World Country Guide

History and Government

History
Europeans first arrived in the territory, which became Argentina in the early 16th century. After becoming a viceroyalty of Spain in the 1770s, Argentina achieved independence in 1816. Between the mid-19th century and 1946, Argentina swung from civilian to military rule and from radical to conservative policies. A coup resulted in the rise of Lieutenant General Peron Sosa as president in 1943. After winning the election of 1946, Peron instigated a policy of extreme nationalism and social improvement. He founded the Peronista movement and after being overthrown in 1955, continued to direct the movement from his Spanish exile. The ensuing administrations failed to secure the full allegiance of either the people or the trade unions and Peron was triumphantly re-elected as president in 1973. On his death, a year later, his wife, Isabelita Peron, took over but chaos ensued and she was deposed by a military coup in 1976.

The legacy of Peron (and his wife) continues to inspire Argentinian politicians to this day. The end of the Peronista period heralded perhaps the darkest period in Argentinian history. Driven by an obsessive fear of ‘Communism’ and ‘subversion’ and supported by governments throughout the Americas (including Washington), the military regime instituted a reign of terror in which ‘disappearances’, torture and extra-judicial murder were commonplace. The military’s blatant inability to run the economy did much to undermine any credibility they enjoyed. But the final straw was the invasion of the Malvinas (Falkland Islands) in 1982, which led to a humiliating defeat for the Argentinian military at the hands of a British task force and led swiftly to the collapse of the regime and the inauguration of a new era of civilian politics.

The Partido Justicialista (PJ) carried the Peronista banner while its main opponent was the Unin Civica Radical (UCR), a reform-minded centrist party with a history stretching back to the 1930s. The UCR won a majority of national assembly seats and its candidate, a provincial governor named Raul Alfonsin Foukes, assumed the presidency in 1983. The UCR was successful in negotiating the transition to civilian rule and restoring the credibility of the country’s civilian polity; a considerable achievement given the continuous rumble of dissatisfaction from the military and discontent from a population seeking improvement in their economic circumstances and retribution for years of repression.

However, it was economic failures that undid the UCR government; by the time Alfonsin departed from office in June 1989, Argentina was racked by four-digit annual inflation and still financially crippled by massive foreign debts. The Peronista challenger, Carlos Menem, led his party to victory and promptly instituted a programme of financial austerity and economic liberalisation, including the complex and politically dangerous task of dismantling the country’s vast public sector. The programme was sufficiently successful for Menem to secure a second term of office in 1995. However, a subsequent economic downturn and persistent attempts by President Menem to alter the constitution (to allow him to stand for a third consecutive term of office) undermined his party’s position.

At the 1999 elections, the ex-Buenos Aires mayor, Fernando de la Rua Bruno, won a narrow victory over the Peronista Eduardo Duhalde. De la Rua stood for the centre-left Concertacin (Alliance), formed from the UCR and a newer party, Frepaso. The new government’s principal aim – apart from repairing the battered economy – was to restore confidence in the nation’s public institutions, many of which had become ossified and corrupt under Menem. In the event, the de la Rua government was able to do little to rectify the situation and in late 2001, Argentina entered an economic crisis that brought the country close to meltdown. When the Peronistas recovered control of the national assembly and facing solid opposition from Argentina’s powerful regional governors, the de la Rua government was forced to resign. Amid growing political and economic chaos, Eduardo Duhalde – who had lost to de la Rua two years earlier – took over as caretaker president.

The next scheduled presidential election was not due until Otober 2003, however, was brought forward by six months. In the first round, the left was expected to do badly. They did. The surprise was the performance of Carlos Menem, who was now eligible to stand again. With just under 20 per cent of the vote, he took second place behind the official Peronista candidate, Nestor Kirchner, the governor of the unfashionable northern province of Santa Cruz. At this point, supporters of other candidates switched their allegiance to Kirchner, simply to ensure that Menem did not return. Now facing a humiliating defeat in the second round run-off, Menem withdrew, leaving Kirchner to win by default. Kirchner’s priority will be the economy and he inevitably will be forced to take unpopular measures, not least to restore Argentina’s international credibility.

Given the ongoing domestic crisis, deliberations over the future of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands are now largely in abeyance. Since the signing of a joint statement in July 1999, establishing a framework for joint exploitation of fishing and potential mineral resources, relations between Argentina and Britain have improved. The British are still not prepared, however, to discuss sovereignty.

Government
Under the amended constitution, which came into force in August 1994, legislative power is in the bicameral Congreso (Congress), comprising a 257-member lower house, the Cmara de Diputados (Chamber of Deputies), and a 72-member Senado (Senate). Members of the lower house are elected every four years by proportional representation; the senate is indirectly elected by provincial legislatures and serves a six-year term. Executive power is held by the president, assisted by a cabinet of ministers, who is directly elected for a four-year term (renewable once only).