Domingo A. Mercante: A Democrat in the Shadow of Perón and Evita

Abstract

Political leaders, no matter how much they try to centralize decision making, need to depend on a cadre of secondary leaders. Juan Perón shares this with all other leaders. Certainly one of the lacunae in our ever-growing knowledge of his years in power is in-depth studies of those who helped him with his regime: the men and women who made possible his ascent to power and helped keep him there. This is particularly important with Perón, since he had the well-deserved reputation of breaking with the stronger personalities who worked with him, probably because they represented, at least in his mind, potential challenges to his power.Domingo A. Mercante is an intriguing subject for a biography. A military officer, he joined the secret organization of military officers — the GOU — that helped propel Perón into power. A personal friend of Perón, he worked closely with him to attract labor-union support in 1943 – 45. His role was particularly important in securing support from railroad workers, in part because members of his family were railroaders. Throughout the early years, he seemed always to be working closely with Perón. In addition, he was elected governor of the of Buenos Aires province in 1946, the second-most-powerful elected position in the country. He played a crucial role in the enacting of a revision of the constitution and even earned a great deal of personal popularity. Like all strong figures, Mercante ultimately fell from Perón’s graces. A detailed study promises to give the reader new insights into how Perón became the hero of such a large sector of the working class and also how the government functioned at the provincial level. It also should give hints as to why, or with what excuses, Perón marginalized even his friends.Carolyn A. Becker gives the reader a Mercante who is very commendable and who seems to lack the character flaws that beset Perón. She is extremely sympathetic to the goals of the Peronists and believes that Mercante lacked the authoritarian characteristics of his friend. However, the reader never gets very far beneath the surface. Mercante himself remains pretty much a mystery. We never learn what motivated him nor why he stayed loyal to Perón for so long, assuming Mercante was so democratic and uninterested in power as the author claims.Most of the book is a sympathetic retelling of the rise and government of Perón that in many places is only slightly refocused on Mercante. For example, when Becker describes the time when the two worked together in the Secretariat of Labor and Welfare, we learn very little about what Mercante actually did and do not learn more about the agency than we knew before. This period should be critical, as Mercante’s ties to the working class began during this time. We do receive a better picture of Mercante’s role as governor, and he does appear to be a good governor who was willing to cooperate with the opposition. However, what he accomplished as governor remains quite vague. Likewise, we do not really learn why Perón turned on him.Much of the problem may lie in the author’s use of sources. It is difficult at times to know where she obtained her information, as her footnoting is sparse and rather erratic. Sources are admittedly a difficult problem for this era, but she has not even tapped some very obvious ones. For example, she does not appear to have extensively consulted government publications or the oral histories that were done for the Instituto Torcuato Di Tella. Instead, she depends heavily on a relatively small number of sources, particularly the biography of Mercante written by his son and on the history of Peronism that appeared in Primera Plana. This does not allow her to move much beyond that which we already know, and the result is largely a recounting of the Perón years with more concentration on Mercante.Carolyn Becker has given us a well-written, sympathetic portrait of the Peronist regime. This is a good thing, but she does not give enough information on Mercante to understand either his role in Perón’s rise or his time in power. This is lamentable, because arguably Mercante was closer to him than anyone else except Evita. Mercante remains a vague figure about whom we know the general outlines of his activities but not what motivated him nor what he did in any great detail.