The Ghost of Peronism: Why Argentina Keeps Making the Same Mistakes Again and Again: Part 2
Commentary
Argentina’s charismatic leader Juan Domingo Perón died almost 50 years ago, but his policies live on. He gained lasting popularity by forever jeopardizing the privileged position of Argentina among Latin American nations.
Ironically, Peronism continues to play an important role in the nation’s landscape—it is estimated that roughly 40 percent of the Argentine population feel they are Peronist.
“Peronism is part of the national DNA, it is part of Argentine identity. You cannot study Argentina without knowing that it’s a substantial part of our social, political, and economic life,” says Argentine journalist Rodolfo Muchela.
One of Perón’s lasting legacies in Argentina is the organisation of society into corporations with strong political power that only care about their own sectoral interest. Since Perón’s days, many of the nation’s corporations have been entirely dependent on the state and reject any curtailment in public outlays that may adversely affect them….