Montoneros (, MPM) was a far-left, revolutionary guerrilla organization in Argentina, which emerged in the 1970s during the "Argentine Revolution" dictatorship. The Montoneros advocated an ideology combining revolutionary Peronism, Falangism, and Camilism; they were officially Roman Catholic. The organization's name referred to the 19th-century cavalry militias called Montoneras, which fought for the Federalist Party in the Argentine civil wars. The Montoneros were radicalized by the political repression of anti-Peronist regimes, the influence of the Cuban Revolution, and liberation theology worker-priests; they grew from the 1960s Catholic revolutionary guerrilla Comando Camilo Torres as a "national liberation movement", and they synthesized revolutionary Peronism, Guevarism, and the revolutionary Catholicism of Juan García Elorrio shaped by Camilism. The Montoneros fought for the return of Juan Perón to Argentina and the establishment of "Christian national socialism", based on "indigenous" Argentine and Catholic socialism; this was seen as the ultimate conclusion of Peronist doctrine.
The Montoneros' first public action occurred on 29 May 1970, with the kidnapping, revolutionary trial, and assassination of the anti-Peronist ex-dictator Pedro Eugenio Aramburu. He was one of the leaders of the 1955 coup that had overthrown the constitutional government led by President Juan Domingo Perón. Montoneros kidnapped the ex-dictator to put him on "revolutionary trial" for being a traitor to the homeland—for having shot 27 people to suppress the 1956 Valle uprising—and to recover the body of Eva Perón, whom Aramburu had kidnapped and made disappear. Montoneros was the armed nucleus of a set of nonmilitary social organizations ("mass fronts") known as the Tendencia Revolucionaria del Peronismo (or simply La Tendencia); these included the Juventud Peronista Regionales (JP), the Juventud Universitaria Peronista (JUP), the Juventud Trabajadora Peronista (JTP), the Unión de Estudiantes Secundarios (UES), the Agrupación Evita, and the Movimiento Villero Peronista.
In 1972 Montoneros merged with Descamisados, and in 1973 it merged with the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR), with which it had been collaborating. Its actions contributed to the military dictatorship calling for free elections in 1973, in which the multiparty electoral front (Frejuli)—of which it was a member—won. This victory included the presidential candidacy of Peronist Héctor José Cámpora—a man close to Montoneros—as well as several governors, parliamentarians, ministers, and high-ranking government officials. Cámpora's government and its relationship with the Montoneros came under heavy pressure from the beginning, from right-wing sectors, the Italian anti-communist Masonic lodge Propaganda Due, and the CIA. Only 49 days later, Cámpora was forced to resign after the Ezeiza massacre.
After Cámpora's resignation as president on 12 July 1973, the Montoneros began to lose power and became progressively isolated. This situation worsened after the assassination of trade union leader José Ignacio Rucci on 25 September 1973—attributed to Montoneros—and above all after Perón's death, on 1 July 1974. At that time, a policy of state terrorism was unleashed by the right-wing parapolice organization known as the Triple A, which was led by José López Rega—who became the right-hand man of President Isabel Perón. Two months later, Montoneros went underground again and restarted their armed struggle. On 8 September 1975, Isabel Perón issued Decree 2452/75 banning the organization's activity and classifying it as a "subversive group".
On 24 March 1976, Argentina's constitutional government was overthrown; an anti-Peronist civilian-military dictatorship was established, which imposed a totalitarian regime focused on eliminating its opponents. Montoneros relocated its leadership to Mexico, and they fought the Argentine dictatorship, inflicting serious casualties on the civil-military government while suffering heavy losses, including a large number of militants and fighters who disappeared. In 1979 and 1980, Montoneros attempted two counter-offensives that failed militarily and politically. When democracy was restored in December 1983, the Montoneros organization no longer existed as a political-military structure, and it sought to insert itself into democratic political life. During the following years, several Montoneros adherents occupied important political posts in democratic governments.
Ideology
The main political currents that shaped the Montoneros were the following:
the far-left liberation theology of Camilo Torres Restrepo the "Christian national socialism" of Juan Perón the Marxist-Leninist Guevarism of revolutionary Che Guevara the option for the poor and anti-imperialism promoted by Catholic priest Juan García Elorrio in his journal Cristianismo y Revolución the Peronist left-wing nationalism promoted by John William Cooke
In addition, the initial mentor of the group was Carlos Mugica, who saw Peronism as an Argentinian version of Catholic socialism; however, he rejected armed struggle and revolution, stating: "I am prepared to be killed but I am not prepared to kill". This stance led radicalized youth who would then form the Montoneros to embrace the more radical beliefs of Camilo Torres and García Elorrio instead; Torres argued that "The duty of every Catholic is to be a revolutionary" and that "The Catholic who is not a revolutionary is living in mortal sin". The movement also glorified Eva Perón, naming her as one of the inspirations behind the Montoneros, as well as using the slogan "Si Evita viviera, sería Montonera" ("If Evita were alive she would be a Montonero"), which became one of the group's best-known slogans. In January 1975, the official organ of the Montoneros even took the name Evita Montonera. Montoneros are considered the ideological staple of revolutionary Peronism, which combined "radical Catholic principles of justice, Peronist populism, and leftist nationalism." Montoneros remained committed to liberation theology throughout their entire existence, and the notion of Catholic martyrdom was a strong element in the Montonero worldview and political practice. They were described as "a combination of socialist ideas and violent catholic struggle in the fashion of Camillo Torres".
