Half a century after the events, a review of those months that included the rise of Cámpora, great books by Walsh and Cortázar, unforgettable albums and films. It can be downloaded for free and read on any phone, tablet or computer. Here is the prologue.
[“El 73” can be downloaded for free from Bajalibros by clicking here.]
Why a book about 1973? Because half a century of a year has passed with striking intensity and speed: a dictatorship ended, there were two elections, four presidents in the same year, he returned Juan Domingo Peron After 18 years of exile, the Ezeiza massacre occurred, the murder of union leader José Ignacio Rucci, there was a record of extortion kidnappings, increased illegal repression, and a woman –María Estela Martínez de Perón– was part of the winning presidential formula for the first time in the history of our country.
But not everything was politics in that turbulent year. The culture revived and renewed. Julio Cortazar returned to the country to present Manuel's book. Rodolfo Walsh He once again displayed the intersection between literature and journalism with his work Satanowsky case. Tomás Eloy Martínez published The Passion according to Trelew, and another writer from journalism, Osvaldo Soriano, launched his first novel with success, Sad, lonely and final.
Good things also happened in music: Maria Elena Walsh released his album like the cicada, Luis Alberto Spinetta started with Artaud, a fundamental work of national rock. The Spanish Joan Manuel Serrat filled Luna Park, while Leon Gieco and Brazilian Roberto Carlos They fought the ranking with Ortega stick, with its theme I have faith. Although Ortega was not a protest singer, that song was read during the celebration of the return of Peron to Argentina. He also came to the cinema Rock until the sun sets and the records Winter Confessions of Sui Géneris and My room by Vivencia, among many other musical hits.
On the small screen there was also a change: national TV programming grew, foreign series were watched at dinner time, the success of national soap operas such as Rolando Rivas taxi driver, Leonardo Favio's film was released, Juan MoreiraThey censored the movies Last Tango In Paris and Crespi's baby was born in the continuation of a notice where - the previous year - Hugo Arana had been excited to discover some booties on the family table.
But without any doubt 1973 It was an eminently political year. The first of a brief period of democracy of just three years, cut short by the darkest of dictatorships. To think that Argentina will celebrate four uninterrupted decades of democratic governments in December 2023 is to know that in just three years there was no time for anything. They were complex times when the country failed to grow or resolve its serious conflicts, and democracy was crushed by the military coup of March 24, 1976, which lasted almost eight years.
The intensity of political life in 1973 was marked by transcendent events: it was the end of the de facto government of Alejandro Agustín Lanusse, the elections were held that consecrated the formula Héctor Cámpora-Vicente Solano Lima, which ordered the release of political prisoners; resigned Campora to the presidency just 49 days after taking office, given the imminent and definitive return of Peron to the country; assumed Raul Lastiri as interim president and a crowd waited for their leader in Ezeiza on June 20, 1973, in what promised to be a party. But there were deaths and injuries, and the plane that was bringing him back ended up landing at the Morón airport.
Shortly after, the elections were held that consecrated a large majority (almost 62%) to the Perón/Isabel Martínez formula; Two days later they assassinated the general secretary of the CGT, José Ignacio Rucci, in an attack attributed to the Peronist left; The third and last presidential term of the Justicialism leader began, who died in July of the following year; increased extortionate kidnappings that raised millions of dollars; The actions of the guerrilla continued throughout the country; and the first glimpses of illegal repression began.
All this was happening in Argentina the same year as the civil-military coup in Uruguay, and Augusto Pinochet, who began his long dictatorship in Chile after overthrowing the president Salvador Allende, who committed suicide at the Mint. Furthermore, at the beginning of that year, the United States was withdrawing its troops from Vietnam, and growing the scandal of the case Watergate, which led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. In 1973 the war of Yom Kippur, a war between a coalition of Arab countries, led by Egypt, and Israel.
But the year of the four presidents (lanusse, Campora, Lastiri y Peron) didn't come out of nowhere. He carried on his back the dictatorship that overthrew the radical Arturo Illia In 1966, that self-proclaimed Argentine Revolution in which they happened Ongania, Levingston y lanusse, and which ended with the elections that consecrated Campora. It also bore the mark of the political violence of the sixties and early seventies, Perón's long ban in exile, the instructions he gave from Madrid, the growing concern for his health, the conflictive relationship with Cámpora and the figure of the influential Lopez Rega, and the expectation of many Argentines that the return of the political leader could improve the persistent economic crisis.
Furthermore, the struggle between leftist organizations and orthodox Peronism was latent, and in that framework the events of ezeiza They granted a temporary victory to the latter. However, the Revolutionary Tendency maintained its power of mobilization in the streets. Those who also maintained their power of mobilization were the members of the union sector, whom Perón had strengthened since his return to the country. The other ally of orthodox Peronism was Lopez Rega, who had grown his influence on Isabelita during several years of daily relationship in Madrid. López Rega would be a key figure in Isabel's government after Perón's death on July 1, 1974.
In this scenario, with a guerrilla that continued to act despite the democratic assumption of Campora, Peron who returned to the country with enormous popular support but already ill, the political climate was complex. Furthermore, there were signs of a weakened military power but not resigned to moving away from the political scene, as would be demonstrated on the fateful March 24, 1976.
All these upheavals and changes made 1973 an intense and complex year, which is worth trying to understand and explain.
over 1973
The book he publishes Infobae Let's read For free download, explore this key year with articles from:
‣ Silvana Boschi: The introduction.
‣ Eduardo Aulicino: On the threshold of tragedy.
‣ Julio Bárbaro: Argentina in '73: between the end of a dictatorship and the definitive return of Perón.
‣ Martin Kanenguiser: The economy in 1973, from the ephemeral social pact to the germ of the outbreak with the Rodrigazo.
‣ Gustavo Sierra: A year that marked the world with fire.
‣ Gabriela Saidón: Art will be revolutionary or what.
‣ Diego Lerer: Political cinema, eroticism, censorship and adaptations.
‣ Victor Pintos: The musical effervescence of those long-haired strangers.
‣ Martin Teitelbaum: Television, a wild season.
can be downloaded from this link and read on any phone, tablet or computer.