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“Exclusive Domination” or “Short Term Imperialism”: The Peruvian Response to U.S.-Argentine Rivalry, 1946-1950*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

Glenn J. Dorn
Glenn J. Dorn*
Affiliation:
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Florida
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Extract

“Peru lives in a psychological moment of singular confusion,” Argentine Ambassador Hugo Oderigo wrote in 1947, suggesting that “the United States and Argentina are its two great realities. It is attracted to our country by the community of historical origin, lives our reality, and recognizes the greatness” of General Juan Domingo Perón. On the other hand, the hegemonic United States, with its vast wealth and modern industrial order, offered promise for the future. In the years following the Second World War, both Perón and the Harry S. Truman administration forced two Peruvian presidents to choose between what one Lima journalist called “short-term Argentine imperialism” and the “exclusive domination which the Great Democracy of the North today exercises.” Perón's road promised rapid industrialization and liberation from foreign exploitation through statist corporatism and membership in a “southern bloc” of economically-integrated South American states, while Washington stood as the guardian of a new global order based on liberal capitalism and multilateral commerce. This conflict represents an important international aspect of what has heretofore been considered a domestic struggle within Peru from 1945-1949.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 61 , Issue 1 , July 2004 , pp. 81 - 102
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 2004 

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Footnotes

*

I would like to express my gratitude to Judith Ewell, Michael Hogan, Alan McPherson, and the anonymous reviewers from The Americas for their insights, critiques, and assistance.

References

2 Oderigo a Ministro, 21 Marzo 1947, Archivo del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Culto (AMREC), Buenos Aires (BA), 1947, 12, 1; La Jomada, quoted in Ackerman to Secretary, 9 June 1947, United States National Archives, Records of the Department of State, Record Group 59 (RG 59), 823.00.

2 The best example is Bethell, Leslie and Roxborough's, Ian excellent synopsis of the period, “The postwar conjuncture in Latin America: democracy, labor, and the left,” Latin America between the Second World War and the Cold War, 1944–1948, eds. Roxborough, Ian and Bethell, Leslie (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992).Google Scholar

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10 Prado a Ministro, 19 Junio 1947, AMRE, Lima, 5-3-Y/54; see also Prado a Ministro, 14 Julio 1947, AMRE, Lima, 5-3-Y/62; Memorandum of Conversation, Ferreyros, Armour, Espy, Owen, 26 February 1948, RG 84, Lima, Box 56, 863.6; Owen to Daniels, 5 October 1948, RG 59, 611.2331; Ferreyros a Ministro, 7 Octubre 1948, AMRE, Lima, 5-3-Y/58; King to Willoughby, 8 March 1949, RG 59, 611.2331; Owen to Wells, Woodward, Brown, and Hood, 17 September 1948, RG 59, 611.23; Willoughby to Brown, 17 September 1948, RG 84, Lima, Box 55, 850.

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14 Broderick to Donnelly, 19 June 1946, RG 84, Lima, Box 46, 800.

15 Ledgard a Ministro, 3 September 1947, AMRE, Lima, 5-1-Y/107; Oderigo believed that Manuel Seoane, one of Haya de la Torre's chief lieutenants “sympathized with the Argentine government,” while Haya represented the “American tendency.” Oderigo a Bramulgia, 16 Setiembre 1947, AMREC, BA, Peru 1947, 12, 1; Oderigo a Bramulgia, 21 Marzo 1947, AMREC, BA, Peru 1947, 12, 1.

16 Ledgard a Ministro, 10 Diciembre 1946, AMRE, Lima, 5-1-A/523; Ledgard a Ministro, 9 Diciembre 1946, AMRE, Lima, 5-1-A/519; see also Ledgard a Ministro, 28 Enero 1947, AMRE, Lima, 5-1-A/44.

17 Ledgard a Ministro, 9 Enero 1947, AMRE, Lima, 5-1-A/ll; see also de Devoto, Leonor A. Machinandiarena, “La influencia del justicialismo en Chile, 1946–1952.” (Tesis de Doctorado, Universidad de Buenos Aires, 1995), Capítulo 2.Google Scholar

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19 Garcia Sayan a Encargador de Negocios, 30 Septiembre 1947, AMRE, Lima, 5-1-Y/28; Garcia Sayan a Embajada, 26 Febrero 1948, AMRE, Lima, 5-1-Y/4; Proaño a Ministro, 8 Septiembre 1947, AMRE, Lima, 5-7-Y/34.

