| Orthodox Peronism | |
| Native Name: | Peronismo Ortodoxo |
| Colorcode: | Black |
| Leader: | Isabel Perón José López Rega (until July 9, 1975) José Ignacio Rucci Ítalo Lúder Juan Domingo Perón Norma Kennedy Jorge Osinde |
| Successor: | Peronist Renovation |
| Membership: | Justicialist Party |
| Position: | Faction that governed: Far-right[1] [2] Factions: Centre[3] [4] [5] [6] |
| Religion: | Catholicism |
| Regional: | Propaganda Due |
| Founded: | 1965 |
Orthodox Peronism, Peronist Orthodoxy, National Justicialism,[7] or right-wing peronism for some specialists,[8] is a faction within Peronism, a political movement in Argentina that adheres to the ideology and legacy of Juan Perón. Orthodox Peronists are staunch supporters of Perón and his original policies, and they reject any association with Marxism or any other left-wing ideologies. Some of them are aligned with far-right elements.[9] Orthodox Peronism also refers to the Peronist trade union faction that split from the “62 organizations" and that opposed the “legalists", who were more moderate and pragmatic. They were also known as “the hardliners", “the 62 standing with Perón" and they maintained an orthodox and verticalist stance, in accordance with the Peronist doctrine.[10] Orthodox Peronism has been in several conflicts with the Tendencia Revolucionaria (opposite current in the Peronist movement), for example during the Ezeiza massacre.
The term "orthodox Peronism" emerged during the Peronist resistance following the 1955 coup, a period when historical revisionism took hold, deepening the connection between Peronism and nationalism. While the Peronist government had some ties with nationalists, it had not embraced a revisionist historical view, and the nationalists did not play a dominant role in government policy. It was only after 1955, amidst the context of resistance and under the influence of nationalist thought, that orthodox Peronism began to take shape. This marked a dual process: Peronism began adapting to nationalist ideals, while nationalists reappropriated and redefined key elements of Perón’s original discourse.
This convergence was fraught with tensions. The most intransigent and uncompromising sectors of Peronism emerged during this time, rejecting any form of negotiation with the government. These groups distanced themselves from the more conciliatory tendencies that arose within Peronism in the 1960s, including the neoperonist and vandorist factions. When referring to the traditional orthodox current, it is important to recognize a coalition of unions and organizations that, despite their loyalty to Peronist verticality, initially opposed leaders like Rodolfo Ponce and right-wing unionism. Many of these union leaders gained their influence during the labor conflicts of the early 1960s, such as the "Plan de Huerta Grande" and the "Plan de Lucha" in 1964. This orthodox faction was largely represented by the Secretaries of the AEC (Ezequiel Crisol) and the UOM (Albertano Quiroga), supported by unions with large memberships, though they wielded limited political influence at the time.
Peronism underwent a profound transformation during the campaign "Luche y Vuelve", which culminated in Perón's return to power in 1973. Tensions between the union sectors and the Peronist left, which had backed Cámpora’s government, escalated when Perón took office. The far-left faction of Peronism represented by the Montoneros entered a conflict with the Peronist trade unions, which forced Perón to give concessions to labour bureucracy and act against the left-wing Peronists, given the threat of trade unions turning against Perón.[11] According to Ronaldo Munck, Perón did not differ from Tendencia Revolucionaria in terms of economic ideology, but rather mass mobilisation: "The purely anti-imperialist and anti-oligarchic political programme of the Montoneros ("national socialism") was not incompatible with Peron's economic project of "national reconstruction", but their power of mass mobilisation was."[12] The traditional Peronist sectors—union orthodoxy and right-wing Peronists—formed a verticalist alliance that established a new Peronist orthodoxy. This group sought to marginalize and suppress the left-wing faction of the movement, which held onto its revolutionary ideals.
Orthodox Peronism from this point onward came to represent the factions that, in the name of verticalism, opposed any alignment with Marxism or the Peronist left. Those loyal to Perón and his wife, Isabel Martínez de Perón, began to identify themselves as orthodox Peronists, defending the "Peronist homeland" against the "socialist homeland" advocated by the left-wing Revolutionary Tendency. During Raúl Lastiri’s interim presidency and after Perón’s death, this new orthodox coalition used both institutional and extralegal means to push out and marginalize the left-wing heterodoxy, which included leftist Peronists and their aligned governors and officials. This led to increased political violence within the Peronist movement, further aggravated by armed guerrilla activities, marking one of the most violent periods in Argentina’s history.[9]
Initially, orthodox Peronism encompassed those Peronist sectors that followed the Peronist ideals to the letter and opposed the neo-Peronist sectors of the time, as Perón expressed in his speeches:It was mainly organized under the orthodox union leadership. This traditional orthodoxy was part of the National Transference Table.
