254 CHAPTER 11 THE TRIUMPH OF NEOCOLONIALISM AND THE LIBERAL STATE, 1870–1900
were the urban middle class and the workers,
whose income declined in real value.
THE FORMATION OF THE RADICAL PARTY
In 1889–1890, just as the boom was turning into
a depression, the accumulated resentment of the
urban middle class and some alienated sectors of
the elite over the catastrophic infl ation, one-party
rule, and offi cial corruption produced a protest
movement that took the name Unión Cívica (Civic
Union). Although the new organization had a
middle-class base, its leadership united such dispa-
rate elements as disgruntled urban politicians like
Leandro Além, its fi rst president; new landowners
and descendants of old aristocratic families denied
access to patronage; and Catholics outraged by the
government’s anticlerical legislation. Aside from
the demand for effective suffrage, the only thing
uniting these heterogeneous elements was a com-
mon determination to overthrow the government.
The birth of the new party in 1890 coincided
with a fi nancial storm: the stock market collapsed,
bankruptcies multiplied, and in April the cabinet
resigned. Encouraged by this last development,
and counting on support from the army, the lead-
ers of the Unión Cívica planned a revolt that ended
in defeat for the rebels.
The oligarchy now showed its ability to ma-
neuver and divide its enemies. It appeased disgrun-
tled elements of the elite by revising the system of
state patronage and sought to improve economic
conditions by a policy of retrenchment that re-
duced infl ation, stabilized the peso, and revived Ar-
gentine credit abroad. Thanks to these measures
and a gradual recovery from the depression, popu-
lar discontent began to subside.
These reforms isolated Leandro Além and
other dissidents, who now formed a new party
committed to a “radical” democracy—the Unión
Cívica Radical. The party knew that rigged voting
made electoral victory impossible, so they prepared
for another revolt—a move that effectively was
squelched by the government’s decision to deport
Além and other Radical leaders.
On his return from exile, Além organized a
third revolt in July 1893. The rebels briefl y seized
Santa Fe and some other towns, but after two and
a half months of fi ghting, the revolt collapsed for
lack of signifi cant popular support. Depressed by
his failures and the intrigues of his nephew, Hipó-
lito Yrigoyen, to seize control of the Radical Party,
Além committed suicide in 1896. Until 1910,
the Radical Party, now led by Yrigoyen, proved
unable to achieve political reform by peaceful or
revolutionary means, as the reunited oligarchy
consolidated its power.
In Yrigoyen, however, the Radicals possessed
a charismatic personality and a masterful organ-
izer who refused to admit defeat. Yrigoyen, a one-
time police superintendent in Buenos Aires, was
formerly a minor politician who used his offi cial
party connections to acquire considerable wealth,
which he invested in land and cattle. As a Radi-
cal caudillo, Yrigoyen was the architect of a pro-
gram whose vagueness was dictated by the party’s
need to appeal to very diverse elements and by its
wholehearted acceptance of the economic status
quo. “Abstention,” refusal to participate in rigged
elections, and “revolutionary intransigence,” the
determination to resort to revolution until free
elections were achieved, were the party’s basic
slogans.
The Radical Party represented the bour geoisie,
but it was a dependent bourgeoisie that did not
champion industrialization, economic diversifi ca-
tion, or nationalization of foreign-owned indus-
tries. Far from attacking the neocolonial order, the
Radical Party proposed to strengthen it by promot-
ing cooperation between the landed aristocracy
and the urban sectors, which were challenging
the creole elite’s monopoly of political power. The
Radical Party went into eclipse after the debacles
of 1890 and 1893 but gradually revived after
1900, due in part to Yrigoyen’s charismatic per-
sonality and organizing talent. The most impor-
tant factor, however, was the steady growth of an
urban and rural middle class largely composed of
immigrant children. The domination of the ex-
port sector, which limited the growth of industry
and opportunities for entrepreneurial activity,
focused middle-class ambitions more and more
on government employment and the professions,
two fi elds dominated by the creole elite. Signs of