Revolución Libertadora

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1955 Argentine coup d'état
Part of the Cold War
Top left: Bombing and machine-gunning near the Libertador Building. Top right: Mannequins of Perón and Eva Perón destroyed. Bottom left: Peronist militiamen and workers fire at the Ministry of the Navy. Center right: Plane with the inscription Cristo Vence used by rebel forces. Bottom right: Juan Perón leaves for exile on a Paraguayan Navy ship.
Date 16–23 September 1955 Location Plaza de Mayo, Buenos Aires, Argentina Action Military uprising against Peron's Government. For several days, there was some fighting in provinces such as Córdoba and Corrientes. Result Peronist government overthrown Military dictatorship seizes power José Domingo Molina Gómez becomes acting head of state.[1]
Belligerents
Argentine Government Army loyalists Air Force loyalists Peronist Party General Confederation of Labour Nationalist Liberation Alliance	Argentine Armed Forces Argentine Army Argentine Navy Argentine Air Force Argentine Federal Police Argentine Opposition Radical Civic Union Socialist Party National Democratic Party Communist Party Democrat Progressive Party Christian Democrat Party
Commanders and leaders
Juan Perón José Domingo Molina Gómez Alberto Teisaire Franklin Lucero Guillermo Patricio Kelly	Eduardo Lonardi Pedro Aramburu Isaac Rojas Julio César Krause Juan José Uranga Justo León Bengoa Benjamín Menéndez Federico Toranzo Montero Francisco José Zerda
Political support
Peronists	Radicals Socialists Conservatives Communists Christian democrats
Military support
Loyalists of the Argentine Armed Forces	Dissidents of the Argentine Armed Forces

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The Revolución Libertadora (Spanish pronunciation: [reβoluˈsjon liβeɾtaˈðoɾa]; Liberating Revolution) as it named itself, was the civic-military dictatorship that ruled the Argentine Republic after overthrowing President Juan Domingo Perón, shutting down the National Congress, removing members of the Supreme Court, as well as provincial, municipal, and university authorities, and placing the entire Judiciary under commission. This occurred through a coup d'état on 16 September 1955.^[2]

After two years the dictatorship organized conditional elections, which transferred power on 1 May 1958 to a constitutional government led by the Radical Arturo Frondizi, who in turn would also be overthrown by another military-led coup d'état in 1962.^[3]

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President Perón was first elected in 1946. In 1949, a constitutional amendment sponsored by Peronism introduced a number of labour reforms along with unrestricted presidential reelections. The legitimacy of the new constitution is still controversial.^[4][5] Perón was reelected in 1951. At the time, his administration was widely supported by some labor unions, the military and the Catholic Church.

Economic downturns, some of them product of government's foreign trade policies, Perón's own personality cult, the regime's increasing authoriterian tendencies, including suppression of freedom of press and repression of perceived political rivals, persecution and exile of dissidents and the dismantling of several labour unions, along with clashes with the church and the leadership of the armed forces led to weakening of his base at the same time popular discontent grew. Writers, artists, politicians or anyone perceived as dicident were harassed, blacklisted and even jailed with some forced into exile. As the Church increasingly distanced itself from Perón, the government, which had first respected the Church's privileges, now took them away in a distinctly confrontational fashion. By 1954, the Catholic clergy was openly anti-Peronist, which also influenced some factions of the military. Meanwhile, a Christian Democratic Party was founded in 1954 after several other organisations had been active promoting Christian democracy in Argentina.

By 1955, Perón had lost most of his support. A large contingent of the military, who conspired with other political actors (members of the Radical Civic Union and the Socialist Party, as well as conservative groups). There was turmoil in different parts of the country. On 14 June, Catholic bishops spoke against Perón during a Corpus Christi procession which turned into an anti-government demonstration.

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On 16 June 1955, 30 Argentine Navy and Air Force aircraft bombed Plaza de Mayo, Buenos Aires' main square, killing over 300 civilians and wounding hundreds more. The attack remains to this day the largest aerial bombing ever executed on the Argentine mainland. The bombing targeted the adjacent Casa Rosada, the official seat of government, as a large crowd was gathered there expressing support for president Juan Perón. The strike took place during a day of official public demonstrations to condemn the burning of a national flag allegedly carried out by detractors of Perón during the recent procession of Corpus Christi.

In retaliation, extremist Peronist groups attacked and burned several churches that night, allegedly instigated by Vice-President Alberto Teisaire.

The only important political support for Perón came from the General Confederation of Labour (the main confederation of labor unions), which called the workers to defend the president. Perón addressed a workers' demonstration on 31 August.

