1983 Argentine general election
General elections were held in Argentina on 30 October 1983, marking the return of constitutional rule following the self-styled National Reorganization Process dictatorship installed in 1976. Voters fully chose the president, governors, mayors, and their respective national, province and town legislators; with a turnout of 85.6%.
Background
The government of Isabel Perón faced several simultaneous crises in 1976. Guerrillas such as Montoneros and the People's Revolutionary Army were out of control and caused hundreds of deaths each month. In turn, the army counter-attacked with undercover agents, the Argentine Anticommunist Alliance. The Rodrigazo caused an annual inflation rate above 600 percent and growing, which, coupled with union unrest, left the national industry in a virtual halt. Congresswoman Cristina Guzmán also accused Perón of stealing funds from a charity, but the Congress refused to proceed with an impeachment. All this led to the 1976 Argentine coup d'état, as most of society perceived the military as the only ones capable of fixing the crises.General Roberto Viola was deposed in 1981 by Leopoldo Galtieri, during a "palace coup", which strengthened the political clout of the Agentine Navy. Opposed by the other military factions and fearing to be deposed in a new coup, Galtieri planned an invasion of the Falkland Islands. The 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands gave a huge popularity boost to the Junta, but it also caused a bank panic and undermined the attempts of minister Roberto Alemann to decrease inflation and stabilize the economy. This boost turned into a massive decrease after the Argentine surrender in the Falklands War, even more because the local media distorted the events and the surrender came as a complete surprise to the population.
Six years of intermittent wage freezes, policies adverse to industry and restrictive measures like the Circular 1050 had left GDP per capita at its lowest level since 1968 and real wages lower by around 40%. Given these conditions, the return of some freedoms quickly led to a wave of strikes, including two general strikes led by Saúl Ubaldini of the CGT labor federation. Fanning antagonism on the part of hard-liners in the regime, this led Admiral Jorge Anaya to announce his candidacy for President in August, becoming the first to do so; he proved to be highly unpopular and Bignone immediately thwarted the move.
Amid growing calls for quicker elections, police brutally repressed a December 16, 1982, demonstration in Buenos Aires' central Plaza de Mayo, resulting in the death of one protester and Bignone's hopes for an indefinite postponement of elections. Devoting themselves to damage control, the regime began preparing for the transition by shredding evidence of their murder of between 15,000 and 30,000 dissidents. Hoping to quiet demands that their whereabouts be known, in February 1983 Buenos Aires Police Chief Ramón Camps publicly recognized the crime and asserted that the "disappeared" were, in fact, dead. Provoking popular indignation, Camps' interview forced President Bignone to cease denying the tragedy and, on April 28, declare a blanket amnesty for those involved.
Nominations
Among the first prominent political figures to condemn the amnesty was the leader of the UCR's progressive wing, Raúl Alfonsín, who easily secured his party's nomination during their convention in July. Alfonsín chose as his running mate Víctor Martínez, a more conservative UCR figure from Córdoba Province. Their traditional opponents, the Justicialist Party, struggled to find candidates for not only the top of the ticket, but for a number of the more important local races, as well. Following conferences that dragged on for two months after the UCR nominated Alfonsín, the Justicialists' left wing proved little match for the CGT's influence within the party. They nominated ideological opposites Ítalo Luder, who had served as acting President during Mrs. Perón's September 1975 sick leave, for President and former Chaco Province Governor Deolindo Bittel as his running mate; whereas Luder had authorized repression against the left in 1975, Bittel was a populist renowned for his defense of Habeas Corpus during the subsequent dictatorship.Campaign issues
Constrained by time, Alfonsín focused his strategy on accusing the Justicialists, who had refused to condemn Bignone's military amnesty, of enjoying the dictator's tacit support. Alfonsín enjoyed the valuable support of a number of Argentine intellectuals and artists, including playwright Carlos Gorostiza, who devised the UCR candidate's slogan, Ahora, Alfonsín.Luder, aware of intraparty tensions, limited his campaign ads and rhetoric largely to an evocation of the founder of the Justicialist Party, the late Juan Perón. Polls gave neither man an edge for the contest, which was scheduled for October 30. A few days for the elections, the Justicialist candidate for Governor of Buenos Aires Province, Herminio Iglesias, threw a "victory rally" in which a coffin draped in the UCR colors was burned before the television cameras.
The bonfire ignited the electorate's bitter memories of Isabel Perón's tenure and helped result in a solid victory for the UCR. The Peronists were given a majority in the Senate and 12 of 22 governorships. The UCR secured only 7 governors, though the nation's largest province, Buenos Aires, would be governed by the UCR's Alejandro Armendáriz. Alfonsín persuaded Bignone after the elections to advance the inaugural to December 10, 1983.
Presidential candidates
- Radical Civic Union : Former Deputy Raúl Alfonsín of Buenos Aires.
- Justicialist Party : Former Senator Ítalo Luder of Santa Fe.
- Intransigent Party : Former Governor Oscar Alende of Buenos Aires.
- Integration and Development Movement : Economist Rogelio Julio Frigerio of Buenos Aires.