Personalist Radical Civic Union

The Personalist Radicals, also known as Irigoyenistas, were a faction of the Radical Civic Union Party (UCR; Unión Cívica Radical Personalista) active from 1924 to 1933 and loyal to the Radical leader and former president Hipólito Irigoyen. Differences over fiscal policy and party organization led to a split in the Radical Party during the presidency of Marcelo de Alvear (1922–1928). When in power under Alvear, the anti-Personalistas pursued many of the same policies of Irigoyen. However, Irigoyen and the Personalistas employed working-class symbols and rhetoric, whereas the anti-Personalistas seemed a part of an elite oligarchy. As the 1920s came to a close, the dominant pro-Irigoyen wing of the party buttressed its political position by arguing for the nationalization of the country's growing oil industry. The Personalists' control over Congress and the Radical Party machinery guaranteed the reelection of Irigoyen in 1928.

Although they held a majority in the Argentine Congress, the Personalists accomplished little after 1928. Economic crisis and political confusion contributed to the success of the Revolution of 6 September 1930 that overthrew the elected government. While the Radical Party would recover after World War II, Irigoyen's death in July 1933 led to the Personalist wing's rapid disintegration.

See alsoAlvear, Marcelo Torcuato de; Irigoyen, Hipólito.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

David Rock, Politics in Argentina, 1890–1930: The Rise and Fall of Radicalism (1975).

Richard Walter, The Province of Buenos Aires and Argentine Politics, 1912–1943 (1985).

Additional Bibliography

Gasió, Guillermo. Yrigoyen: El mandato extraordinario, 1928–1930. Buenos Aires: Corregidor, 2005.

Giacobone, Carlos Alberto, and Edit Rosalía Gallo. Radicalismo bonaerense: La ingeniería política de Hipólito Yrigoyen, 1891–1931. Buenos Aires: Corregidor, 1999.

Persello, Ana Virginia. El Partido Radical: Gobierno y oposición, 19161943. Buenos Aires: Siglo veintiuno editores Argentina, 2004.

Tato, María Inés. Viento de fronda: Liberalismo, conservadurismo y democracia en la Argentina, 1911–1932. Buenos Aires: Siglo Veintiuno Editores Argentina, 2004.

                                        Daniel Lewis