Argentina and Brazil’s post war economic development was shaped by a rising cadre of populist politicians who channeled aspirations into votes through direct popular appeals and economic nationalism. Earlier liberal politicians had dismissed the electoral potential of the working class and denied it the right to vote. But as pressure for universal voting rights intensified, first for men then for women, large numbers of Latin Americans who had never been given a political voice gained it, beginning with universal male suffrage in Argentina in 1912 and Mexico in 1917. Women gained the right to vote across Latin America in the decades that followed, beginning with Ecuador in 1929 and Brazil in 1932. Though in most cases voters still needed to be literate to vote, universal literacy efforts and male and female suffrage increased the electoral base of Latin American countries by millions. To appeal to these voters, populist candidates promised schools and hospitals, higher wages, and nationalist projects that would create more industrial jobs.

At the turn of the century Argentina’s economy prospered through its liberal export boom (see Chapter 27), but industrialization followed only haltingly and the economy faltered. Populist Juan Perón, an army colonel, was elected president in 1946 with support of Argentina’s unions. Juan Perón was charismatic, but his wife, Eva, known by her nickname Evita, was even more so, and played a vital role in promoting Perón. Once in power, Perón embarked on an ambitious scheme to transform Argentina’s economy: the government would purchase all of the country’s agricultural exports in order to negotiate their sale abroad at a higher price. He would reinvest the profits in industry and raise worker wages to stimulate demand.

Perón’s scheme worked in the immediate post war period, when European agricultural production had not yet recovered and the international price of Argentina’s exports was high. But when commodity prices declined, Perón reduced government payments to farmers, who ceased to bring their harvests to market. In the coming decades Argentina never returned to the high rates of economic growth it enjoyed at the beginning of the century. Many blamed Perón for distorting the economy for his own political gain. Others saw Perón’s efforts as halting a worse decline: Argentina’s economy had long been dependent on Britain, and as Britain’s capacity to import declined, so did Argentina’s fortunes.

Despite these economic setbacks, Perón initially remained highly popular, buoyed by the popular appeals made by Evita. (See “Individuals in Society: Eva Perón.”)

After Evita died of cancer in 1952, much of the magic slipped away. Amid the stagnating economy even Perón’s union supporters faltered, and he responded harshly to press criticism. In 1955 the armed forces deposed Perón, and he fled to exile in Spain. The military ruled Argentina for the next three years, conducting a process of “de-Perónization.” They banned Perón’s party and even forbade mention of his name. But Perón remained the most popular politician in the country. Presidential candidates could not win without discreetly winning the exiled Perón’s endorsement, and this veiled support for Perón by civilian leaders prompted repeated military interventions. The 1955–1958 military government was the first of several, including a dictatorship that ruled from 1966 to 1973.

In Brazil, reacting against the economic and political liberalism through which coffee planters dominated the country, the armed forces installed a state governor, Getúlio Vargas, as president in 1930. Vargas initiated democratic reforms, but veered into a nationalist dictatorship known as the “New State” (1937–1945), inspired by European fascism. Despite his harsh treatment of opponents, he was popular with the masses and was elected to a new term as president in 1950, now reinvented as a populist who promised nationalist economic reforms that would favor industrial workers. The armed forces and conservatives mistrusted Vargas’s appeals to workers and organized to depose him in 1954. Before they could act, Vargas killed himself.

Vargas’s two periods in power saw rapid industrialization, the legalization of labor unions, and the institution of a minimum wage. Juscelino Kubitschek, elected in 1955, continued to build upon Vargas’s populism and nationalism. Between 1956 and 1960 Kubitschek’s government borrowed heavily from abroad to promote industry and build the futuristic new capital of Brasília in the midst of a wilderness. Kubitschek’s slogan was “Fifty Years’ Progress in Five.”

By the late 1950s economic and social progress seemed to be bringing more democratic politics to Brazil and other Latin American countries. The Cuban Revolution, which in 1959 put Cuba on a course to radical Marxism, shook these expectations. Across Latin America conservative leaders, fearing redistribution of their wealth, and military officers, who were often trained by the U.S. armed forces and identified ideologically with the United States, took control of governments to block the further spread of communism. In 1961 leftist populist João Goulart became Brazil’s president. Goulart sought social and economic reforms, including the redistribution of land and limits on the profits multinational corporations could take out of the country. In 1964 a military coup backed by the United States deposed Goulart. The armed forces held power for the next twenty-one years.