Peronist trade unionism, the barra brava of Chacarita Juniors, and the Argentine dictatorship

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article focuses on the links between football, politics, and the organized labour movement in 1970s’ Argentina. The case study of Club Atlético Chacarita Juniors of Buenos Aires offers a unique lens for the study of Peronist influences in the world of football, and especially the involvement of trade union leaders and their violent methods in football clubs. Starting with Cecilio Conditi of the Asociación de Trabajadores del Estado (state employees’ union) in the 1940s, the syndicalist presence in Chacarita Juniors reached a peak during the presidency of Salvador Zucotti of the Sindicato de Obreros Molineros (millers’ union) in the 1970s, a time of growing violence within and outside football stadiums. Analysing Zucotti’s presidency enables a rethinking of the relations between the brutal Argentine military dictatorship, determined to stamp out any trace of Peronism, and the local football clubs and their limits.