Arturo Illia was an Argentine doctor and politician who held the presidency of his country between October 1963 and June 1966. In addition to practicing his medical profession for many years, Illia was also deputy governor of Córdoba, a senator in that same province and a national deputy.
In 1962, Illia was elected governor of Córdoba, but a coup d'état prevented him from taking office. Four years later, his presidency would also end for the same cause, another military coup, this time led by General Juan Carlos Onganía.
During his time as president, Illia tried to rescind the oil contracts approved by his successor, although with relative success. Likewise, it promoted the national industry and approved laws such as Medicines or the Minimum, Vital and Mobile Wage. The weakness of his government, which was only supported by a minority of the deputies, prevented more initiatives from going ahead..
From the moment of his election, Illia encountered opposition from powerful sectors of the country. The oligarchy, for example, symbolized him with the figure of a turtle, while some unions and the Peronists maintained a strategy of continuous tension against him. The president, for his part, responded with some episodes of violent repression.
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Arturo Umberto Illia was born in Pergamino, province of Buenos Aires, on August 4, 1900. His first studies were attended in schools in his native town..
The young Illia later moved to Buenos Aires to enter the Colegio Pío IX, run by the Salesians. There he completed secondary studies, although he finished them as a free student at the Buenos Aires National School..
Also in Buenos Aires, in 1918, he entered the Faculty of Medicine. His stay at the university coincided with the emergence of a student movement that achieved free studies and university co-governance.
It was in this context that Illia became interested in politics and joined the Radical Party..
Illia carried out her medicine practices at the San Juan de Dios Hospital, in the city of La Plata. In 1927, he obtained his medical degree.
Illia met in 1928 with the then president of Argentina, Hipólito Yrigoyen. He proposed to the young man to act as a railway doctor and presented him with a list of locations so that he could choose his destination. Illia chose Cruz del Eje, in the province of Córdoba.
As on many other occasions throughout his life, a military coup caused him to abandon his post in September 1930. However, the residents of Cruz del Eje begged him to stay in town to continue working as doctor. Illia accepted and only left the town to be named president, in 1963.
According to his biographers, the doctor lived in a rented house, which also served as a consultation. On many occasions, he treated the poorest patients for free.
Proof of the appreciation that his neighbors had for him was the collection that they organized in 1944 to give him the house in which he lived, as well as a car.
Illia only stopped attending his query for three years, between 1940 and 1943, when he was appointed deputy governor of Córdoba
On the other hand, Arturo Illia married Silvia Martorell, a native of Córdoba, in February 1939. From this union, three children were born, a girl and two boys..
Illia had an intense political life that he combined with his work as a doctor. In 1935, he was a provincial senator, a position from which he promoted an Agrarian Reform law, later rejected by the National Congress.
In May 1940, he became deputy governor of Córdoba, a position he held for just over three years. Again, a coup d'état, which occurred on June 4, 1943, removed him from office.
Five years later, in 1948, Arturo Illia was elected national deputy. In the Congress he participated in several commissions, among them the Hygiene and Medicinal Assistance.
The political situation in Argentina since the overthrow in 1955 of Juan Domingo Perón by a coup d'état had been characterized by instability. Peronism was outlawed, but its supporters showed their strength by voting blank in the elections that were being held.
The Unión Cívica Radical, the party to which Illia belonged, was divided into two factions. One was against Peronism, while the other was in favor of it being legal..
Party member Arturo Frondizi became president in 1958 and decided to partially legalize the Peronists ahead of the March 1962 elections for provincial governors. The Peronist candidates clearly prevailed in much of the country.
This caused the military to give a new coup. Frondizi was removed from office and the elections were annulled. The president who emerged from the coup, José María Guido, once again banned Peronism and called new votes under the control of the army.
With Frondizi in prison and without Peronism, Illia won the elections held on July 7, 1963. His candidacy, however, only obtained 25% of the votes, while the blank votes, cast by the Peronists, achieved a 19.7%.
Arturo Illia officially assumed the presidency on October 12, 1963. His government was questioned from the beginning due to its scant support in votes..
During his tenure, the president tried to change the policy on the country's oil exploitation, as well as boost the national industry. Likewise, it also developed literacy campaigns and approved several laws of a social nature..
Illia did not complete his term, as a new coup d'état removed him from office on June 28, 1966..
The politician, who had always shown honesty and austerity, did not want to receive the retirement pay to which he was entitled as former president. After the coup, he remained practically oblivious to politics, although he did not abandon his membership in the UCR.
Illia returned to his old occupation as a doctor in Cruz del Eje. Some of his biographers claim that his financial situation worsened significantly. His death occurred in Cruz del Este, on January 18, 1983.
Although he had asked that his remains rest in the town where he lived most of his life, today they are in the Pantheon of those who fell in the Revolution of 1890, in the Recoleta cemetery..
Upon assuming the presidency, at the age of 63, Illia had extensive political experience, after years in the UCR and holding public office.
Although his rivals characterized him as weak, in reality he was a tough and determined man. However, his government was born with great weakness, without a majority in Congress and with most of the provincial governorships in the hands of his opponents..
The first measure that Illia took after assuming the presidency was to legalize Peronism, with which it could stand in the legislative elections scheduled for 1965. The same measure was applied to the Communist Party..
In his first speech in Congress after assuming the presidency, Illia outlined the objectives of his government for his term.
