Francisco Julián Licastro ( — ) was an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

politician, leader of 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 ...

, diplomat, writer and artillery major of the

Argentine Army The Argentine Army () is the Army, land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic and the senior military service of Argentina. Under the Argentine Constitution, the president of Argentina is the commander-in-chief of the Armed For ...

Biography

He graduated first in his class from the Military College, but was discharged for his opposition to the

dictatorship A dictatorship is an autocratic form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, who hold governmental powers with few to no Limited government, limitations. Politics in a dictatorship are controlled by a dictator, ...

of General

Juan Carlos Onganía Juan Carlos Onganía Carballo (; 17 March 1914 – 8 June 1995) was President of Argentina from 29 June 1966 to 8 June 1970. He rose to power as dictator after toppling the president Arturo Illia in a coup d'état self-named " Argentine Revol ...

while he was in command of an artillery unit at the college. In 1970 he met in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

with the exiled former president

Juan Domingo Perón ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of '' John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking countries around the world and in the Philip ...

. Upon his return, he founded, together with , the Peronist Technological Command, a group aimed at organizing political actions of Peronism – still banned after fifteen years of his expulsion from the government – outside of unionism, at that time the only organised force with which Peronism counted. In 1972 he was part of the National Council of the National Justicialist Movement, and was part of the delegation that accompanied Perón on his definitive return to the country. During Perón's third presidency he was named head of the Political Secretariat of the Presidency, through which he directed the Political Training School and the Union Training School. President María Estela Martínez de Perón appointed him

minister plenipotentiary An envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, usually known as a minister, was a diplomatic head of mission who was ranked below ambassador. A diplomatic mission headed by an envoy was known as a legation rather than an embassy. Under the ...

, based primarily in San Francisco and

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

. During the last military dictatorship he had to go into exile; From Lima he moved to

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

, where he established himself as a trainer of community leaders and experts from the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

, touring several Latin American countries. In this period he began the publication of a large number of books on Justicialist doctrine and analysis. He returned to his country in 1981, participating in the reorganization of the Justicialista Party, identified with "verticalism", which recognised the authority of María Estela Martínez de Perón. After the recovery of democracy in 1983, he was a consultant to the Senate of the Nation, advisor to the Presidency, and National Deputy for the City of

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 ...

. During the 1990s he identified with

Menemism Menemism is a term that refers to the policies implemented in Argentina by Carlos Menem, president of the country from 1989 to 1999. Like Peronism (the movement Menem belonged to), Menemism is complex, being most usually defined as populist rhetor ...

and was appointed ambassador of his country to Peru, and later head of the Argentine delegation to the

Inter-American Defense Board The Inter-American Defense Board (IADB) is an international defense institution of the Organization of American States, headquartered in Washington, D.C.. The IADB is an international committee of nationally appointed defense officials who deve ...

. During the following decade he highlighted his initial support and subsequent opposition to

Kirchnerism Kirchnerism ( ) is an Argentine political movement based on ideals formed by the supporters of spouses Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who consecutively served as Presidents of Argentina. Although considered a branch of Pero ...

, regarding which he disseminated his differences through his book ''Peronismo o Populismo, Debate sobre la identidad política'' (2012). In 2012 he published a memoir titled ''Diálogos con Perón''. Regarding the government of

Mauricio Macri Mauricio Macri (; born 8 February 1959) is an Argentine businessman and politician who served as President of Argentina from 2015 to 2019. He has been the leader of the Republican Proposal (PRO) party since its founding in 2005. He previously ...

, he wrote his last work ''Entre todos o nadie''. Starting in 2016, he concentrated his activity on holding seminars and conferences.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Licastro, Julián 1940 births 2022 deaths Justicialist Party politicians Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Buenos Aires Ambassadors of Argentina to Peru