Le premier retour de Perón : charisme et mobilisation populaire en novembre 1972

Abstract

In October of 1972, General Peron declared from Madrid : “I have decided to come back to Argentina”. After nearly 12 years of peronism prohibition in Argentina’s political life, the “return Operation” was received as an historical event. It generated both big aspirations and strong worries. This article concentrates on this first return, by analysing the process of Peron’s charisma production, at a very turning moment of Argentina’s second twentieth century. During this process, popular mobilization became one of the most important stakes for the actors involved: it materialized the meeting between the “people” and the leader, and expressed the irruption of a new political actor, the Juventud Peronista (Peronist’s Youth). Consequently, in order to reach the “heart of things”, Peron had to face this new actor that contributed to produce his charisma, but at the same time, aspired to take one’s place in national political space and in peronist movement.