In the first place, he announced that he was not going to try to interfere in the Judiciary and that he intended to respect the autonomy of the provinces.
Regarding the economy, Illia promised to boost the country's industry and take advantage of its productive potential. Likewise, he announced his intention to cancel the contracts signed with foreign oil companies and favor a reform in land ownership..
In a turbulent time in Argentine history, the Illia government presented positive aspects, such as its health, educational and cultural policies; stability in the economy or the non-declaration of any state of siege.
On the other hand, there were also more negative aspects, especially those related to the General Labor Confederation (CGT), the only labor union.
Illia had managed to calm the Peronists with its legalization. The CGT thus became its toughest opposition in the labor camp.
Already in his first year as president, Illia refused to investigate what happened to a CGT militant who had disappeared. The following year, the police repressed with great violence a demonstration called by that union.
The same repression was used on October 17, 1965, when an act, which had been previously prohibited before the announcement of the presence of María Estela Martínez de Perón, ended with 659 workers arrested..
Opponents of Illia also denounced multiple cases of censorship and the disappearance of several leaders opposed to his government.
The events that ended with the coup against the Illia government began when Juan Domingo Perón tried to return to Argentina from his exile in Spain..
With his expectant supporters, Perón traveled by plane with the intention of arriving in Buenos Aires, after stopping in Rio de Janeiro. However, Illia asked the Brazilian dictatorship to force the former president's transport to return to Madrid.
Despite this fact, Illia allowed the Peronists to stand in the legislative elections of 1965, in which they were clearly victors. The reaction of the military, supported by the United States and led by Juan Carlos Onganía, was to carry out a coup.
The coup began on June 28, 1966, when several soldiers arrived at the Casa Rosada, where the office of the president of Argentina is located, to demand that Illia resign..
Illia's reaction was to refuse, which was followed by an argument among those present. The president, according to historians, gave a blunt answer to the coup plotters: "I am the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces," which caused the military to leave the ranch..
Failing to achieve their objective in a peaceful manner, the military surrounded the Casa Rosada and again asked Illia for his resignation with the veiled threat that, otherwise, "he could not guarantee the safety of the people who accompanied him.".
Illia, out of options, agreed to leave her office. On his way out, he affirmed the following to one of the officers present: “You do not represent anyone; you are night robbers ".
After the triumph of the coup, called by the military the Argentine Revolution, General Juan Carlos Onganía proclaimed himself president.
Despite the repression that, at times, he exercised against his opponents, the presidency of Arturo Illia left several laws and measures that favored broad social sectors.
The predecessor of Arturo Illia in presidency, Arturo Frondizi, had legislated for the oil fields to be exploited by foreign companies, while Yacimientos Petrolifos Fiscales, a state-owned company, reserved exploration work and the purchase of production..
Illia, even before becoming president, had been against this policy, which he denounced as unfavorable to the interests of the country. For this reason, he promised to repeal the contracts signed by Frondizi.
Already in office, Illia proceeded to fulfill his promise. Thus, in November 1963, it annulled the contracts, claiming that they presented "illegitimate defects and were harmful to the rights and interests of the Nation.".
Despite the president's good intentions, the measure caused serious problems for the country's international image, which contributed to the support of the United States for the coup that ended his government..
On the other hand, the decrees to cancel the contracts also caused problems with the supply of fuel, to the point that it was necessary to import it. Finally, Argentina had to pay large compensation for the cancellations made.
In June 1964, the Illia government approved the Law of the Minimum, Vital and Mobile Salary. Shortly after, he created a body called the Salary Council, in which, in addition to the government, representatives of employers and unions participated..
With these measures, the government intended "to avoid the exploitation of workers in those sectors in which there may be an excess of labor." In addition, the need to "ensure an adequate minimum income" and to "improve the wages of the poorest workers" was also included..
This objective also motivated the enactment of the Supply Law, which set the minimum amounts that retirees and pensioners had to charge and set the costs of basic products..
Given his status as a doctor and his experience with patients who could not pay for their medicines, it is not surprising that Illia also passed a law in this regard..
In this case it was the Drug Law, which was approved in Congress by almost all the parties. The measure controlled drugs and fixed their costs in those in force at the end of 1963.
Proof of the importance that the government of Illia granted to education was the increase in the budget dedicated to this sector, which practically doubled in two years.
In addition, the government launched, in November 1964, the National Literacy Plan. Its purpose was to lower the high illiteracy rate, estimated at 10% of Argentine adults.
The situation of the Argentine economy was bad enough when Illia came to power. The crisis had led to a significant increase in unemployment and a reduction in tax revenue.
Illia's policy in this regard was focused on reorganizing the public sector (for which the Sindicatura de Empresas del Estado was created), reducing debt and, above all, boosting the national industry.
One of the most outstanding initiatives of the Illia government in the economic field was its opening towards China. Thus, in 1964, Argentina had difficulty selling surplus wheat obtained after a large harvest..
Illia negotiated with the Chinese government to sell it millions of tons. This made Argentina the first Western nation to do business with China..
The diplomatic work of the Argentine government representatives to the UN, led by Lucio García del Solar, got the General Assembly of that body to approve a resolution that recognized the existing dispute between Argentina and the United Kingdom regarding the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands..
A year earlier, Illia had tried to get the United Nations to force the British to begin a process of decolonization of the islands. Their efforts had some success, as representatives of the two countries in conflict met in Buenos Aires in 1966 to negotiate on the status of the Malvinas..
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