Towards a Peronism without Perón
(Ezequiel S. Toti) If we ask a randomly chosen Argentine, probably, regardless of his personal background, he will tell us that the first government of Juan Perón carried out the necessary reforms that Argentina needed and that if his government had ended with a single mandate, he would not find detractors.
Industrialization, the authentic inclusion in terms of labor, political and social rights, unionization and even the right to vote for women are the step that Perón dared to take, a step that some ruler would eventually have taken anyway but that always shines who is encouraged to give it.
The foundations of Peronism (originally called Justicialism) were based on the concept of "social justice" coined, although few know it, by the Jesuits; this, added to the charismatic figure of the first lady Evita Perón, created a halo of mystery worthy of any European Royal House, since in short, Argentina was always considered the little Europe of Latin America.
Incidentally, speaking of Jesuits, Peronists and monarchs (because the Pope is a monarch) we see that the Bishop of Rome has unsuccessfully wanted to introject the charisma of peronist populism, resorting to elevating the excluded and giving them a preponderant role. However, once again the fault committed by Perón is now being committed by the current pontiff: a populist transition in which the tools (political in the case of Perón) and catechetical tools (in the case of the Pope) are not given to his people, lefting a society that stays in the emotional, the romantic and without a firm base.
Decades of Peronism left us a people afraid of not calling themselves Peronists, something like the fear of not calling themselves part of the middle class, partly due to a feeling of guilt instilled by bad leaders in the Catholic world who see prosperity as something diabolical , ignoring that wealth is not bad in itself, but that attachment to it is bad.
In a word, we are witnessing the Peronization of Christianity and not the Christianization of Peronism, without a doubt a great missed opportunity.
An authoritarian domination with a cult of the leader is what Latin America is suffering, with "benevolent dictators" and without the charisma of General Perón , whether we like him or not, he was undoubtedly a cultured, persuasive and authentic leader. A statesman.
Unfortunately power in many cases makes the leader believe that his person is indispensable, that he is the only one capable of guiding the lives of the most needy.
Argentina and all of Latin America pay the consequences of dependence on a deceased leaders (recently Chavez in Venezuela) of not allowing themselves new alternatives and of not historically questioning or revising these processes, for example the giant, mostly useless state apparatuses that have helped convert part of the population in workers absolutely dependent on the State and unemployed even more dependent.
The State from a Christian perspective of politics is the ''Family of Families'' but one wonders, -are there not small but highly efficient families?
What would happen to Peronism with a reduced state?
Would Peronism 3.0 turn to the roots and forget about the sectarian cult aspect or would it disappear definitively?
Pandemics and wars are the crisis that is at the same time an opportunity for the appearance of strong leaders, who, as the prestigious journalist Michael Charbon says: they must give people hope but by telling them the plain truth and with a clear project.
Only time will tell, after all, despite authoritarianism and excesses, democracy is still alive in Latin America, it's just a matter of reminding citizens.