Other figures who influenced the Montoneros included the Juan José Hernández Arregui, who considered Peronism "the vehicle of the nation doing battle with imperialism"; historian José María Rosa, who defined Peronism as revolutionary anti-imperialism; dissident communist Rodolfo Puiggrós, who promoted 'Peronist Marxism'; and Arturo Jauretche, who founded the left-wing nationalist Fuerza de Orientación Radical de la Joven Argentina (FORJA) in 1935 and became a Peronist in the 1940s. In the late 1960s, Jauretche and Arregui held regular discussions with the Montonero leadership, refining their ideology and rhetoric. Montoneros were also influenced by the polemic between their political mentors and inspirations: in 1969 Perón expressed his interest in Elorrio's Cristianismo y Revolución and wrote a letter to Elorrio that was later published in the journal. This letter stated:
Among the list of the political mentors of the Montoneros, Richard Gillespie names Camilo Torres as the most important inspiration. This is evidenced by the name of the Camilo Torres Commando, which was created in 1967; it was a precursor of the Montoneros, defining its ideology as "Peronism, socialism, Catholic liberationism, and armed struggle" and having "Latin American and Third World liberation" for its goal.
Liberation theology Despite its far-left ideology, Montoneros originated in middle-class and upper-middle-class Catholic and nationalist backgrounds. The core of Montonero ideology was Argentinian nationalism and political Catholicism, which were later extended into Peronism and socialism. This connection was enabled by the influence of Catholicism after the Second Vatican Council, as third-worldist and liberation theology Argentinian priests—also known as the worker-priests—radicalized Catholic students into embracing these political currents. Priest Carlos Mugica, known for his work in shantytowns at the time, became a spiritual advisor of the Catholic students' organization at the National University of Central Buenos Aires; he came in contact with students who later became leading members of the Montoneros. Mugica promoted Peronism, arguing that he was "absolutely convinced that the liberation of my people will be through the Peronist movement. I know from the Gospel, from Christ's attitude, that I must see human history through the poor. And in Argentina the majority of the poor are Peronists." Catholicism was so central to Montoneros that the group began corresponding with Pope John Paul II and also had its own chaplain—Catholic priest Jorge Adur—who became the Montoneros' emissary to the Vatican.
Around 1964, Mugica contacted former members of a 1950s Peronist resistance organization known as the Tacuaristas, and he introduced them to his pupils. Mugica praised Peronism as an effective realization of Catholicism, arguing that Peronism and Catholicism were united in their goals of "love for the poor, for those persecuted for defending justice and for fighting against injustice".
Camilism Further radicalization came from the death of Camilo Torres, a revolutionary Catholic priest who joined the Marxist-Leninist National Liberation Army and was killed during one of the organization's operations. Six months after his death, the first issue of the Catholic socialist journal Cristianismo y Revolución was published, under the direction of García Elorrio. The journal promoted reforms after the Second Vatican Council as a turn toward Marxism; encouraged armed struggle as a truly Catholic way of seizing power; idealized Camilo Torres and Che Guevara as examples of anti-imperialist martyrs; and vindicated Peronism as the "revolutionary key of national construction of socialism". Most influential concerning Montoneros was Elorrio's article from March 1967, which connected Camilo Torres' struggle to Peronism:
Richard Gillespie identifies Cristianismo y Revolución as the decisive factor behind the radicalization of Catholic students and the creation of Montoneros, along with the Movement of Priests for the Third World. The journal made emotional appeals for sympathy for the oppressed, and it made radical Catholics identify themselves with the 'national liberation' struggles of the Third World—with Perón and Guevara named as primary examples. The journal also glorified militants, paid homage to them, and portrayed their deaths as an ultimate sacrifice in the name of love for the downtrodden. Cristianismo y Revolución also defused dislike of Peronism among Catholic and mainstream socialist circles: Elorrio regarded Catholic and socialist opposition to Peronism as a mistake, which resonated with the hitherto anti-Peronist middle class, who were now disillusioned with the authoritarianism and corruption of post-Perón Argentinian governments. Because of this disillusionment, former anti-Peronists "now embraced Peronism with the zeal of reformed sinners". Elorrio also pushed his readers toward action and revolution, writing:
Catholic influence remained strong during the entirety of Montoneros' existence. Martha Crenshaw remarked that its members "were regular church attenders right up to the moment of going underground", and the organization established its own Catholic "chaplaincy" after resuming clandestine resistance in September 1974. Montoneros' liberation theology also included a Cuban-inspired cult of martyrdom for its fallen members—guerrillero heroico.