Creating Charismatic Bonds in Argentina: Letters to Juan and Eva Perón by Donna J. Guy (review)

This look at the letters of Juan and Eva Perón shows us how the charismatic connections between Juan and Eva Perón and the Argentine people were supported through letters written to the presidential couple. Basing her analysis on hundreds of newly discovered letters written during Juan Perón's first presidency (1946–1955), Guy argues that such correspondence helped reinforce charismatic bonds between the presidential couple and poor Argentines, as well as install in the latter a sense of nationalism. Although these bonds are often understood as originating from Juan and Eva in a top-down fashion, Guy seeks to demonstrate how letter-writing helped reinforce charismatic connections from the bottom up. Through extensive citations from correspondence, she illustrates how letter writers contributed to these bonds through their devotion to Juan and Eva, and how they articulated a sense of nationalist unity.

Each chapter includes multiple examples of private correspondence from individuals petitioning the government, primarily the rural poor and internal migrant population. The introduction offers a nice overview of earlier studies of Peronist charisma, situating Guy's contribution within the broader field. The book's structure is both chronological and thematic, with some chapters dedicated to letters written during the first and second Five-Year Plans, including correspondence solicited by Juan Perón, and others concerning particular populations whose welfare is addressed in the letters, such as the elderly and infirm, or children.

The book's strength lies in its exploration of the role of private correspondence (rather than propaganda or public media) in supporting charismatic connections. The numerous letters offer revealing commentary on welfare policy as well as the letter writers' expectations that Juan and Eva would intercede on their behalf. Extensive direct citation gives readers of Guy's book a feel for both the style and content of the letters, as well as the variety of petitions they contained—parents seeking to entrust their children to the state, elderly workers appealing for pensions. By situating the letters within the development of the Peronist welfare state, Guy's work helps illustrate how these bonds contributed to define national identity.

The book contains many insightful nuggets regarding Juan and Eva's connections to the Argentine populace, for instance, the significance of the varied salutations utilized in letters to Eva, and the differing ways in which Juan and Eva leveraged their charisma. However, the author's use of dual structure, by chronology and topic, makes it difficult to consistently follow the central threads. At times, the significance of the cited letters is made explicit by providing a context for their petitions; for other letters, it is left to the reader to determine the broader implications of the correspondence. Some of the conclusions prove more tentative than definitive, qualified by such phrases as "One might argue that," although this lack of explicitness may be attributed in part to the book's theme. Given the slippery nature of charisma and the challenge of proving exactly how such bonds are created, Guy is careful not to overstate her conclusions with respect to the evidence. The conclusions therefore remain somewhat broad, and Guy acknowledges the potential for future research using these archival sources.

Overall, the work is a useful resource for those interested in a closer look at the correspondence between the working poor and the presidential couple. It brings out and reinforces the ways in which Juan and Eva Perón developed their charismatic connections with the people, and it also provides evidence of how the Peronist base of non-unionized workers engaged with Peronism through letter writing. The rich archival material allows the author to provide a glimpse into how ordinary Argentines sought to engage with Juan and Eva during the years of his first presidency, and the conclusion also offers some interesting avenues for comparative study, by putting...