Letter from Buenos Aires

Everybody knew that Dr. Hector J. Cámpora (inaugurated as President of Argentina on May 25) was not the savior the country needed. His entire political career had been marked by slavish obedience and subservience to Perón, so much so that it became a matter of jokes (Perón: “What time is it, Cámpora?” Cámpora: “Whatever you command, General!”). Dr. Cámpora was Chairman of the Argentine House of Representatives from 1948 to 1952. Any bill sent to the House by the chief was accepted with a minimum of debate or none at all; motions to question a cabinet minister or to examine some action of the government were quashed at once. Cámpora considered all opposition to Perón a crime. If a member of parliament went further than Cámpora thought permissible, he would demand that that deputy’s immunity be lifted, and the culprit handed over to the docile law courts. Quite a few people landed in jail, owing to Cámpora’s efforts. They remembered this well when Perón fell from power in 1955. And Dr. Cámpora spent eighteen months in an unpleasant south Argentina prison before escaping to Chile. When he returned home, much later, nobody took notice.

In November 1971, Perón, still in exile in Madrid, called in Cámpora and appointed him his personal delegate, after a number of others had shown an unholy inclination toward independent thinking. Nothing of this sort was to be feared of Cámpora. “If I have any merit,” he once said, “it is that I always interpreted correctly every gesture of Perón.” When the government of General Lanusse refused to allow Perón to run himself for the presidency, Perón chose Cámpora as his party’s candidate in the March elections. The official slogan, “Cámpora al gobierno, Perón al poder” (the government for Cámpora, the power for Perón) told the story.

RP

About the Author

Robert Peter

Featured Tags

Everybody knew that Dr. Hector J. Cámpora (inaugurated as President of Argentina on May 25) was not the savior the country needed. His entire political career had been marked by slavish obedience and subservience to Perón, so much so that it became a matter of jokes (Perón: “What time is it, Cámpora?” Cámpora: “Whatever you command, General!”). Dr. Cámpora was Chairman of the Argentine House of Representatives from 1948 to 1952. Any bill sent to the House by the chief was accepted with a minimum of debate or none at all; motions to question a cabinet minister or to examine some action of the government were quashed at once. Cámpora considered all opposition to Perón a crime. If a member of parliament went further than Cámpora thought permissible, he would demand that that deputy’s immunity be lifted, and the culprit handed over to the docile law courts. Quite a few people landed in jail, owing to Cámpora’s efforts. They remembered this well when Perón fell from power in 1955. And Dr. Cámpora spent eighteen months in an unpleasant south Argentina prison before escaping to Chile. When he returned home, much later, nobody took notice.

In November 1971, Perón, still in exile in Madrid, called in Cámpora and appointed him his personal delegate, after a number of others had shown an unholy inclination toward independent thinking. Nothing of this sort was to be feared of Cámpora. “If I have any merit,” he once said, “it is that I always interpreted correctly every gesture of Perón.” When the government of General Lanusse refused to allow Perón to run himself for the presidency, Perón chose Cámpora as his party’s candidate in the March elections. The official slogan, “Cámpora al gobierno, Perón al poder” (the government for Cámpora, the power for Perón) told the story.