A nation that went from being one of the most richest on Earth to a basket case in one century.
And they still haven’t turned off the stupid faucet.
The Perons’ heyday was only a decade or so. Evita died in 1952 & Juan didn’t last long after that. But they managed to upend an entire economic structure & create a permanent gibsmedat class, the “descamisados”.
A century ago a wealthy person here was called “as rich as an Argentine”. Argentina sailed through the 1930’s untouched by the world depression. Then a certain army colonel with a brand new portfolio as minister of labor decided he’d use that to build a voter base out of those previously disenfranchised. Union leaders became his lieutenants & the “descamisados” voted purely their pocketbooks.
And so the slide into bleak social democracy began. Hyperinflation is a regular occurence in Argentina now.