The ''Cordobazo'' was a civil uprising in the city of

Córdoba, Argentina Córdoba () is a city in central Argentina, in the foothills of the Punilla Valley, Sierras Chicas on the Primero River, Suquía River, about northwest of Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Córdoba Province, Argentina, Córdoba Province an ...

at the end of May 1969. It occurred a few days after the '' Rosariazo'' protests erupted in the

Santa Fe Province The Invincible Province of Santa Fe (, , lit. "Holy Faith") is a Provinces of Argentina, province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco Province, Chaco (divided by the 2 ...

against the military dictatorship of General Juan Carlos Onganía. With its element of radical student participation, the ''Cordobazo'' is often viewed as a continuation of the global

protests of 1968 The protests of 1968 comprised a worldwide escalation of social conflicts, which were predominantly characterized by the rise of left-wing politics, Anti-war movement, anti-war sentiment, Civil and political rights, civil rights urgency, youth C ...

. Starting in mid-May 1969, a series of Argentine strikes and protests brought police repression, which triggered a wider insurrection. The two pivotal days of the ''Cordobazo'' were 29 and 30 May 1969. That is when the labor union CGT, headed in Córdoba by Agustín Tosco, called for a national strike immediately after the city of Córdoba initiated a

general strike A general strike is a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large coalitions ...

. The historian James Brennan characterized the ''Cordobazo'' as a "fateful step toward the violent climax the country would experience" in the Argentine coup d'état of 1976.

Context

General Onganía had taken power during the 1966 coup, self-named '' Revolución Argentina'' (Argentine Revolution), which had toppled President Arturo Illia (

Radical Civic Union The Radical Civic Union (, UCR) is a major political party in Argentina. It has reached the national government on ten occasions, making it one of the most historically important parties in the country. Ideologically, the party has stood for r ...

, UCR). Onganía's regime immediately suspended the

right to strike Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike in British English, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became c ...

, froze workers' wages, deactivated the Commission on Minimum Wages, while his Minister of Economy, Adalbert Krieger Vasena, decreed a 40% devaluation of the

peso The peso is the monetary unit of several Hispanophone, Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America, as well as the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries of the Americas, the symbol com ...

. The age of retirement was also extended. Onganía had also implemented the "law on repression of

Communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

" and had ordered the ''Dirección de Investigación de Políticas Antidemocráticas'' (DIPA) political police to detain political activists and trade-unionists who did not care to cooperate with him in the "participationist" policies, and, considering universities as "centers of subversion and communism", had also reneged on the 1918 University Reform (which had found its origins in students' protests in Córdoba), violently expelling from universities teachers and students in the '' Noche de los Bastones Largos''. Furthermore, Onganía was attempting to impose

corporatism Corporatism is an ideology and political system of interest representation and policymaking whereby Corporate group (sociology), corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, come toget ...

in Argentina. In this context, the important industrial hub of Córdoba was one of the experimental place of corporatist policies, implemented by the appointed governor Carlos Caballero.

Popular uprising

These unpopular measures led to increasing strikes and protests in the country. At the beginning of May '69, a succession of strikes and popular assemblies occurred in Córdoba, which were harshly repressed by the provincial and national military authorities of the ''junta''. On 13 May 1969, in Tucumán, former workers of a sugar mill took the factory and its manager as hostage, asking for overdue payments. On 14 May, in Córdoba, automobile industry workers protested the elimination of the Saturday rest. On 15 May, the university of Corrientes increased the price of food tickets in its cafeteria fivefold, and the ensuing protest ended up with one student, Juan José Cabral, killed by the police (see '' Correntinazo''). On 17 May, the student Adolfo Bello was killed during a protest in Rosario (see '' Rosariazo''). On 21 May, the police killed the 15-year-old student Luis Blanco during a silent march of 4,000 persons in Rosario, in commemoration of Bello's death. Rosario is declared by the authorities an emergency zone under military jurisdiction. On 29 May 1969, the police shot dead the first victim of the ''Cordobazo'', Máximo Mena, which triggered further demonstrations and rioting. Progressively, the population took control of most of the city, setting up barricades to defend themselves. They burnt several administrative centers, as well as the headquarters of the foreign firms, which symbolized Vasena's economic policies, of

Citroën Citroën ()The double-dot diacritic over the 'e' is a diaeresis () indicating the two vowels are sounded separately, and not as a diphthong. is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded on 4 June 19 ...

and

Xerox Xerox Holdings Corporation (, ) is an American corporation that sells print and electronic document, digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox was the pioneer of the photocopier market, beginning with the introduc ...

