ARTURO UMBERTO ILLIA: BIOGRAPHY, GOVERNMENT AND PRESIDENCY - HISTORY - 2025

Arturo Umberto Illia was an Argentine politician and doctor who became president of Argentina from 1963 to 1966. He worked for and was a member of the party known as the Unión Cívica Radical (UCR), a central and socio-liberal party in Argentina. Illia was an honest and honorable president, but was overthrown in 1966 as a result of a coup.

This occurred after having made an enemy of a large part of civil society for having tried to return Perón, the military and former president of Argentina, from exile. Perón founded the movement known as justicialismo or Peronismo, and the establishment of this movement brought political divisions throughout the history of Argentina.

This division also includes recent history, since Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, a recent former president of Argentina, belonged to this political belief. Illia lived much of her life in her humble home located in Cruz del Eje. This represents the mindset he maintained throughout his political career, even when he became president.

Biography

Arturo Umberto Illia was born on August 4, 1900 in Pergamino, a small city located near Buenos Aires. His parents were Italian immigrants who came from Europe from the province of Lombardy.

Studies

When he finished studying all his primary education in Pergamino, he went to study in Buenos Aires. There he studied medicine at the University of Buenos Aires, beginning in 1918. He graduated as a doctor in 1927 after having done his medical practice at the San Juan de Dios hospital.

From a very young age, at the age of 18, he joined the party known as the Unión Cívica Radical, with which he would become president 50 years later.

He worked as a doctor for the railroad company of the Argentine state after being offered the position by the then president of the country, and that fact deepened his influence on Argentine politics.

Since he began working as a doctor in the Argentine railways, Illia moved to his home in Cruz del Eje, where he lived most of his life and practiced his career for 32 years, except for the period between 1940 and 1943. when he worked as second in command of the governor of Córdoba.

In 1939 he married and had 3 children. One of them, Martín, was elected as a member of the Argentine Congress in 1995, a position he held until his death in 1999.

Life in Cruz del Eje

When Illia moved to Cruz Del Eje, he began to participate much more actively in politics. She even became part of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies and played a decisive role in the agrarian reforms that were carried out in the country during her political activities.

Little by little, Illia was gaining political influence throughout Argentina and particularly with the Unión Cívica Radical. He was always one of the members of the UCR who supported Perón's ideas.

Perón was exiled in 1955 after the military seizure of power and the establishment of the dictatorship, which produced changes and instability within the Argentine political system until 1959. This change produced an important event that ended up being decisive for Illia's takeover of power: the division of the UCR.

Radical Civic Union divided

The Radical Civic Union took two positions and divided according to them. On the one hand there were the party militants who supported Perón and the justicialist party, and on the other there were those who did not recognize him and were against him.

The Peronist movement in turn had a radical political effect on Argentina, perhaps the largest in the country's history. Perón's ideas were so powerful that they had an impact even in the 2000s, and the divisions that were created were marked in the days prior to the presidency of Arturo Illia.

After the end of the dictatorship in 1959, democracy was restored in the country. However, Frondizi - the president in charge - was illegally arrested in 1963. When he went to the presidential elections again, Illia was the one who obtained the most political support. Thus it was possible to proclaim president of Argentina.

Government and presidency

Already as president, Illia acted correctly and tried to stabilize the political course of the country, although he was alert to the latent possibility of another coup. All members of the UCR who did not support Peronism were partially excluded from important political positions in the country.

Legalization of Peronism

One of his first acts as president was the legalization of Peronism and its allies.

After Perón's exile and the establishment of the 1955 dictatorship, the participation of any Peronist party in Argentine politics had been outlawed. In fact, the existence of the groups had also been proclaimed illegal.

Illia's decisions as president were generally favorable and he acted for the good of the country. It had marked social policies and refused to receive foreign investment in Argentina. However, some foreign contracts were renewed and not many were canceled, as Illia originally wanted.

Overthrow

The growing military unrest during his regime took shape in a coup in 1966, when high-ranking military officials came to his office to ask him to leave power.

The one who was in charge of the government was Juan Carlos Organía, who established the so-called Argentine Revolution until 1970.

Causes of the overthrow

- One of the main causes was the negligence that his regime had towards national industries. The government was accused of being slow and lacking in decisions. This criticism had the support of several national journalists: the same press began to call for military intervention to end the Illia regime.

- The United States lobbied internationally in its campaign to establish military dictatorships throughout Latin America, as a control mechanism and facility for the North American country in what would become the Cold War against Russia.

- The fact that the elections that Illia had won had been outside the framework of the Constitution, since Frondizi had been illegally overthrown, did not help him to stay in power either.

References

1. Arturo Illia, President of Argentina, Encyclopedia Britannica, (nd). Taken from britannica.com
2. Attempts to restore constitutionalism, 1955–66, Encyclopedia Britannica, (nd). Taken from Britannica.com
3. Juan Perón, Biography. Encyclopedia Britannica. (nd). Taken from britannica.com
4. Arturo Umberto Illia (nd), February 4, 2018. Taken from Wikipedia.org
5. Presidency of Illia. All Argentina. (in Spanish). Taken from todo-argentina.net