors were closely associated with the fallen regime and were tarnished by its demise. On the defensive, these powers found their old alliances were broken, and they lacked a political spokesperson to express their interests. Thus, they lay in waiting, joining the chorus in praise of the restored democracy and rendering homage to the new democratic power. The main political adversary of the Radical government, Peronism, had experienced a profound internal crisis, latent since before the election, but the crisis worsened following the first electoral defeat in its history. Whereas the Peronist labor movement distanced itself from the party leadership and attempted its own strategy to deal with the government’s onslaughts, the political wing of Peronism sought unsuccessfully to establish an identity, attacking the government from the left, from the right, or even, like the Peronist senator Saadi, from both perspectives. President Alfonsín’s power was both great and slight. Radicalism had come to power with a percentage of the votes rivaled only by the great electoral triumphs of Yrigoyen and Perón, and it held a majority in the chamber of deputies. Nonetheless, it had lost in the traditional interior of the country and did not have a majority in the senate. Though Alfonsín’s leadership in his party was strong, the Unión Cívica Radical (UCR), as a not-veryhomogeneous force, debated and even obstructed many of the president’s initiatives. Alfonsín preferred to surround himself with a group of intellectuals and technocrats only recently initiated into political life, along with the Radical university-student group, the Coordinadora, which resolved to establish control of the government and the party. Strong in the political realm, Radicalism lacked much consistent support among the country’s corporative powers—beyond the initial support offered when the president triumphed in the elections. Radicalism’s Peronist opponents moved with ease in this very A Histor y of Argentina in the Twentieth Centur y 256 . . . . . area. The state, which was supposed to wage its battles against powers that the government did not completely control, lacked efficiency and even credibility with society. But when he assumed power, President Alfonsín held an enormous degree of political capital, whose full potential was unknown. Civil society, beyond partisan loyalties, deeply identified with Alfonsín’s project to establish the rule of law by which corporative powers would be subordinated to democratic institutions and in which practices capable of resolving conflicts in a peaceful, orderly, open, and equitable manner would be instituted. Such a goal entailed establishing a political identity...