, although they then accompanied the firefighters in order to impede the fire from extending itself to other city blocks. On the night of 29 to 30 May 1969, Onganía decided to send the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

to crush the uprising. Meanwhile, the headquarters of the '' CGT de los Argentinos'' (CGTA, an offshoot of the General Confederation of Labour created in 1968 over opposition to the collaborationist stance adopted by the general secretary of the CGT,

Augusto Vandor Augusto Timoteo Vandor (1923–1969) was an Argentine trade unionist leader, Argentine Navy, naval non-commissioned officer and Politics of Argentina, politician who Augusto Vandor#Assassination, was assassinated. Career Vandor was born in Bovr ...

) were searched and its leaders arrested. Thus, Agustín Tosco, one of the main leaders of the CGTA, was arrested and condemned by the War Council. On the following days, official medias reflected the official vision of the events, allegedly a conspiracy of international communism.

Consequences

The ''Cordobazo'' immediately influenced events in other parts of the country, where violent demonstrations also occurred, and favored the influence of trade unionists radically opposed to the dictatorship. This latter current, known as ''sindicalismo clasista'', came to head the SMATA trade union of Córdoba, as well as the autonomous unions of Fiat Concord and Fiat Materfer ( SITRAC-SITRAM). Workers' leaders of Córdoba, such as Agustín Tosco, René Salamanca, Gregorio Flores and José Francisco Páez, played a role on the national political stage. In

Salta Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Salta Province, the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the List of cities in Argentina, 7th most-populous ...

, Armando Jaime also headed the ''CGT clasista''. It also underlined two new facts in Argentine politics: on one hand, the alliance of the students' movement with the workers, and on the other hand, the predominance of the interior (or of the

provinces of Argentina Argentina has 23 provinces (, singular ) and one autonomous city, Buenos Aires, which serves as the federal capital, as determined by Congress. The provinces and the capital have their own constitutions and exist under a federal system. ...

) on the capital,

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

. The ''Cordobazo'' also had lasting influences on the

history of Argentina The history of Argentina can be divided into four main parts: the pre-Columbian time or early history (up to the sixteenth century), the colonial period (1536–1809), the period of nation-building (1810–1880), and the history of modern Argenti ...

. On one hand, it showed that the population accepted violent means to defend themselves against the military dictatorship, since no other democratic means of expression could be used. On the other hand,

liberal democracy Liberal democracy, also called Western-style democracy, or substantive democracy, is a form of government that combines the organization of a democracy with ideas of liberalism, liberal political philosophy. Common elements within a liberal dem ...

parliamentarism A parliamentary system, or parliamentary democracy, is a form of government where the head of government (chief executive) derives their democratic legitimacy from their ability to command the support ("confidence") of a majority of the legisl ...

and the system of elections was globally refused by what came to be known as the ''New Opposition'' (''Nueva Oposición''). Even

Arturo Frondizi Arturo Frondizi Ércoli (Paso de los Libres, October 28, 1908 – Buenos Aires, April 18, 1995) was an Argentine lawyer, journalist, teacher, statesman, and politician. He was elected president of Argentina and governed from May ...

, who had been elected in 1958, had legitimized the 1955 military coup, known as the ''

Revolución Libertadora The ''Revolución Libertadora'' (; ''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 of Ar ...

'', which had toppled

Juan Perón Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine military officer and Statesman (politician), statesman who served as the History of Argentina (1946-1955), 29th president of Argentina from 1946 to Revolución Libertad ...

