ABSTRACT
For many years in Argentina and in Latin America, in general, it was assumed that there was an incompatibility between democracy and pro-market reforms; the latter could only be developed under authoritarian regimes. The arrival of Menem to the presidency in 1989, with the Peronist party, inaugurated a radical process of pro-market reforms that would refute this hypothesis, which would generate great bewilderment and surprise in the intellectual world. Menemism would thus establish itself as the most representative exponent of Latin American neopopulism and become the native translation of the New Right inaugurated by Reagan and Thatcher. During his ten-year government, Menemism managed to arrange an unprecedented transformation in Argentina, combining conservative and neoliberal elements within the plebeian and populist matrix of Peronism. In this chapter we will try to decipher certain peculiarities of this process: How was the Peronist tradition resignified to become a vehicle for neoliberalism? What was the peculiar alliance of right-wing traditions that accompanied the government during these years? What are the political imaginaries that were deployed to legitimise this new political orientation? How was the myth of the golden age that runs through all of Argentine history redefined? What were the most salient characteristics of Menem’s neopopulist leadership? What are the most relevant continuities with the New Right governments of the 1980s in the United States (US) and England? The answer to these questions will allow us to delve into a fundamental episode for understanding the evolution of the Argentine right in the last 40 years.
