Introduction

Abstract

To write about recent events is a most risky affair. Dust requires a long time to settle and the consequences of the events described continue to emerge over a long span of time. Nevertheless, a reflection on things not long past may hasten understanding of what really happened, and may even help quieten some of the passions that underlie the misunderstanding of so many of the important issues. Undoubtedly the subject-matter of this book touches one of the open wounds of Argentine society. The whole issue of Peronism still divides people of all conditions. It has probably been the source of more bitterness than the split which took place at the origin of constitutional government after the downfall of Rosas. The divide dates from 1946 to 1955, the time of the first Peronist governments. The second stay of Peronism, from 1973 to 1976, which is the subject of this book, changed the shape and form of the antagonism, but did not diminish it.