| The following article appeared in the November 8 issue of Avanzada Socialista, weekly paper of the Argentine PST (Partido Socialista de los Trabajadores - Socialist Workers party, a sympathizing organization of the Fourth International). The translation is by Intercontinental Press.]
The thousands of workers who voted for General Perón did
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with his previous administrations in mind and in repudiation of the past eighteen years of deprivation and sellout to imperialism. However, in 1973, General Perón is not going to reenact his earlier governments. Instead he is going to throw his weight behind the Argentine bosses' plan known as the Pacto Social [Social Pact] in order to get it firmly under way.
For decades, the Argentine oligarchy and bourgeoisie were partners and allies of British imperialism. But since the start of the postwar period British imperialism has been on the decline throughout the world, and it has adopted a policy of making an orderly retreat from its domains in the face of the onslaught of the new yankee imperialist colossus.
Confronted with the expansionist policy of U.S. capitalism, big sectors 1398
of the Argentine oligarchy saw better prospects in selling themselves to the new colossus. Grain firms like Bemberg and important sectors of industrialists and the oligarchy went over to the United States. This led to a division in the two traditional Argentine political parties, the Conservative and Radical parties, giving rise to pro-U. S. and pro-British factions.
The June 4, 1943, coup d'etat was an attempt by nationalist sectors of the army to prevent the regime from falling into the hands of the pro-U. S. oligarchy.
The dispute between these sectors was reflected in the different positions they took on the war. While the pro- U.S. wing pushed for Argentina's entry into the war, the pro-British wing proposed neutrality, under cover of which it could continue to supply Argentine beef to Britain.
Colonel Perón became the leader of the proneutrality wing, representing a new tactic to resolve the situation, seeking the support of the workers movement. And he won this backing as the result of an exceptional economic situation. The large reserves piled up during the war enabled him to make concessions to the workers. Today this situation has been reversed and our country has accumulated a $6 thousand million debt to imperialism.
Moreover, the betrayals by the old workers movement leaderships (Comof U.S. imperialism, the rising colossus. At the same time, he defended capitalist order without impinging fundamentally on its economic structure (he did not expropriate the oligarchy). In the trade-union sphere, he followed the same line. He pushed unionization but the state held the top echelons in an iron grip through the trade-union bureaucracy that Perón himself appointed. This enabled him to keep the workers movement hitched to the bosses' policy.
But by the end of the 1940s and the beginning of the 1950s, this antiimperialist orientation was already beginning to shift. Perón supported U.S. imperialist intervention in Korea, hosted President Eisenhower's brother, Milton Eisenhower, and signed the OAS agreements and a whopping petroleum contract with Standard Oil.
Compañeros who recall Perón's first term in office should now realize that things have changed. Perón did not win the current election by a narrow margin but by the largest percentage in history. The situation this time is that the bosses (despite their various shadings of difference) supported General Perón, and they are not divided as in 1946. Their current unity is reflected in the Pacto Social, which represents agreement in the economic field.
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On the political plane this unity is represented by the FREJULI [Frente Justicialista de Liberación- Social Justice Liberation Front, the Peronist electoral front and the Hora del Pueblo [Hour of the People, a meeting ground between the Peronists and other bourgeois parties]. Even the "gorilla" Manrique himself wished Perón well! (In Mendoza the Manriquista representatives supported Peronist congressmen against Martinez Baca [the liberal Peronist governor that the right-wing Peronists are trying to purge].)
Last week, the Church fathers shifted their support to Perón. We are not referring to the humble Third World priests, but to the top echelons of the eclesiastical hierarchy. The Casa Rosada greeted Monsignors Tortolo, Primatesta, and Zarpe with big smiles. What a far cry from September 16, 1955, when the Church and the "gorillas" were spearheading the pro- U. S. coup d'etat.
What is it that impels the vast majority of the bosses to support Perón? What has inspired the Church fathers to consecrate this miracle? There are various factors involved, but the decisive one is the bosses fear and panic that the working class may continue along the road of the Córdoba uprisings. The bosses are uniting to keep the demands and mobilizations of the workers from accelerating the of the workers from accelerating the crisis of the capitalist system, because in the workers and popular struggles the proletariat has been forging a movement conscious of its strength, a movement that can raise demands and fight, and even bring down, the most repressive dictatorships.
Fear of this happening is what unifies the bosses and even inspires U.S. imperialism itself to send Perón its best wishes.
Perón has an instrument at his disposal that other Argentine bosses cannot use with the same facility - the trade-union bureaucracy.
The plan to put a damper on workers struggles requires the kind of union leadership that lends itself to this role-the hated trade-union bureaucracy. On November 2, in a nationally broadcast speech at the headquarters of the CGT [Confederación General del Trabajo-General Confederation of Labor], Perón stated: December 3, 1973
"The Argentine trade-union organization has a staff of honest and capable leaders."
Was it "honest" and "capable" leaders who signed the Pacto Social behind the workers' backs? How about the leaders who papered the streets of Buenos Aires with statements of support for the Sassoon bosses against striking workers? Do they deserve congratulations?
The "honesty and capability" that Perón grants these leaders mean that they are faithful servants of the bosses, not of the working class they claim to represent. Last week [Labor] Minister Gelbard relied on this "honesty and capability" to say: "What need is there for wage increases? These are not fundamental measures." Of course they are not fundamental measures. Fundamental measures would involve beginning the expropriation of the imperialists and the oligarchy! But isn't there a crying need for wage increases? Do Mr. Gelbard and the bureaucracy, who, with General Perón's support, have frozen raises in the last two years' contract negotiations, believe that a 100,000-peso [about US $102]
minimum monthly wage is just?
Compañeros, is General Perón's present government the same as his previous administrations? We do not think so.
The bosses are not divided as in 1946 but are united despite their differences around the Pacto Social supported by Perón. The Peronist trade unionists are not a mighty emerging force sweeping everything before them but an obstructionist leadership hated by all the rank-and-file workers. The economic situation does not permit Perón to make concessions to the workers, unless he expropriates imperialism and the oligarchy (something he is not ready to do in a thoroughgoing way). For the time being, U.S. imperialism does not regard Perón as an enemy; rather the two are exchanging good wishes.
This is why we cannot place any trust in the present government in a belief that solutions will come from the top. To achieve solutions to the most compelling problems, instead of relying on the government, we must organize ourselves and mobilize.