Argentina, 1946-83

by Guido Di Tella and Carlos Braun

Published 1 August 1990

Twelve international economists analyze every government since Peron's first presidency, including the latest military administrations. The years 1958-74 are examined in a new light and the postscript refers to President Alfonsin's changing economic strategy in his first years of government.



This is an examination of Argentina's international behaviour during World War II, partly derived from the recently opened archives at the PRO. Argentina, rather than having a pro-axis attitude, as is usually portrayed, is shown to follow the British line, which tried to secure supplies while avoiding Argentina's loss of her neutral status, at odds with the American attitude, which wanted to push Argentina into an open confrontation with Germany. While Britain was trying to preserve her special association with Argentina, the USA was following her long term hostile attitude towards the only country in Latin America that had tried to question the American hegemony over the region. The authors throw a revisionist light on the subject as a result of the recent opening of the archives at the RPO.