19 September 1955: Military coup ousts Argentina's Perón

On this day in 1955, the armed forces deposed Argentinian president Juan Perón, after a failed assassination attempt.

Dr Matthew Partridge
By
published
in Features

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Pern remains an iconic figure for Argentinians

Former Argentinian president Juan Pern is one of the best-known Latin American leaders in history.

His political career began in 1943 when, as an army colonel, he took part in a successful military coup. A year later he became minister of labour and vice-president.

His policies, which were generally seen as pro-worker, made him extremely popular with poorer Argentinians. He became president in 1946.

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Over the next nine years, Pern's government expanded public services, including social security andhealth insurance. His labour laws boosted wages. However, attempts to reduce imports, through subsidies and tariffs, backfired, hitting growth and leading to high inflation.

Overtime his government became increasingly authoritarian, using media censorship and even outright violence against his opponents on both the right and left.

Eventually, after Pern's supporters went on a rampage in response to a failed assassination attempt, the military intervened in September 1955.

Pern was forced to spend the next 18 years in exile. With growing fears of a civil war, he was allowed to take part in free elections in 1973, paving the way for him to return to office. However, he would die of a heart attack a year later.

Pern remains an iconic figure in Argentinian politics. Even today, Argentinian politicians claim him as their inspiration.

However, many economic historians claim that his protectionist policies played a key part in transforming Argentina from one of the richest countries in the world into an economic basket case.

Dr Matthew Partridge
Dr Matthew Partridge
Shares editor, MoneyWeek

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.

He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.

Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.

As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri

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