The First Peronists: Indigenous Leaders, Populism, and the Argentine Nation-State

Abstract

This article examines indigenous contributions to nation-state formation in Argentina during the first and second presidencies of Juan Perón (1946-55). Perón recognized indigenous people as Argentine citizens and attempted to reorganize the state institutions responsible for their welfare, but he did not institute special policies to improve their dismal living conditions. Moreover, state agents continued to use violence against indigenous communities, sometimes with terrifying results. Nonetheless, many indigenous leaders, known as caciques, embraced both the rhetoric of Peronism and the principles of populism. Their political engagement had mixed results, but its symbolic impact was profound. Peronist caciques made national politics relevant to indigenous communities, expanded their horizons of possibility, and helped to integrate them into the Argentine nation-state. Focusing on such understudied intermediaries helps explain populism's enduring, paradoxical appeal in the Argentine interior.