THE FIGUREHEAD MEDICINE
Vaccaro, Goodman
FROM ARGENTINA THE FIGUREHEAD RULER Waiting for the coup in Argentina is like waiting for Godot. Evidence is always on the horizon, but the expected event never appears. Since the death of Juan...
...The top levels of the military have not stepped into the current political vacuum for two reasons: The previous military government (1966-73) proved to be ineffective, and its growing unpopularity finally caused it to give up and organize civilian elections...
...As provided by law, the presidency was temporarily filled by the president of the senate, also a Peronist...
...It even allowed old enemy Juan Peron to return...
...The armed forces commanders sit in on the major cabinet meetings...
...Since this dispatch was received, air force officers at the isolated Mor6 Air Base revolted against Mrs...
...As resignation pressures continue to build, she may be forced to take another, more prolonged leave of absence which would virtually keep her out of active office for the rest of her teran To Peronists, this is more acceptable than resigning as it would insure that they continue controlling the presidency...
...Peron, was the power behind the throne...
...During one stretch when pressure for her resignation was extremely high, Mrs...
...The closest Mrs...
...Peron in office, parliamentary and legal circles fear the anti-subversive war will become a purge of the entire left The politically conservative military is not expected to end right-wing terrorism, leaving this to do the dirty work against non-guerrillas while the military concentrates on armed subversion...
...The military virtually has veto power over important government decisions, with little civilian control over the military...
...A coup would reunite the rapidly distintegrating Peronist movement against the military as a common enemy...
...The military has been chipping away at the Peronist government for quite awhile and pulled a virtual coup last July when they supported the ouster from office and die country of Jose Lopez Rega...
...All this political instability adds up to near anarchy...
...Peron was interned in a private hospital for 11 days with a mysterious gallbladder infection...
...The powerful General Workers Confederation (CGT), back-bone of the Peronist movement and the nation's only labor confederation, is equally divided...
...For most of the period she refused to see even her cabinet ministers...
...GOODMAN VACCARO (Goodman Vaccaro is the penname of a journalist specializing in Latin American affairs...
...Juan Peron cultivated and organized the working class into the most important civilian political and economic forces in the country...
...The President's functions is to guide the government...
...Jorge Videla, bluntly outlined the order of the day: "If this is what it takes, in Argentina all the people necessary will die to achieve the security of the country...
...Peron is known for her hysteria and ability to be isolated from political reality and not for a wily infighting ability...
...These para-police, para-union and para-military groups engage in killing and harassing opponents of government officials, dissident labor leaders and non-guerrilla leftists, with special emphasis on lawyers defending subversive suspects and on judges regarded as too lenient...
...The failure of the previous military government was due mostly to unified Peronist opposition...
...Over 600 deaths had been registered through November of this year in the political war, three times the number killed in 1974...
...She was not her husband's vice-presidential choice because of her political ability, but to avoid a split between rightist and leftist Peronists vying for the number-two spot...
...Complaints to the government that anti-subvenive measures never lead to the arrest of right-wing terrorists fall on deaf ears...
...Politicians act...
...Before Christmas, the ambassadorship to Brazil, one of the most important, had been vacant this year except for two days...
...The military aim seems, to be de facto rule over the country while maintaining the visible structure of a civilian government...
...Her professional background is as a cabaret dancer...
...Peron sneaks through, it will be because of military unwillingness to visibly take over the reins of government rather than any political acumen on her part...
...Lopez Rega, as minister of social welfare and private secretary to Mrs...
...Only the army had been involved previously...
...Ironically for many Argentines, the current government-generally acknowledged to be the most ineffectual and inefficient in recent times-may sneak through to the end...
...If she resigns, congress would elect a new president with no assurances that it would be a Peronist...
...The government lives from day-to-day with little long-range planning or national coordination...
...Without military support, civilian pressure for his ouster probably , would not have succeeded...
...Army commander-in-chief, Gen...
...Besides extending geographic authority, the air force and the navy have also gotten into the act...
...Peron, and widespread political violence which has grown into a civil war between leftist guerrillas and security forces...
...Peron was unprepared for what fate threw upon her...
...If Mrs...
...Main-line Peronists are further divided among strict supporters of Isabel and people trying to surround her with able ministers who would de facto run the government limiting her to a ceremonial role...
...Peron's government, but apparently failed to spark a wider military uprising necessary for a coup-ed.] A current bill before congress would increase military authority giving regional commanders power to rule their zones' by decree...
...Added to this is galloping triple-digit inflation which should reach at least 300 percent for calendar 1975...
...No constitutionally elected president has finished a term since Juan Peron's first mandate ended in 1952...
...Right-wing terrorism included the blowing up of a truck containing seven already dead bodies and the murder of nine university students in one operation...
...The country has practically no foreign policy...
...Peron is only putting in a four-day work week, reserving a three-day weekend as a break from the rigors of office...
...Peron has said they would be advanced to the end of 1976, a move aimed at ending the current clamoring for her resignation...
...The air force has started jungle air strikes, while the navy is sending in the marines...
...Elections are scheduled for March, 1977, but Mrs...
...About the only certainty in Argentina's future is increased political violence with most of the guns trained on the left...
...The discontent is reflected in constant wildcat strikes and the setting up of parallel structures to those of the CGT...
...The presidential press secretary went so far as to announce that Mrs...
...Her political thinking is done by a small clique of personal advisors...
...Her main asset is title to the name Peron, which still carries a lot of magic among the working class...
...With or without Mrs...
...Since the death of Juan Peron in July, 1974, rumors have been strong of an imminent military overthrow...
...Coupled with this is her arrogance and thin skin regarding criticism, reminiscent of the princess who could feel the pea under 100 mattresses...
...Statesmen think...
...Domestic repression was in full-swing before the military assumed control...
...Since the return of Peron, most leftists have split from the party, some joining guerrilla groups and others forming rival political parties...
...The frail government of his wife and political successor, Maria Estella Martinez de Peron, is beset by internal squabblings within the ruling Peronist party, congressional scandal investigations into alleged misuse of public funds by government officials including Mrs...
...Left-wing violence caused the assassination of a retired army general and his wife...
...Although the military has not taken over, it has ambitiously increased its power until it is now shooting up the countryside at will in the name of counter-insurgency...
...In recent months she has shunned the presidential palace housing her office, located downtown amid the main ministries, preferring the suburban presidential residence where access to her is more difficult...
...Peron came to stepping down was when she agreed in September to take a 32-day leave of absence for "health reasons...
...She needs a parenthesis in her work schedule to consider the multiple affairs of state which she will later discuss with ministers and officials," explained the press secretary...
...The death toll for the first four days in December was 32, mostly the result of right-wing terrorism...
...She is still commonly known by her stage name of Isabel...
...Peron while much grassroots sentiment exists against her labor policies, especially those keeping real wages below rapidly rising inflation...
...In coup-prone Argentina, much lesser situations produced military intervention...
...Since November, 1974 the country has been under a state of siege which allows people to be arbitrarily held prisoner without formal charges placed against them...
...Top leadership generally supports Mrs...
...Many key areas are unattended...
...Right-wing terrorist groups are also active with apparent government impunity...
...In analyzing the chaos, political observers note that Mrs...
...In November, the military arbitrarily took over the nationwide anti-subversive fight without asking congressional or presidential approval, citing previous laws...
...Before, federal police were in charge except in the province of Tucuman, where the army has been in control since last February...
Vol. 103 • January 1976 • No. 1
