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The Ideological Origins of the Dirty War Summary

Introduction

The Ideological Origins of the Dirty War: Fascism, Populism, and Dictatorship in

Twentieth-Century Argentina was written by Brown University professor Federico Finchelstein

in 2014. The book's primary purpose is to understand the ideological factors within Argentina

throughout various authoritarian regimes, culminating in the mass murder of an estimated 30,000

Argentine citizens in the name of politics. Throughout the various regimes discussed in the

book, the government was consistently at war with its people. However, this war had no battles

or combatants, only perpetrators of violence and repression and the unfortunate victims.

Finchelstein primarily focuses on the three groups which worked together as the perpetrators of

violence and repression: the government, the military, and the Catholic church. Through an

analysis of various regimes and the characteristics of the traditional powers, Finchelstein

evaluates the ideological factors which most influenced the violence and repression, such as

nationalism, fascism, Catholicism, and populism.

Nacionalismo and Fascism in Argentina

Fascism has been a problematic ideology to define throughout its history. Most people

commonly equate fascism to the reigns of Axis Powers during World War 2, such as Mussolini

in Italy and Hitler's Nazi Germany. However, fascism within Argentina could not necessarily be

equated with German and Italian fascism of the 1930s as the European nations desired global

conquest and the creation of an authoritarian economy that was neither capitalist nor communist.

Argentina's experience with fascism was centered entirely on extreme nationalism or

"nacionalismo," which focused on using emotion to inspire its citizens to preserve and protect

the traditional values on which Argentina had been founded from the threat of internal
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opposition. The aim of Argentinian fascists was not the conquest of Latin America but rather the

conquest of its people's cultural ideology and identity.

The origins of nacionalismo within Argentina began in the 1800s when indigenous

persons were deemed "savages" incapable of assimilating into the new Argentina. Various

exterminations began of indigenous people, mainly in the Patagonian region, creating an

ethnically and culturally homogenous nation. These successful extermination attempts were seen

as a triumph for Argentine nationalism as they confirmed that only those of European descent

could have a part in Argentina's future. Eventually, the nacionalismo movement became more

organized and gained strength from the traditional powers of Argentinian society, such as the

church, military, government, and aristocracy. All those powers felt threatened by the growing

secularization and democratization of the western world, which had begun during the

enlightenment and proposed a "revolution against the revolution" to protect the traditional

Catholic, Argentine values on which the country was founded.

The father of Argentine fascism is primarily considered to be Leopoldo Lugones.

Lugones believed that nacionalismo was synonymous with fascism, militarism, authoritarianism,

and Catholicism. Within Lugones vision for a fascist Argentina, popular sovereignty was an

ideology of the past and needed to be replaced by an authoritarian government that would do

what was best for the nation. Leaving political decisions in the hands of the people through

elections was a recipe for disaster that would lead to liberalism, socialism, and secularism that

would destroy Argentina itself. Lugones proclaimed that it was time for the "hour of the sword"

in the form of an authoritarian military dictatorship that would protect Argentina from its

ideological threats. Since this dictatorship was fighting for the people, it was therefore

legitimate.
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The first modern dictatorship within Argentina occurred in the 1930 coup of Jose Felix

Uriburu. He attempted to create reforms expected from most authoritarian military dictators,

such as rewriting the Constitution, creating a paramilitary force, and silencing opposition.

However, Uriburu mostly lacked a defined political ideology as he floated somewhat between

fascism and conservative authoritarianism, explaining how his regime failed in 1932. The failure

of Uriburu's regime spurred the radicalization of "nacionalistas" and fascists who believed that

violent means were necessary for both gaining power and enacting revolutionary change within

Argentina.

Catholicism and Fascism in Argentina

The other significant intersection with fascism in Argentina occurred with the Catholic

church. Fascism has proven to be a global ideology primarily shaped by the nation's local

premises that implement it. Catholicism is deeply rooted in the identity and ideology of

Argentina and its people. Among the nacionalistas in Argentina, a new relationship emerged to

protect Argentina from internal threats, an alliance between the cross and the sword. Many

Argentinians viewed themselves as modern-day crusaders, warriors for the church who would

fight to protect Catholic traditions from the threat of secularism and atheism. While Nazi

Germany had the Fuhrer and fascist Italy had Il Duce, for Argentine nacionalistas, their symbol

of fascist authority was Jesus Christ.

The desire to spread and protect Catholicism has been an aspect of Latin American

cultures tracing back to Spanish colonialism and imperialism. What had been the foreign

conquest and spread of Catholicism in Latin American transitioned to internal Argentine

imperialism of enculturating anti-Catholic citizens with Catholic dogma. Nacionalismo thrived

within its relationship with Catholicism as any action, propaganda, or communication could link
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the movement to the will of God. The support and alliance with the Catholic church created the

ideal Christian state in the minds of the devout Catholics in the nation. Their nation was now

protected by an alliance that would preemptively act, with violence if necessary, against any

perceived threat of communism and atheism. From the Catholic position, the church would

quickly forgive and turn a blind eye to any violence deemed to be justified by upholding the holy

nation of Argentina. God had now empowered nacionalistas to repress their fellow Argentine

citizens violently.