20 Donnelly to Secretary, 10 June 1946, RG 84, Lima, Box 46, 800; Cooper to Secretary, 30 December 1947, RG 59, 823.00.

21 Garland a Ministro, 7 June 1946, AMRE, Lima, 5-7-Y/35; Garland a Ministro, 30 Diciembre 1946, AMRE, Lima, 5-7-Y/65; Correa a Ministro, 23 Diciembre 1946, AMRE, Lima, 5-4-Y/50.

22 Correa a Ministro, 29 Diciembre 1946, AMRE, Lima, 5-4-Y/52; Correa a Ministro, 2 Enero 1947, AMRE, Lima, 5-4-Y/l; Braden to Cooper, 27 December 1946, RG 59, RDAS, Box 5; see also Correa a Ministro, 27 Enero 1947, AMRE, Lima, 5-4-Y/10; Garcia Sayan a Embajada Washington, 24 Mayo 1947, AMRE, Lima, 5-3-Y/36.

23 Prado a Ministro, 22 Enero 1947, AMRE, Lima, 5-3-Y/4; Cooper to Secretary, 28 March 1947, RG 84, Box 51, 801; Ledgard a Ministro, 10 Marzo 1947, AMRE, Lima, 5-1-A/117.

24 Rada a Ministro, 11 Febrero 1946, AMRE, Lima, 5-1-A/50; Cooper to Secretary, 31 December 1946, RG 84, Box 48, 851.

25 Cooper to Secretary, 31 December 1946, RG 84, Lima, Box 48, 851; Cooper to Secretary, 30 December 1946, NA, DS, RG 59, 823.00.

26 de Lambert to Secretary, 7 May 1947, NA, RG 84, Box 52, 863.6; Ledgard a Ministro, 22 Marzo 1947, AMRE, Lima, 5-1-A/136.

27 Cooper to Secretary, 9 April 1947, RG 84, Lima, Box 52, 863.6; Cooper to Secretary, 14 March 1947, RG 84, Box 51, 801; Cooper to Secretary, 3 March 1947, RG 84, Lima, Box 51, 801.

28 Memorandum of Conversation, Cooper and Briggs, 24 March 1947, RG 59, 623.00; Cooper to Secretary, 22 March 1947, RG 84, Lima, Box 51, 801.

29 Campen to Secretary, 17 August 1946, RG 84, Lima, Box 53, 631. Velasco was playing a clever, if rather transparent game with Washington, claiming that he was “disinclined to put pressure” on the IPC but that “Peru is being forced into the deal for lack of long-term monthly commitments of wheat from the United States.” Cooper to Secretary, RG 84, Lima, Box 52, 861.31.

30 Tittmann to Miller, 7 October 1949, RG 84, Lima, Box 57; Cooper to Secretary, 7 April 1947, RG 59, 861.31; Acheson to Embassy Lima, 22 April 1947, RG 84, Box 52, 861.31; Marshall to Embassy Lima, 19 May 1947, RG 84, Box 52, 861.31.

31 Naval Attaché Report, 9 July .1947, RG 84, Box 50, 800; Sundt to Secretary, 27 March 1947, RG 84, Lima, Box 52, 863.6; Trueblood to Secretary, 13 April 1946, RG 59, 723.35.

32 Cooper to Secretary, 31 October 1947, RG 84, Lima, Box 52, 861.31.

33 Proaño a Ministro, Mayo 1948, AMRE, Lima, 5-7-Y/23.

34 Escudé, Carlos, Gran Bretaña, Estados Unidos y la declinación argentina (Buenos Aires: Editorial de Belgrano, 1984)Google Scholar; Ferreyros a Ministro, 23 Junio 1948, AMRE, Lima, 5-3-Y/31; Ferreyros a Ministro, 12Julio 1948, AMRE, Lima, 5-3-Y/43; see also Oderigo a Bramulgia, n.d., AMREC, BA, Peru 1947, 12, 1 ; Broderick to Secretary, 20 July 1948, RG 59, 823.00.

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37 Tittmann to Secretary, 5 November 1948, RG 59, 723.35; Tittmann to Secretary, 4 November 1948, RG 59, 823.00.

