Power to the People

The four documents this week all revolve around a particular speech given by Eva Peron to hundreds of thousands of Peronistas in 1951. What I find most interesting about these documents is they seem to showcase the difficulty in controlling a populist movement. General Peron believed he could lead Argentina into a modern and peaceful society through industrialization and empowerment of the labour classes. However in the text it is remarked that much of his success is likely due to global circumstance. The strong post war export boom being key to Argentinas economic growth. Once this boom subsides Argentina slips economically and Peron is ousted. This shows that a populist movement seems only to succeed as long as the policies remain effective in the eyes of the populace. This populace can become quite uncontrollable in little time. During Eva's speech the crowd of Peronistas refuses to accept anything but total acceptance of their demands. Their demand is simple. Eva Peron must run as vice president along with her husband as president. I find it fascinating how a party that has been brought to power by appealing to the masses is now beholden to them. General Peron created this movement and now they dictate the choices of his wife and companion Eva. The documents show varied points of view on the same event. The first being an american point of view. The reporter seems less interested in the actual speech as to the events surrounding it. He highlights the divide in the Peronista party and how things are not quite as they seem. Other documents focus on the speech itself, one solely on the speech without the dialogue with the crowd and the other includes the dialogue with the crowd. The contrast shows the difficulty to me of trying to control or lead a populist movement once it has come to power. Eva attempts to calm the crowd and explain that the vice presidency is not what she desires. However the crowd will have none of it and keep demanding she accept. In the final moments of the speech a distraught Eva seems to resign herself to accepting their demands. However we know that later she decides against running as vice president. These documents show how strong populism could be but also how dangerous as well when the party becomes beyond the control of those who began it.