ARGENTINA Montoneros: the generation who gave it all Pern did not deceive himself nor did he deceive

us The strength of Montoneros generation remains alive

By Leandro Albani (specially for Resumen Latinoamericano)

Roberto Cirilo Perda talks in the same calm and sensible way as in the past, when the urgencies and contradictions appeared at the speed of light. Born in 1941 in the town of Rancagua, close to Pergamino city, Perda made up, in the decade of the 70, the National Leadership (CN) of the political-armed organization Montoneros, together with Eduardo Firmenich and Fernando Vaca Narvaja. Montoneros, as part of the Revolutionary Peronism, meant for Argentina, due both to its capacity and its ability to convene, one of the peaks of the left-wing in a new path to power. After some decades going through self-criticisms, persecution, claims and a deep sorrow for the loss of activists being murdered by the military dictatorship (1976-1983) - Perda published Montoneros. The Combative Peronism in the first person, book that condenses his thoughts, analysis and ideas not only about the past, the armed struggle and Peronism, but it also launches political and organizational suggestions towards the future. On more than eight hundred pages, Perdas book touches on contentious points, like the always fraught relationship between Montoneros and Juan Domingo Pern, the consequences of their final fight, but also los places to make contact between an organization that gathered mostly young people and the leader in exile, he representing the biggest political movement that Argentina had got up to the present. Knowing full well the details, intimacy and negotiations, Perda admits that addressing criticism about Pern was one of the most difficult items in his analysis. Visiting Caracas Venezuela- for a few days, Perda was interviewed by Resumen Latinoamericano. Although Montoneros could be read as a leaders memoirs it is also a critic, profound analysis about the Peronism as a whole, backed by memory and contemporaneous documents. The reason for the book explains Perda- is the need for the new generations to have a site where they may get a further version of what happened in those years. Many versions about Montoneros had been told, it is obvious, but reality is only one tough the accounts are a lot. My intention was not to hide the mistakes I notice, but entirely reclaiming the struggle that took place and recognizing all the macanas1 one made on the way.

The Legacy of Pern Undoubtedly the figure of Pern (President in three constitutional periods) is still a burden to the Argentinian society. Nowadays, President Cristina Fernndez Government has picked up the symbology and certain classic Peronism measures, which had mutated into the purest neoliberalism in the decade of the 90, despite there are still several economic policies which had been applied in ten years of menemato2. For Montoneros their relationship with Pern was set within the framework of the former Presidents ideology, which drove the multiple class structure, a strong and concentrated unionism, the social benefits and the construction of a national bourgeoisie whose job was the industrialization of the country. Since Perns exile after the 1955 coup d'tat against him, the Peronist Resistance developed in Argentina through different methods. This first resistance, sometimes uncoordinated and incipient although supported by Pern himself, was one of the seeds that would lead to the Montoneros conformation in the decade of the 70.

Perda sums up in a few words the task he made on the book regarding the criticism of Pern: Very hard, very hard, it was one of the one of the most critical issues to discuss. Why? Because I know Pern is an important leader and I consider he is a leading figure into the collective memory, one of the few factors that contributed to the consolidation of national unity in Argentina. Anyway, I can't help stressing the serious mistakes committed by him. Among those mistakes, Perda points out which he considers the deepest, when Pern, at that time President for the third occasion in 1973, ousts Jorge Carcagno from the Armed Forces Command. Currently, Montoneros have built a very good political relationship with this military because, according to Perda, Carcagno had very clear positions about which the enemy was, where he did place economic policies and transnational capital. Bur after Carcagnos destitution by the end of 1973, Pern replaces him with Leandro Anaya, who claims that the enemy is the stateless subversion, as he described at the time the armed and revolutionary organizations, remembers Perda. The then leader of Montoneros points out that we had tied some agreement with the displaced military leader, although I think with Carcagno, I do not mean that the situation had changed, or I do not know, but at least we had be able to build a much stronger resistance front against Imperialism. Perda adds about this topic that he actually does not know how many of sectors of the Army had joined us, but finally there was not left any headquarters -which with we had agreements- tending towards the change of course. When Pern destroys that alliance and ousts Carcagno, he weakens the whole popular movement and reopens the doors to the National Security Doctrine, driven by the United States. That was the most serious mistake, for that reason I develop it in the book states Perda-. I believe it was a remarkable loss of strength. The author of Montoneros clarifies that his aim was rescue the figure of Pern beyond the mistakes, among which there is power being concentrated by Jos Lpez Rega, Perns private secretary, Minister for Social Welfare of his third Presidency and creator of the para-police group Triple A3. Perda summarizes that Pern means, for Argentina, one of the highest peaks in the claim for the social sectors who are part of the necessary changes, part of that social subject that we need rebuilt. Pern, with his dignifying of workers in the decades of 40 and 50, with his support to that seventies youth, meant that too. On the other hand we have all the negative elements, but a leadership is made by the whole addition of elements. About the actual relationship between Montoneros and Pern, that revealed a number of strains, Perda recalls a meeting whit the political leader in 1973 after the Hctor Cmporas victory in the presidential elections, where he suggests to the then Governor of the Province of Buenos Aires, Oscar Bidegain, that he appoints a group of boys for them to learn how to rule. At that meeting, Pern tells us the Constitution made by (the dictator Alejandro) Lanusse should be left at that, and asked us to then consider another alternative for the rapid organization of a transitional Government with Cmpora, so then it would be our turn, Perda recalls. To the former Montoneros leader: I think it was the Perns idea at the moment. Pern did not deceive himself nor did he deceive us. But he says clearly that account is to be taken of the international context when analyzing Perns attitudes in the seventies. What happened? There was an imperial offensive for regaining spaces in the region evaluates Perda-. When Peronist victory in Argentina, Empire realized, from a strategic point of view, that Chile and Argentina were ruled by fellow men, beyond the Marxism of (Salvador) Allende and Peronism in Argentina. They were two movements which aimed at a policy of national and somewhat, social- liberation policy. In light of this, the Empire was in trouble and so decided to act. In that action, the Empire was quickly changing the balance of power and after the overthrow of Allende in September of 1973, Pern perceives the situation changed. It is there when he makes the decision -I believe the wrong one- of backing off, backing off and backing off, in face of the Imperial attack in order to avoid the coup. That was the mistake, but up until that