. Henceforth, the ''Cordobazo'' showed, to contemporary activists, that they could find popular support for violent and revolutionary means of actions against Onganía's dictatorship, thus radicalizing the social and political context of Argentina. Several armed groups were formed or strengthened in the aftermath of the ''Cordobazo'', among them the '' Fuerzas Armadas Peronistas'' (FAP, 1967), the '' Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación'' (FAL, 1968), the '' Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo'' (ERP), the Revolutionary Peronists

Montoneros Montoneros (, MPM) was an Argentine far-left politics, far-left Peronism, Peronist, Camilism, Camilist and Catholic Church, Roman Catholic revolutionary Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla organization, which emerged in the 1970s during the "Argentine ...

, and the '' Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias''. Finally, the ''Cordobazo'' showed Onganía's weakness. He forced his Minister of Economy Vasena to resign, while a transition period opened itself, the military junta, supreme organ of the so-called ''Revolución Argentina'', deciding to depose Onganía of his leadership, replaced in June 1970 by General Roberto M. Levingston, former military attaché at the Argentine Embassy in Washington D.C. Instead of calling for elections, Levingston decided to go ahead with the ''Revolución Argentina'', governing against the will of the different political parties. The latter countered Levingston's policies by the conjoint declaration of 11 November 1970, named ''la Hora del Pueblo'' (The Hour of the People), which called for free and immediate democratic elections to put an end to the political crisis. The declaration was signed by the

(UCR), the

Justicialist Party The Justicialist Party (, ; abbr. PJ) is a major political party in Argentina, and the largest branch within Peronism. Following the 2023 presidential election, it has been the largest party in the opposition against President Javier Milei. Fo ...

(Peronist Party), the Argentine Socialist Party (PSA), the Conservative People's Party (PCP) and the '' Partido Bloquista'' (PB). The Opposition's call for elections led to Levingston's replacement by General Alejandro Lanusse, who called for elections but excluded the Peronist Party from participating to it. Lanusse tried to implement starting in July 1971 the '' Gran Acuerdo Nacional'' (Great National Agreement), which was to find an honorable exit for the military junta without allowing Peronism participation to the elections. The proposal was rejected by Perón, exiled in Spain, who formed the FRECILINA (''Frente Cívico de Liberación Nacional'', Civic Front of National Liberation), headed by his delegate Héctor José Cámpora and which gathered the Justicialist Party and the '' Movimiento de Integración y Desarrollo'' (MID), headed by

. The FRECILINA requested free and unrestricted elections, which took place on March 11, 1973.

References

Bibliography

English language

Spanish language

*''El cordobazo : una rebelión popular'', compilación e introducción: Juan Carlos Cena. Prólogo: Osvaldo Bayer, Buenos Aires : Ed. La Rosa Blindada, 2000 *''En negro y blanco : Fotografías del Cordobazo al Juico a las Juntas'', Idea y compilación: Pablo Cerolini. Coordinación y compilación: Alejandro Reynoso, Buenos Aires : Latingráfica, 2006 *Balvé, Beba C. ; Balvé, Beatriz S.: ''El '69 : huelga política de masas : rosariazo, cordobazo, rosariazo'', Buenos Aires : Ed. RyR tc. 2005 *Iñigo Carrera, Nicolás: ''Historia y lucha de clases : el Cordobazo 30 años después'' in: Crítica de nuestro tiempo : revista internacional de teoría y política. - Buenos Aires, Año 8, Nr. 21, pp. 134–145 *González, Daniel: {{Lang, es, Agustín Tosco : el nombre del Cordobazo, Prólogo: Osvaldo Bayer, Buenos Aires : Capital Intelectual, 2006 *Moreno, Nahuel : ''Después del cordobazo'', 3. ed., Buenos Aires: Ed. Antídoto, 1997 *Torres, Elpidio: ''El cordobazo organizado : la historia sin mitos'', Buenos Aires : Ed. Catálogos, 1999

Films

*Enrique Juárez (close to the '' Grupo Cine Liberación'' movement), ''Ya es tiempo de violencia'' (1969)

External links

El Cordobazo
Fragmentos del documental del periodista argentino Roberto Di Chiara, quien lo construyó a su vez con material de su archivo.
El Cordobazo (completo)
Documental completo del fragmento publicado en YouTube. Protests in Argentina 1969 riots Conflicts in 1969 History of Argentina (1955–1973) Riots and civil disorder in Argentina Police misconduct in Argentina 1969 in Argentina Activism Protests