Collecting Consciences: The Catholic Church and Populist Leadership in Juan Perón’s Argentina and Salvador Allende’s Chile A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Renée Crown University Honors Program at Syracuse University Emma Louise Fountain Candidate for Bachelor of Arts and Renée Crown University Honors Spring 2020 Honors Thesis in International Relations Thesis Advisor: _______________________ Dr. Gladys McCormick Thesis Reader: _______________________ Dr. Francine D’Amico Honors Director: _______________________ Dr. Karen Hall Fountain 2 Abstract This paper identifies populism’s key actors and addresses three essential relationships. These actors are the political leader (the president), the religious leader (the Catholic Church), and the led (the people). The relationships examined here are those between the political leader and the led, the political and the religious leaders, and the religious leader and the led. This framework is then applied to the distinctly populist presidencies of Juan Perón in Argentina and Salvador Allende in Chile. Evidence for these cases comes from an assortment of sources, from contemporary accounts of leadership to recent reflections. Perón began his regime in 1946 with strong relationships on every front, but lost the support of the Catholic Church and subsequently the support of the people by the mid-1950s. Allende’s populism was a development of Perón’s populism. In the two decades that separated the Argentine leader from the Chilean, an activist movement within the Christian community undermined the Catholic Church’s political pull. Therefore, Allende’s weak relationship with the Church and powerful link to the people was politically successful. This comparison of Perón and Allende offers valuable insight on the viability of different modes of populism. Fountain 3 Executive Summary This interdisciplinary paper explores the roles of religion and politics in the populist presidencies of Juan Perón and Salvador Allende. A definition of populism emerges through identification of the key actors and three of their essential relationships. These actors are the political leader (the president), the religious leader (the Catholic Church), and the led (the people). The relationships examined here are those between the political leader and the led, the political and the religious leaders, and the religious leader and the led. This framework is then applied to the distinctly populist presidencies of Juan Perón in Argentina and Salvador Allende in Chile. Evidence for these cases comes from an assortment of sources, from contemporary accounts of leadership to recent reflections. Perón began his regime in 1946 with strong relationships on every front, but lost the support of the Catholic Church and subsequently the support of the people by the mid-1950s. Allende’s populism was a development of Perón’s populism. In the two decades that separated the Argentine leader from the Chilean, an activist movement within the Christian community undermined the Catholic Church’s political pull. Therefore, Allende’s weak relationship with the Church and powerful link to the people was politically successful. Comparison of Perón and Allende offers valuable insight on the viability of different modes of populism. This study relies on certain terms to define the boundaries of populism. First, the phrase “political leader” refers to the two relevant presidents, with some additional reference to a 19th-century governor. Populism is this leader’s political style of choice. Fountain 4 The “religious leader” in this paper refers to the institution of the Roman Catholic Church. In both Argentina and Chile in these time frames, Catholicism was the majority religion and the traditional religion affiliated with the state. In this study, I rely on testimony of ordained Cardinals and Bishops, as communicated through the Conferencia Episcopal (Episcopal ​ ​ Conferences) of Argentina and Chile, respectively. Finally, the “led” is the community that makes up the nation. This study applies two perspectives to this component: the religious and the political. The religious perspective of the led is examined through comunidades eclesiasticas de base (Base Ecclesiastical Communities), ​ ​ while the political perspective is seen through worker organization. This project is especially pertinent in 2020, when a new wave of populist leadership has swept the globe. Understanding the process through which populism can strengthen the base of support for a president is a powerful thing – this understanding can reveal motivations. In a democratic society, the right to vote confers the responsibility of electing leadership upon the people. Our responsibility in this regard demands us to question the motives of our leaders, and here I hope my research is relevant. Populism is a tactic used to win support, and it has a robust political history. If we understand this history, we will be better equipped to see through the empty promises of a politician trying to win power. Hopefully, this will bring us to more qualified leadership, rather than to a president who only cares about how loudly his name can be chanted at rallies. Religion and politics shape each of our lives. These two great forces have always been the architects of society, and the study of populism offers a window into a way in which these forces can interact. Fountain 5 Table of Contents Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………………. 7 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………10 Definitions……………………………………………………………………………………… 16 Political Leader ………………………………………………………………………... 16 ​ Religious Leader………………………………………………………………………... 16 ​ The People……………………………………………………………………………….17 ​ The Institutional Catholic Church and the People……………………………………... 18 ​ The Political Leader, the People, and Populism………………………………………... ​ 22 Argentina………………………………………………………………………………………... 25 Juan Perón and the People……………………………………………………………... 25 ​ Juan Perón and the Institutional Catholic Church……………………………………... 29 ​ The Institutional Catholic Church and the People……………………………………... 32 ​ Chile…………………………………………………………………………………………….. 37 Salvador Allende and the People……………………………………………………….. 37 ​ Salvador Allende and the Institutional Catholic Church……………………………….. 40 ​ The Institutional Catholic Church and the People……………………………………... 44 ​ Conclusions……………………………………………………………………………………... 47 Sources Cited and Consulted…………………………………………………………………… 50 Fountain 6 “The masses do not think, they feel.” Rita de Grandis, 1999 Fountain 7 Acknowledgements There are countless people who have brought me to this point, and it would be impossible to name them all without writing another fifty pages. However, I will do my best in these few paragraphs. I started my undergraduate career as an International Relations major, and have been amazed at the dedication of each of the professors I have encountered along the way. I chose IR fairly arbitrarily, but I cannot imagine studying anything else. My world is bigger than I could ever have anticipated four years ago. Not long after I began my time at Syracuse University, I declared a major in Spanish Language, Literature, and Culture. While I may never fully grasp the subjunctive, I have enjoyed every course I have taken with the Spanish department along the way. This department is one of the most enthusiastic and welcoming communities I have encountered. Thank you for the patience and compassion you have shown me again and again throughout the years. This thesis has been rattling around my brain ever since I took a course titled Religion, ​ Scripture, and Law in my sophomore year. Halfway through this semester, I declared a major in ​ Religion and began incessantly talking about how religion and politics occupy the same space. I have found the professors in this department to be endlessly passionate and interesting, and I appreciate every classroom lecture, office-hours meeting, and passing conversation on the bigger (and smaller) questions in life. I feel especially proud and lucky to have been taught by many of you. Fountain 8 A few months after adding my Religion major, I landed in Santiago, Chile, for a semester-long study abroad program. Mauricio Paredes’ emphatic lessons challenged me more than I thought I could handle and changed the way I saw the world. It was there that I wrote my first essays on the Church and governance in very hesitant Spanish, and, Mauricio, I will always be grateful for your spirited guidance. Formal work on this project began when I met Dr. Gladys McCormick in Spring of 2019. This name had come up repeatedly as I asked around the Maxwell School for faculty who might be willing to guide me through this process. Dr. McCormick, I remember leaving your office buzzing with excitement to begin this project. I admit, that excitement mixed with terror as I took Modern Latin America with you in the Fall, but your high standards have made this thesis ​ stronger and better than what I could have produced on my own. Thank you for always pushing me to strive for more. By now, I have taken three courses with Dr. Francine D’Amico, and if there was a way to take any more, I would be the first to enroll. Dr. D, thank you so much for the kindness, advice, and encouragement you have given me over these last few years. There is no way I would be remotely close to where I am today without your support, and there is no adequate way to express how much I have learned from you. Thank you. There is a group of people at Syracuse who have been by