Liberating Revolution: The Beginnings

Liberating Revolution: The prolegomena

Origina source: 1955 Guerra Civil. La Revolucion Libertadora y la caída de Perón

The ruling party in Argentina had created a climate of violence since coming to power. In 1951, before the upcoming elections on November 11, a group of high-ranking military leaders led by General Benjamín Menéndez began a secret plot to overthrow Perón. However, as the plot dragged on, some of the conspirators began to grow impatient.

The conspirators included Generals Eduardo Lonardi, Pedro Eugenio Aramburu, and Eneas Colombo; Colonels Juan Carlos Lorio and Arturo Ossorio Arana; and Lieutenant Colonels Bernardino Labayru, Luis Leguizamón Martínez, and Emilio Bonnecarrere.

The appointment of General Aramburu as military attaché to the Argentine embassy in Brazil caused some anxiety among the conspirators, who believed that the authorities had become aware of their plans. As a result, events began to unfold quickly.

General Menéndez, who was retired at the time, decided to act immediately. He synchronized his movements with his counterparts in the Navy and Air Force, and at dawn on September 28, he appeared dressed in his combat uniform at the Campo de Mayo Cavalry School. He contacted the captains and lieutenants who followed him, including Julio Alsogaray and Alejandro Agustín Lanusse, and told them to gather at the 8th Cavalry Regiment. Their mission was to take over the unit.

The rebels took control of the regiment and boarded the armored vehicles. They positioned the vehicles in front of the Officers' Casino and opened fire. Corporal Miguel Farina, a member of the government forces, was killed in the shooting, and Captain Rómulo Félix Menéndez, the son of the rebel leader, was wounded.

At 7:25 AM, Colonel Dalmiro Videla Balaguer, the director of the Military Lyceum, called his superiors to warn them that there was irregular activity taking place at the nearby regiment. In response, General Franklin Lucero, the Minister of the Army, took a series of urgent measures to neutralize the movement.

In front of the Jockey Club on Florida street

Menéndez led a convoy consisting of three tanks, five half-tracks, and several trucks carrying troops. They departed from Campo de Mayo towards the El Palomar Air Base, which had been taken over by Brigadiers Guillermo Zinny and Samuel Guaycochea at that time.

Simultaneously, from Villa Reynolds in San Luis province, fighter planes of the V Air Brigade, under the command of Vice Commodore Jorge Rojas Silveyra, took off to attack the rebel forces in Buenos Aires. The Punta Indio Naval Air Base was already in the hands of Navy Captain Vicente Baroja, who embarked on an AT-6 single-seater aircraft with Lieutenant Commander Siro de Martini, aiming to prevent Perón from fleeing the capital.

Upon arriving in Buenos Aires, Baroja engaged in a brief skirmish, suspecting that the president might be aboard a De Havilland Dove transport plane that was taxiing on the main runway with apparent intentions to escape. Baroja attempted to drop two 50-kilogram bombs at the aircraft, but it managed to evade the attack skillfully piloted by Commodore Luis A. Lapuente, who then flew at low altitude through the buildings of Barrio Norte and headed southwest.

During this time, access to the Federal Capital was blocked with trucks, buses, and barricades, while the Army established surveillance posts across the city. Menéndez realized that the units intended to join the uprising had not acted, leading him to understand that the coup had failed. Despite his determination to continue towards Buenos Aires to confront Perón or meet his fate, his column had to stop in San Isidro due to a lack of fuel. With no other option, Menéndez surrendered to the authorities, knowing he could face execution. The revolution had failed.

As news spread, many of the plotters attempted to escape to Uruguay aboard an Air Force transport from El Palomar, followed by Baroja and De Martín in their respective planes. This marked the end of the first uprising against the Peronist regime, a failed prelude to the events that would unfold four years later.

The next day, President Perón, in a fiery speech delivered before an enthusiastic crowd from the balconies of the Government House, declared a state of internal war throughout the Nation and threatened to execute the rebel leaders. Ultimately, he did not carry out the threat.

Gen. Benjamin Menendez

Benjamín Menéndez, a courageous cavalry general recently graduated from the Military College, played an active role in the conquest of Chaco but was later detained, along with his followers, at the Tierra del Fuego prison. Some versions suggest that Eva Perón repeatedly urged her husband to use force against the rebels, but he considered it imprudent and rejected her request.

Tragically, the violence did not end there. On April 15, 1953, during another passionate speech by Perón in Plaza de Mayo, three high-powered devices exploded, resulting in the deaths of six demonstrators and injuries to ninety-three others. The gravity of these events spurred the President to further incite the crowd, leading enraged mobs to attack the headquarters of opposition parties across the city.

On that fateful day, the Casa del Pueblo, a stronghold of the Socialist Party on Rivadavia Avenue, was set on fire, as was the Radical House on Tucumán Street and the headquarters of the Democratic (Conservative) Party at Rodríguez Peña 525. Additionally, the prestigious Jockey Club building on Florida Street succumbed to the flames and burned for two days.

Amidst the chaos, numerous works of art and historical artifacts were lost forever. The library of the Casa del Pueblo, which included collections donated by Juan B. Justo himself, vanished in the blaze, along with historical objects from the National Democratic Party and the treasures of the Jockey Club. Among the lost treasures were the renowned Diana Cazadora sculpture by Falgueriés, acquired exclusively for the club by Aristóbulo del Valle, various valuable paintings, including one of its founder Dr. Carlos Pellegrini, and part of its extensive library, considered one of the most complete in Buenos Aires.

Despite the destruction, firefighters made little effort to extinguish the fires, only prioritizing the protection of neighboring buildings. Similarly, the police took no action, allowing the vandals to act with impunity and destroy everything in their path. The tragic events of that day left an indelible mark on Argentine history.

The next day, Dr. Manuel V. Ordóñez, who had traveled to Rome expressly to refer to what was happening in Argentina, was received by Pope Pius XII who, the first thing he said when he saw him was:

- Do you know what has happened?
-No, Your Holiness – answered Ordóñez.
-The library of the Jockey Club has been set on fire – the Pontiff replied, dismayed, adding – I am deeply saddened. Priceless works have been lost there.

What the Holy Father and a good part of public opinion were unaware of was that, fortunately for posterity, a part of that collection and several volumes from the library had been rescued from the flames and placed under protection.
From then on, Perón's phrases became increasingly violent and brutal: "I ask you not to burn anymore or do any more of those things because when it's time to burn, I'm going to go out at your head to burn ! Then, if necessary, history will remember the biggest bonfire that humanity has kindled to this day! (May 7, 1953); "They ask me for firewood...why don't you start giving it?!"; "We're going to have to go back to the time of carrying bale wire in your pocket!" or "For every one of ours that falls, five of them will fall!"
That was the atmosphere that prevailed in Buenos Aires when the events that we are going to relate below broke out. Such irresponsible expressions did nothing more than precipitate the events and lead Argentine society to chaos and civil conflict. The regime was slowly weakening and tension began to take over society.

This old photograph shows the actions of the firefighters on the burned down headquarters of the Jockey Club

La Casa del Pueblo - Headquarters of the Socialist Party after the attack

To be continued...