With the return of Perón, Orthodox Peronism mainly advocated its total adherence to the governments of Perón and Isabel Perón, highlighting that the twenty Peronist truths were relevant and nothing else (emphasizing it to the tendency); the opposition to the revolutionary youth sectors of Peronism and the "Homeland Socialist", considered alien to the movement; and the reaffirmation of the Third Position distancing itself from both United States and the Soviet Union.[2] [13] Orthodox Peronism positioned itself as the opposite of the left-wing Revolutionary Peronism, objecting to the ideas of armed struggle and Marxist elements of revolutionary Peronism.[14]
Perón himself did not consider right-wing Peronists as "orthodox" or the most loyal faction; up to 1973, Perón supported the left-wing "special formations" of Peronism and denigrated several men who would later claim the label of Orthodox Peronism. Juan Luis Besoky writes that in fact many Orthodox Peronists were either newcomers to the Peronist movement, or were reluctant to follow Perón's directives, contrary to their label.[14] Even following Perón's conflict with the Montoneros between 1973 and 1974, he did not desire to abandon the Peronist left and sought to restore his trust in his last speech from June 1974, where he denounced "the oligarchy and the pressures exerted by imperialism upon his government", considered an implication that he was being manipulated by the Peronist right.[15] The term of right-wing peronism is included within the parameter of the orthodoxy, but not only, since the term could denote old Justicialists or centrists/centre-rightists who simply wanted to distance themselves from the postulates of the tendency. The distinction of the orthodox organizations of "far right" obeys to that these last ones assumed the fight against the Marxist advance within the Peronist movement through the armed violence, with a marked antisemitic, anticommunist and antisynarchist bias.[2] [16]
Fascism was also a qualification that various groups were pointed out, such as the Nationalist Liberation Alliance and the Tacuara Nationalist Movement, although both of their leaders Isabel Perón and José López Rega ("the wizard") showed tuning for fascism or falangism.[17] [18] [19] Perón was seen performing the roman salute characteristic of the movements akin to fascism.[20] And López Rega was part of the Masonic lodge Propaganda Due, led by the fascist Licio Gelli, and he collaborated whit fascist peronist groups.[21] Economically both showed neoliberal profiles and appointed as minister of economy Celestino Rodrigo, who applied an ultra-liberal economic program vulgarly known as "Rodrigazo".[22] [23]
In the seventies, there were several terrorist organizations that adhered to this Peronism. Among the main groups of Orthodox Peronism include the Orthodox Peronist Youth, with Adrián Curi as executive secretary; Concentration of the Peronist Youth, with Martín Salas as organization secretary; Peronist Union Youth, which has Claudio Mazota in t.he union secretariat; the Iron Guard, the Falangist National University Concentration; the Peronist Youth of the Argentine Republic, National Student Front, which had Víctor Lorefice as press and finance secretary, and the neo-Nazi and Antisemite organization the Tacuara Nationalist Movement is also part of this movement. The Alianza Anticomunista Argentina (AAA) also Is included, although it is not yet clear if it is its own political organization, a mere death squad, or a confederation of right-wing groups.[24] Other minor groups such as the Comando Rucci are also part of this denomination.[25]
Currently the term orthodox Peronism, is still used although sometimes it is not used with historical rigor. It is used to describe groups such as the Popular Dignity party[26] (currently the Federal Republican Encounter),[27] the Second Republic Project,[28] the Popular Party,[29] the Principles and Values Party,[30] [31] [32] Unite for Freedom and Dignity[33] (successor of People's Countryside Party and Movement for Dignity and Independence[34]), Federal Patriot Front[35] (previously known as New Triumph Party, Alternativa Social and Bandera Vecinal), parts of Youth and Dignity Left Movement[36] [37] and Federal Commitment.[38] Orthodox Peronism currently has its place in federal peronism, and is also characterized by rejecting the left wing of Peronism, Kirchnerism. Also some important current leaders of Peronism such as Alberto Rodriguez Saa, are classified within orthodox Justicialism.[39] FPF leader Alejandro Biondini meanwhile rejects both Kirchnerism and Menemism.[40]
es:Ricardo Falcón (historiador)
. Bernardo . Galitelli . Zed Books . 1987 . 9780862325701 . 192.