The Internal Enemy

If the goal of the nacionalistas was to cure Argentina of a cancer, eating away at its

traditional values and culture, what exactly was the cancer? In the eyes of nacionalistas, the

cancer was the prevalence of leftist political and social ideology primarily found in the teachings

of Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud. Marx was blamed for creating communism, which would

overthrow the traditional hierarchy of God, the military, and the political and social aristocracy.

Freud was blamed for the spread of immoral cultural behavior through his work in

psychoanalysis which nacionalistas believed had led to the sexual degeneration of the country

and traditional Christian family.

It did not take long for nacionalistas to examine Marx and Freud to determine a

commonality that their fascist counterparts in Nazi Germany had also discovered, Judaism.

Jewish persons were quickly equated with communism and immoral behavior, leading to anti-

Semitism throughout Argentine nacionalistas. Nacionalistas thus began to spread propaganda

portraying Jewish women as overly sexualized or even prostitutes, while men were feminine and

portrayed as homosexuals. In contrast, Catholic women were depicted as having true beauty,

while the Catholic men portrayed the hyper-masculine “macho” culture that was desired.
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For the nacionalistas, anti-Semitism was not necessarily about race but rather about their

Jewish citizens' social and political behavior. While Hitler wanted to exterminate the Jewish

race from the face of the earth, nacionalistas wanted to exterminate the Jewish culture from

Argentina, an ethnocide instead of genocide. The key solution for nacionalistas for their

perceived Jewish problem was using Catholicism to convert the Jewish persons to the traditional

faith of Argentina. This would lead to the total elimination of the Jewish people from Argentina

through repressive tactics through the enculturation of Jewish citizens.

Peronism

The first legitimate opportunity for nacionalismo and fascist ideology to take hold in

Argentina was through the regime of Juan Peron. Even though Peron achieved his rule through

an authoritarian coup, Peron would not consider himself a fascist but instead considered himself

a populist. However, the foundational fascist and nacionalismo movements which had begun

before Peron's regime would play a role in the genesis of Peron's populist movement, which

would come to be called "Peronism." Peronism could appear to be simultaneously fascist and

communist to the naked eye. Peronism valued a collective effort, mainly led by the working

class, which would create social change amongst the classes similar to communism. However,

Peron's collective effort did not exclude or condemn the middle and upper classes like

communism, but rather the collective effort was nacionalista by design in that the collective "we"

was Argentina herself. Peronism also proposed the elimination of persons deemed to be

detrimental to Argentina like previous fascist regimes. However, Peronism did not focus on the

execution of persons but rather the enculturation and assimilation into the desired Argentine

culture. Peronism would provide for a uniquely populist and limited democracy that combined
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advanced social rights with limited political rights that would serve as the classic example of

Latin American populism for years to come.

With the support from all social classes in Argentina, Peron was able to use democracy to

dismantle itself to create a more authoritarian state. Peronism also slightly differed from fascism

in that it did not desire capitalism or communism. For Peron, Argentina's economic

independence represented true liberation that could not be accomplished with the influence of

imperialist foreign capital or a communist system. At its core, populism invokes the support of

the people to reinforce authoritarian leadership, which suppresses individual rights and freedoms

in the name of protecting the nation from a threat. Under the Peron regime, that threat was

secularism.

Peron had commonalities with the foundational beliefs of nacionalismo and fascism

within Argentina in that the biggest ally to combat the threat of secularism was the Catholic

church. He began to nationalize Argentina's educational system to include strict Catholic

teachings and emphasized that being Argentinian was to be Catholic. The shared Catholic faith

of the people in Argentina allowed Peron to synthesize all people into a singular common goal of

preserving Argentina. Peron presented himself as the cross and the sword, an agent of God who

was sent and given authority over Argentina to preserve and protect the faith. In 1949, Peron

announced a new platform creating a new Argentina where the church creates the moral values

in the nation. Therefore, when people abide by those values, everyone better Argentina by

practicing their faith.

Radicalism

The Argentines considered pure nacionalismo fascists were primarily silent during the

Peron regime. However, after Peron's fall and exile in 1955, the nacionalistas publicly criticized
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Peron as a communist sympathizer and proclaimed that Argentina should return to the trinity of

fascism, militarism, and Catholicism. These criticisms would eventually culminate in creating

more radical nacionalista organizations that would act against the persons and ideologies

perceived as threats with legitimate violence and terror. The first organization to fully embrace

the nacionalismo ideology and put it into action was the Tacuara. The Tacuara was a right-wing

paramilitary organization that believed its constant fight was against the domestic traitors

threatening traditional Argentina. The only plausible solution for the Tacuara was to fight a holy

war of annihilation against these traitors, which made the Tacuara different from previous

nacionalismo movements in that they viewed their violence not only as sacred and holy but as

the device to annihilate the threats to Argentina rather than the previous strategy of enculturation.