moment, up until Allende's fall, Pern had perspectives, he imagined that he could lead to a situation where we had a quite different leading role. Another situation that meant a break-up in the relationship is Perns return from the exile on June 20 of 1973, when about two million people mobilized to the Buenos Aires town of Ezeiza to welcome the leader. While that return was achieved, it was not the political fact that Montoneros and the left-wing Peronist groups expected. The ceremony for Perns speech was organized by sectors of the Peronist right and its results were tens of dead people because of the repressive violence unleashed by the most reactionary brain of the Peronism. That was a turning point indeed, though I believe we had chances of to restoring the situation, summarizes Perda.

Montoneros today With the military dictatorship holding the power in Argentina since 1976, militancy in Montoneros was hemmed and decimated. Perda works out that about seven thousand to eight thousand activists of the organization were killed. In turn, being the CN exiled and persecuted, Montoneros made various actions of resistance, both military and mobilization acts, the latter taking place in the final period of the military regime. With the arrival of the Constitutional President Ral Alfonsn to Government, the theory of the two devils of which the writer Ernesto Sbato was one of its ideologists-, was institutionalized in the country. This theory equated the State terrorism consistently applied by military, oligarchic sectors and the United States-, with the revolutionary organizations armed actions. In the decade of the 80, Firmenich was imprisoned, as well as the dictatorship top leaders were. Law did not remain divorced from the theory of the devils. These days, Perda makes sure that something about Montoneros history has already been cleared and he considers a major advance the fact that the theory of the two devils has far fewer hearts and minds than ten years ago. The situation changes for good and there is more understanding about what the fight phenomenon meant in those years, and within that struggle, the Montoneros role. Perda also refers to the Montoneros symbology currently shown by many Peronist groups, about what he realizes that there is an interpretation what could be called fairly opportunistic, not downgrading that experience, but in the sense of making the most, in the imaginary, of what is left in order to use it and put it at the service of co-optation. In the current Argentinian situation, there is also another deeper and more realistic idea dealing with a kind of energy in the society created by that generation, energy which continues to exist. Perda says. In the latter case, he emphasizes those groups maybe do not take the ways I expect, but this fact gives the idea of that strength remaining alive and having to be taken to feed into this new situation. I'm a believer that there are alternative paths, that we must feed that energy into a massive popular reaction, perhaps an insurrectional way that accounts for the need of changing the system or rethinking the institutional system, or a refunding of our country. I respect the decision by these fellows. I think they reflect what is unresolved, they feature that generation, not just in their programs, but because they committed themselves, body and soul, in the defense of those ideas. Who took part in that generation gave it all, their lives, their freedoms, defending ideas that are still valid and willing to change reality, which remains more than necessary and indispensable.

Leandro Albani

Translator: Stella Maris Torre

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(Arg.) Foolish things Decade in which Carlos Sal Menem was President of Argentina (1989-1999) 3 Argentinian Anticommunist Alliance