Argentina is the perhaps the greatest competitor of the United States, with regard to the general interests (especially the economy and politics) of the Western Hemisphere.  As a leader in the political development of South America, Argentina has emerged as the cultural representative of that part of Latin America, and it successfully competes economically in many markets shared by the United States.

By the turn of the twentieth century, Argentina’s ruling classes were centered in landed estates.
Between 1898 and 1904, the nation elected a strong-arm president, General Julio Argentino Roca (1843 – 1914).  His administration is known for “order and prosperity” (like Mexico’s Porfirio Diáz) in which the currency was stabilized.  He settled many of the boundary disputes with Chile, and returned the city and province of Buenos Aires and the province of Rio de la Plata to the nation.  Buenos Aires was made the capital city.  Additional characteristics of the Roca administration include:

1) diplomatic affairs:

a) foreign intervention forbidden

b) the statue “Christ of the Andes” was erected at 12,500 foot high Uspallata Pass, between Mendoza, Argentina and Santiago Chile, on March 13, 1904, marking the end of long-standing boundary disputes between the two nations: the plaque at the foot of the statue reads: “Sooner shall these mountains crumble than into dust than Argentines and Chileans break the peace sworn at the feet of Christ the Redeemer.”

2) European (particularly English) markets sought Argentine beef, mutton, and wool by the turn of the twentieth century, causing the spread of estancias (large cattle ranches) into the pampas.  Seeing the success of the United States’ scientific methods for farm production on the Great Plains, Argentina utilized scientific farming methods as well.  The colonization of southern Argentina was made possible when General Roca subdued the Patagonians and other indigenous peoples between 1880 and 1886.

3) Foreign investment poured into the country.

a) English money developed and improved ports and built railroads.

b) French and German monies developed public works.

c) German money built the meat processing industry.

d) 1/3 of the nation wealth of Argentina was foreign-owned.

e) Like elsewhere throughout Latin America, Argentina exported its raw materials and imported manufactured goods.

The Argentine currency was based on the English Pound Sterling, the most stable currency at the turn of the twentieth century.  Foreign investors invested heavily, and could count on large, quick profits from their investments.

The Argentine moneyed class gained great wealth; their children attended private schools and conspicuously spent their money.  They were cultured and very cosmopolitan in their tastes.  They bought vast numbers of European art treasures, and developed the best theatre in the Americas (even surpassing that of the United States).  Music and literature flourished; Argentina created the best literary figures during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

As Argentina developed its economic foundation and became very wealthy, it became more nationalistic.  Its leaders asserted that Argentina should be the spokesman of Latin America.  The most notable of these leaders, who asserted the Argentine leadership of Latin America, included the following individuals:

1) Historian constitutional/ legal scholar and diplomat, Carlos Calvo (1824 – 1906).  His ideas were formulated in his various publications (in Spanish and French) and in the Calvo Doctrine, which stressed the dominance of local courts to foreign intervention to mediate issues of private claims and contracts.

2) Legal scholar, statesman, and jurist Luis María Drago (1859 – 1921).  Building on the ideas laid out in the Calvo Doctrine, the Drago Doctrine was the Latin American answer to the Monroe Doctrine (1823) of the United States.  Under “Drago,” foreign powers were forbidden to employ their militaries in the collection of debts.

3) Statesman and foreign minister Carlos Saavedra Lamas (1880 – 1959).  He was an advocate of Pan Americanism, and supported the League of Nations.  He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1936, for his role in ending the Chaco War (1932 –35) between Bolivia and Paraguay.

In 1930, the Conservative/ Fascist General José Uriburu unseated him.  After two more presidential terms, and political rivalries between conservatives, fascists, liberals, and revolutionaries, Ramón S. Castillo became president in 1942, but was overthrown by a military coup in 1943.  The following year, (1944) brought on the “palace revolt” by a group of pro-Nazi and pro-fascist generals, including Juán Domingo Perón (1895 – 1974).

Argentina remained neutral during World War II, but leaned toward the Axis powers.  In early 1945, Argentina reluctantly joined forces with the Allied forces, and later the United Nations.

Perón, who was imprisoned (1945) after the coup, was released following a mass demonstration of workers, organized by the “fiery orator” and actress Eva “Evita” Duarte de Perón (1919 – 52); they married in 1945.  Juán Perón was a great admirer of Benito Mussolini, set up a “popular” dictatorship with the support of the military, different (and opposing) political factions, and various church groups.  He shut down all opposition publications and imprisoned political opponents.  With Evita’s help, he gained the support of Argentina’s powerful labor unions, which became the “backbone” of his power, and created the descamisados, a militant fascist organization.  In 1949, Juán Perón replaced Argentina’s Constitution of 1853 (which had been modified in 1898) with a new one.  Evita “virtually” ran the country during this (six-year) period.  Nevertheless, the military did not back her (she opposed the army) and successfully quashed her vice-presidential bid in 1951.

Under the Perónista government (1940s – 50s), Argentina expanded in the following areas:

1) Tremendous industrial growth.
2) Social welfare programs.
3) Export production of wheat and beef.
4) Oligarchy expanded its wealth and power.

1) The popular Eva Perón died of cancer in 1952.
2) The Catholic Church resented Juán Perón for isolating it from state affairs, and excommunicated him.
3) The military no longer backed him.

In 1952, The U.S. President Harry S. Truman administration created the Truman Doctrine, which was designed to quash the spread of communism.  This “doctrine” affected Latin America.  The United States aided Frondizi, beginning in 1958, but withdrew that support when the Argentine president affirmed his support of the Cuban Revolution and remaining Perónistas.

In 1963, the Argentine military overthrew Frondizi, and the Perónista and Communist parties were outlawed.  Dr. Arturo Illía (1900 - ) became president, released political prisoners, cancelled Argentina’s foreign oil contracts, and attempted to mitigate the differences between his liberal party and the Perónistas amid an economic depression, which had hit Argentina.

In 1964, Juan Perón tried to return, but was forced to return to Spain by Brazilian authorities at Rio de Janeiro.  The Perónistas continued to assert their power in subsequent presidential elections and in government policies through 1970, until Perón finally returned in 1972.  He was elected president in September 1973, and his third wife (they married in 1961), Isabel Martínez de Perón became the vice president.  Juán Perón died in July 1974.  Isabel became president.  Amid an extended recession and much criticism from those personas loyal to Eva Perón, she was overthrown in a military junta in 1976, by Jorge Rafael Videla, who became president.

President Videla’s regime was unable to resolve the nation’s economic problems, and crushed his opposition by killing them by the thousands in what became known as the "Dirty War" that resulted in the dissapearance of thousands of presumed leftists (desaparecidos).  In 1981, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands/ Islas Malvinas (April 2, 1981 – May 1981: 6 weeks long) in a disastrous effort to shift the focus on something other than the awful state of financial affairs and inflation that ruined Argentina's economy.  The military ruled the nation until 1982.

In 1988, the Perónista party won the presidential election; they still hold power in Argentina.