The Tacuara believed themselves to be the defenders of Argentina and, therefore, God

against the threat of communism and atheism. They were traditional Argentine fascists in anti-

imperialism, anti-foreign capitalism, and anti-communism. They also viewed the Jewish people

as the source of many perceived threats against Argentina and began implementing many anti-

Semitic actions such as the kidnapping and terrorizing of Jewish Argentines. The extent of anti-

Semitism of the Tacuara even reached into allying with various Arab Leagues to fight against the

spread and influence of Judaism that had grown with the creation of the Israeli state.

Eventually, ideological differences within the Tacuara would cause them to split into

three groups, two right-wing and one left-wing. The left-wing group was the Nationalist

Revolutionary Tacuara Movement (MNRT), which mainly focused its ire on foreign capitalism

instead of communism or atheism. The MNRT believed that the flaws in previous nacionalismo

and fascist groups within Argentina are that they viewed Argentina as a European country which

could then apply a fascist government and independent economic system that leads to stability.
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In the MNRT's opinion, Argentina should be viewed similarly to the rest of Latin American,

which was a primarily underdeveloped third-world nation. The MNRT believed that fascism

could never take hold in Latin American due to the inherent inequalities and economic

disadvantages incurred by the third-world nations.

Due to their violent acts of terrorism, the Tacuara was banned by executive order in 1963.

The right-wing groups would stay inactive until the favorable military government of Vidalia

during the Dirty War, while the left-wing group would begin to wage a guerilla war against the

government in the name of Juan Peron. In its place, the Argentine Anticommunist Alliance,

better known as the Triple-A, would become the primary organization that would display the

elements of Argentine fascism and nacionalismo. The Triple-A was a secretive organization that

held the blessing of Juan and Isabel Peron, and their primary operator was Jose Lopez Rega,

known as El Brujo or the Sorcerer, who would lead the Triple-A under the Peron banner. The

Triple-A continued the nacionalismo policy to act out violently towards their enemies in the

same manner as the Tacuara and would execute more than 900 people from 1973-76. The Triple

A’s ideology was heavily steeped in nacionalismo, fascism, and Catholicism. Communism

represented atheism, and therefore any communist threat was a potential attack on God and

Argentina itself. The Triple-A mainly targeted education, specifically universities, to eliminate

the ideological threats commonly transmitted in college classes through the prevalence of Jewish

Marxist and Freudian teachings. After the 1976 coup, the Triple-A dissolved as most of its

members found a comfortable new home within the new junta's paramilitary forces as state

terrorists.
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State Terrorism

The culmination of 40 years of nacionalismo within Argentine culture occurred with the

1976 coup which installed a new military dictatorship. Externally the junta portrayed itself as

solely authoritarian, but internally they were committing numerous atrocities with deep ties to

Catholic-fascist nacionalismo. The prevalence of fascist elements of the new regime should

come as no surprise, considering most of the military leaders within the junta lived under and

were trained by the previous regimes. The result was a hybrid government that combined free-

market capitalism as the leaders realized the need to modernize Argentina with fascist principles

rooted in Catholicism and nacionalismo.

The enemies of the junta were known as subversives, as they were an internal enemy

attempting to undermine and corrupt the very heart of Argentina. Subversives could be any

person who did not conform to the preferred ideology of the junta, such as leftist communists,

atheists, overly sexual individuals, homosexuals, and Jews. For the junta, any attack against the

enemy was not considered unjustified violence but rather a lethal form of self-defense. Even

Catholic authorities justified and forgave the detention, torture, and murder of subversives as

actions of a holy war done to preserve Christianity. While not on the same scale as the Nazi's

final solution for the Jews, the practice of torture and murder of persons deemed to be lesser was

taken to a scale not seen before in Argentina. In total, the junta would murder around 30,000

subversives during their 7-year reign. The junta believed that peace for Argentina was only

possible with the total extermination of its enemies, which would restore the nation's

traditionalist Catholic and Argentine spirit.

There were other similarities to Nazi practices within the junta, such as using secrecy and

creating a new language of extermination. They used the secrecy of the disappearances of
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subversives to publicly deny any wrongdoing by the regime while simultaneously enacting

psychological trauma on the families of the disappeared. The junta relished the knowledge that

loved ones of the disappeared constantly wondered about what happened to them and where their

body was buried. Another similarity to the Nazis was how Jews were explicitly targeted for far

worse treatment than other subversives. The regime took pleasure in psychologically

humiliating their Jewish prisoners to prove the prevailing of their ideology. The Jews were

mainly blamed for the moral degradation of Argentina as the Jewish Marx had provided the

structural basis for subversives, and the Jewish Freud had provided the cultural strategy for

subversives. Unsurprisingly, teaching and literature from subversive ideologies were banned

from education or outright burned.

Conclusion

After the junta's fall in 1983, Argentina transitioned to a democratic state. However,

nacionalismo is still prevalent within the Argentine culture in aspects such as racists or

homophobic chants during soccer matches, xenophobia of immigrants, continued defense of the

Falkland War, and a feeling of superiority over the rest of Latin America since Argentina is more

European or whiter than northern countries with more racial representation from indigenous

persons. Anti-Semitism continues to be prevalent, most notably with the terrorist bombing

attack on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires. However, the Catholic church did not suffer a

massive decline as Argentina continues to struggle to separate the church and the state.