38 Unsigned a Paz, 8 Setiembre 1949, AMRE, BA, Peru 1949, 28, 9; Oderigo a Anadón, 5 Setiembre 1947, AMRE, BA, Peru 1947, 12, 1 ; see also Collier, David, Squatters and Oligarchs: Authoritarian Rule and Policy Change in Peru (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1976), pp. 109–110 Google Scholar; Martiniere, Guerra, Manuel A. Odria, pp. 53–57.Google Scholar

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40 Tittmann to Secretary, 6 December 1948, RG 84, Lima, Box 53, 631.

41 Tittmann to Secretary, 23 December 1948, RG 59, 623.3531; Tittmann to Secretary, 4 January 1949, RG 59, 623.3531; Tittmann to Secretary, 14 December 1948, RG 59, 623.3531.

42 Tittmann to Secretary, 20 January 1948, RG 59, 623.3531; Pierrot to Tittmann, 17 February 1949, RG59, 623.3531; see also Tittmann to Secretary, 6 December 1948, RG 59, 623.3531.

43 Tittmann to Secretary, 10 February 1949, RG 59, 623.3531.

44 Tittmann to Secretary, 8 February 1949, RG 59, 623.3531; Tittmann to Secretary, 3 February 1949, RG59, 623.3531.

45 Echecopar a Ministro, 19 Febrero 1949, AMRE, Lima, 5-1-A/53; Echecopar a Ministro, 27 Enero 1949, AMRE, Lima, 5-1-A/30; Echecopar a Ministro, 20 Enero 1949, AMRE, Lima, 5-1-A/23.

46 Echecopar a Ministro, 3 Febrero 1949, AMRE, Lima, 5-1-Y/5; Echecopar a Ministro, 18 Enero 1949, AMRE, Lima, 5-1-A/18; see also Echecopar a Ministro, 13 Enero 1949, AMRE, Lima, 5-1-A/9.

47 Fernandez Davila a Ministro, 7 Enero 1949, AMRE, Lima, 5-3-A/5; Cisernos a Ministro, 3 Enero 1949, AMRE, Lima, 5-2-Y/l; see also Fernandez Davila a Ministro, 31 Enero 1949, AMRE, Lima, 5-3-A/44; Cisernos a Ministro, 10 May 1949, AMRE, Lima, 5-2-Y/24.

48 McGinnis to Woodward and Mills, 28 February 1949, RG 59,623.3531.

49 ITP to Tittmann, 20 January 1949, RG 59, 623.3531.

50 Tittmann to Secretary, 10 February 1949, RG 59, 623.3531; Tittmann to Secretary, 14 February 1949, RG 59, 623.3531.

51 Tittmann to Secretary, 18 February 1949, RG 59, 623.3531.

52 TRM to RSA and HHT, 14 February 1949, RG 59, 623.3531 (misfiled in 625.3531); Martin to Tewksbury, 31 March 1949, RG 59, 623.3531 (misfiled in 625.3531).

53 Tittmann to Secretary, 31 January 1949, RG 84, Lima, Box 58, 350; Pearson to Graling, 6 June 1949, RG 319, IRR Personal Name File, Alfonso Llosa, 131B; see also Masterson, , Militarism and Politics in Peru, pp. 115–116 Google Scholar; Villanueva, , El Apra y el ejército, pp.64–72 Google Scholar; Gerberich to Mills and Woodward, 31 January 1949, RG 59, 823.00.

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56 Tittmann to Secretary, 23 July 1949, RG 59, 823.00.

57 Aramburu a Ministro, 27 Agosto 1947, AMRE, Lima, 5-3-A/400; Kofas, Jon V., Foreign Debt and Underdevelopment: U.S.-Peru Economic Relations, 1930–1970 (Lanham: University Press of America, 1996), pp. 123–128 Google Scholar; Portocarrero, , De Bustamante a Odria, pp. 191–198.Google Scholar

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60 Memoria Año 1949, undated, AMREC, BA, Peru 1949, 28, 5; Tittmann to Secretary, 20 January 1950, RG 59, 623.35; Oderigo a Paz, 12 Enero 1950, AMREC, BA, Peru 1949, 28, 11.

61 Leslie Bethell and lan Roxborbugh, for example, suggest that while there is “little evidence” that U.S. diplomats were “actively involved,” they assert that “further research would seem to be justified.” Bethell, and Roxborough, , “The postwar conjuncture,” p. 29.Google Scholar

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