On 16 September, a new uprising, led by General Eduardo Lonardi, General Pedro E. Aramburu and Admiral Isaac Rojas, deposed Perón and established a provisional government. For several days, there was some fighting in places like the city of Córdoba (Lonardi's central command), the Puerto Belgrano Naval Base near Bahía Blanca, another naval base at Río Santiago, near La Plata, and a mechanized infantry regiment at Curuzú Cuatiá, Corrientes Province. The rebellion in Corrientes, which was initially defeated, was led by Pedro Eugenio Aramburu, who later became one of the main players of the future government. Two rebel destroyers, which were enforcing the blockade of the Río de la Plata, were strafed by loyalist aircraft and suffered some casualties. The port and the army garrison at Mar del Plata was subjected to naval bombardment on 19 September by the light cruiser ARA 9 de Julio and several destroyers, while scattered skirmishes and airstrikes took place elsewhere, including Buenos Aires itself, where the headquarters of the Nationalist Liberation Alliance, loyal to Perón, were assaulted and destroyed by Sherman tanks on 21 September.^[6]

After realizing that the country was on the brink of a civil war, Perón decided to avoid massive bloodshed and resigned as President, subsequently seeking asylum in Paraguay after taking shelter aboard the Paraguay gunboat.

On 23 September, Lonardi assumed the presidency and gave a conciliatory speech from the balcony of the Casa Rosada, saying that there would be "neither victors nor vanquished" (ni vencedores ni vencidos, replaying a phrase uttered by Urquiza when he was victorious over Rosas at the Battle of Caseros). General Lonardi promised that the interim administration would end as soon as the country was "reorganized". His conciliatory tone earned him the opposition of hard-liners, and in November an internal coup deposed Lonardi and placed General Aramburu in the presidency, giving rise to a wild "anti-Peronism".

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2014)

The "Revolución Libertadora" dictatorship soon accused Perón and his followers of treason, and Eva Perón's remains were kidnapped by members of the dictatorship and moved secretly to Italy, where they were buried in a graveyard at Milan under a fake identity. Public references to Perón or his late wife, including songs, writings and pictures, were forbidden by the dictatorship, even including the mention of the name "Perón" out loud. Sportsmen like Delfo Cabrera, Mary Terán de Weiss, many of the major basketball players, as well as Olympic-level athlete, Osvaldo Suárez, were unfairly punished by the dictatorship and its associated press, by being accused of having gotten their sports success only because they were Perón followers.

The Peronist Party suffered a proscription that was to last until Perón's return in 1973, even though Perón heavily influenced the results of the 1958 and 1963 elections from his exile in Madrid.

Lonardi led the coup focus in Córdoba on September 16, 1955, calling himself the " Liberating Revolution." Lonardi issued a decree called "Decree No. 1" in which he called himself "provisional president of the Nation," requested recognition from other countries, and established the provisional seat of government in the city of Córdoba.

On September 19, 1955, at noon, Perón wrote a confusing letter addressed to General Franklin Lucero, Minister of the Army and loyal to the constitutional government. In the letter, Perón hinted at his resignation:

"A few days ago... I decided to hand over power... Now my decision is irrevocable... Analogous decisions by the vice president and the deputies... Government power therefore automatically passes into the hands of the Army." Juan D. Perón. Letter to General Franklin Lucero.

The letter was assumed by Lucero as a resignation, after which he proceeded to form a Military Junta composed of, among others, Generals José Domingo Molina , Raúl Tanco, Juan José Valle, Ángel Juan Manni, Emilio Forcher, José C. Sampayo, Carlos Wirth, Oscar R. Sacheri and Oscar A. Uriondo, who declared that he had assumed Executive Power. José Domingo Molina became the leader of the junta on 19 September 1955 (Still while Lonardi was provisional president).^[7] General Lucero then read Perón's letter over radio and television. However, that same night Perón met with the military junta to inform them that he had not resigned; the junta was not dissolved, however.

Upon in the early hours of September 21, at 9:40 a.m. a statement was issued stating "The Military Junta, by virtue of the authority it assumed following the resignation of His Excellency the President of the Nation, has reached a full agreement with the opposition command, accepting the points stipulated with its representatives. On September 22, the retired division general Eduardo Lonardi will take charge of the provisional government.^[8]

Although he had formed the provisional government in Córdoba on September 20, he was sworn in on September 23, 1955, accompanied by Julio Lagos and Isaac Rojas.^[9]

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• (in Spanish) Peronismo.
• (in Spanish) Historia Argentina: Los gobiernos de Perón.
• (in Spanish) Sucesos Históricos Argentinos.
• (in Spanish) Civiles y militares de 1955 a 1983.
• (in Spanish) La Revolución Libertadora en Internet^[usurped]
• (in Spanish) 16 de septiembre de 1955 – Golpe autodenominado “Revolución Libertadora”

• Potash, Robert A. (1980) The Army and Politics in Argentina, 1945–1962: Peron to Frondizi Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, ISBN 978-0804710565

• Fracchia, Antonio Luis Sapienza (2022) Revolución Libertadora Volume 1 - The 1955 Coup d'état in Argentina Helion & Company, Warwick, UK ISBN 9781804510322

• Fracchia, Antonio Luis Sapienza (2023) Revolución Libertadora Volume 2 - The 1955 Coup that Overthrew President Perón Helion & Company, Warwick, UK  ISBN 9781804512203