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If Perón is to be the savior of Argentina this time round, he must first do a better job than he has to date of pacifying the Peronistas. It looms as a major undertaking. Yet it is small compared with the task of inspiring Argentines as a people to unite in a common, selfless cause. Historically, Argentina has been victimized by selfishness, on the part of both its leaders and its people. "There is no community in Argentina," laments H. A. Murena, a noted Argentine novelist. "We do not form a body, though we may form a conglomeration. Instead of stability, Argentina has rancorous, factious chaos, periodically illuminated by coups d'état." Adds Eduardo Roca, an eminent jurist and diplomat: "Argentina has no soul."
A vast land nearly three times the size of Western Europe, Argentina did not begin to develop until the 19th century, when there was large-scale immigration from Western Europe. On the pampas, a flat plain stretching out in a semicircle from Buenos Aires, the immigrants found the richest, deepest topsoil in the world. It was ideal for raising cattle and crops, and still is. The number of cattle on the hoof today is more than double the country's population of 25 million.
The living was perhaps too easy. Collective action was not needed to conquer the elements; they were already friendly. Individuals could make a comfortable life on their own. Politics seemed irrelevant. So did a national, even a community spirit. Many immigrants planned only to make their fortunes and return to Europe. Even when they stayed, many never quite thought of themselves as anything but transients. The same mood prevails today. Says Novelist Murena: "I was born here. But sometimes I find myself asking: Am I really going to die here among these strangers?"
Contributing to the lack of national identity and community concern is the fragmentation of the classes. The wealthy oligarchs, the middle class and the workers are not only separated from one another but are all deeply divided within themselves. In sum, it is a situation much easier for a shrewd politician to exploit than solve, as Peron proved in his first rise to power.
Born on Oct. 8, 1895, in the pampas town of Lobos, Perón never longed to become a farmer like his father. At an early age, he chose a military career. As a military observer in Europe in the late '30s and early '40s, he became spellbound by both Hitler and Mussolini. After meeting Hitler, Perón wrote: "As in Germany, our future will be an inflexible dictatorship." When il Duce died, he said: "Mussolini was the greatest man of our century."
Back in Buenos Aires, Peron joined the G.O.U. (Group of United Officers), a cabal of extreme-right-wing colonels who shared his belief that Argentina was destined to become the Germany of Latin America. In 1943 they staged a coup against the bumbling government of Ramón Castillo (who, ironically, was pro-Nazi himself). Perón backed the naming of General Pedro Ramírez as a figurehead replacement. For himself, he cannily took the directorship of the moribund Department of Labor. Turning it into the government's most active branch, Perón used the department to help win the political support of Argentina's workers, a long-neglected group with great potential power.