- Ricardo Balbín
Ricardo Balbín (born on
July 19 ,1904 inBuenos Aires - diedSeptember 9 1981 ) was an Argentine lawyer and politician, and one of the most important figures of theUnión Cívica Radical party (UCR), for which he was presidential candidate four times: in 1951, 1958, 1972 and 1973. The National Route 1 was named after him in 2004.Ricardo Balbín was born to Cipriano Balbín and Encarnación Morales in the city of
Buenos Aires , but the family moved first to Azul, and later to Ayacucho when he was still a child. In 1909 his mother had to be moved toSpain to treat a serious disease.In 1916, when
Hipólito Yrigoyen became president of the country, Balbín started high-school at the Colegio San José. In 1921 he started his university studies in medicine, but abandoned it shortly after due to financial dfficulties. In 1922 at just 18 years old, Balbín joined theUnión Cívica Radical , and moved toLa Plata , where the student atmosphere gave him the incentive to start Law School at theUniversidad Nacional de La Plata , obtaining a law degree in 1927.In 1928 he married Indalia Ponzetti, with whom he would have a daughter and two sons: Lía Elena, Osvaldo and Enrique Balbín. In the year of his marriage he participated actively on the presidential campaign that took Hipólito Yrigoyen again to the presidency.During Yrigoyen's mandate Balbín was named
District Attorney during the federal intervention inMendoza Province .Short after Balbín returned to La Plata and was elected president of La Plata's "Sección Primera" Committee in 1930, the year in which
José Félix Uriburu 'scoup d'etat toppled Yrigoyen. In 1931 the military government called elections, and Balbín was elected deputy forBuenos Aires Province , andHonorio Pueyrredón governor of the province. The victory of the Unión Cívica Radical was not expected by the military government, who invalidated the elections.In 1940 Balbín was again elected deputy for the province, but he resigned his seat in protest at fraud during those elections. In 1945 he participated in the foundation of the "Movimiento de Intransigencia y Renovación" (MIR) together with, among others,
Amadeo Sabattini ,Arturo Frondizi ,Crisólogo Larralde ,Oscar Alende ,Moisés Lebensohn andArturo Illia .In 1946 Balbín was elected national deputy and he became chief deputy of the so-called "Block of the 44" ("Bloque de los 44"). His role as one of the opposition leaders to
Juan Domingo Perón 's government brought him political and judicial prosecution, and he was expelled from congress in 1949, and imprisoned at theOlmos Penal in La Plata. In 1950 he was released, but sent back to jail the very same day of the election for which he was candidate for governor of the province. At the end of that year Perón granted him pardon, but Balbín refused to accept it since he had not yet been sentenced.Once freed, Balbín was elected presidential candidate for the 1951 national elections with Arturo Frondizi as candidate for vice-president, but Perón was re-elected. In 1954, he was sent again to jail.In 1955
Peronism was forbidden by the coup d'état known as the "Revolución Libertadora ". In 1957 the Unión Cívica Radical fragmented in two groups, the Unión Cívica Radical Intransigente (UCRI) with Arturo Frondizi and Oscar Alende as the main exponents, and Balbín's Unión Cívica Radical del Pueblo (UCRP). The UCRP chose Balbín as presidential candidate for the 1958 elections, with Santiago del Castillo as vice-president. Arturo Frondizi won with support from factions of the outlawed Peronists.In 1959 the UCRP chose
Arturo Illia as presidential candidate, who won the 1963 elections with Carlos Perette as vice-president. But Illia only governed until 1966, whenJuan Carlos Onganía 's coup removed him from the presidency.During that period Balbín, together with sections of several political parties, called for the 'return to legality' in a document entitled "Without a political solution there cannot be an economical solution" ("Sin solución política es impensable una solución económica").In 1972 Balbín was again elected presidential candidate over
Raúl Alfonsín , with Eduardo Gamond as vice-president. At the end of that year Perón returned from exile and met Balbín, promising to resolve historical differences to preserve the popular strengths. OnMarch 11 1973 , Peronism once again defeated Balbín, asHéctor Cámpora was elected president withVicente Solano Lima as vice-president.At the end of 1973, following the definitive return of Perón to Argentina, the governing body resigned and elections were called again.Balbín was presidential candidate for a forth and last time, with
Fernando de la Rúa as vice-presidential candidate. Perón triumphed with his wife María Estela Martínez as vice-president.OnJuly 1 1974 Perón died, and Balbín dedicated a warm speech to him.In 1974 and 1975 Balbín focused on avoiding yet another military coup, but onMarch 24 1976 , president María Estela Martínez was removed, bringing about the military government known as the "Proceso de Reorganización Nacional ".During this military government Balbín was criticised for not denouncing thehuman rights violations (see:Dirty War ) that were taking place. Upon his death in September 1981, and even though political demonstrations were illegal, a crowd gathered at his funeral to give him a last farewell.External links
*es icon [http://www.elhistoriador.com.ar/biografias/b/balbin.php Balbín Biography] by
Felipe Pigna
*es icon [http://ricardobalbin.tripod.com/biografia.htm Balbín Biography] by Diego Barovero
*es icon [http://ricardobalbin.tripod.com/ Speeches and interviews]References
* "Discursos de Ricardo Balbín", recopilation and selection of speeches: Carlos Alberto Giacobone, Ediciones Adelante, 1982.
* "Balbín entre rejas, la prisión de Ricardo Balbín en 1950", by César Arrondo, EDULP, Editorial de la Universidad de La Plata, 2002.
* "Balbín, el presidente postergado", Centro Editor de América Latina, 1992.
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