Argentine legislative election, 1965

The Argentine legislative elections of 1965 were held on 14 March. Voters chose their legislators and, with a turnout of 83.5%, it produced the following results:

Argentine Congress

Party/Electoral Alliance	Lower House Seats	Change	Vote Percentage
UCR	68	4	29.7%
Popular Union	52	48	30.9%
Integration and Development Movement	16	16	6.5%
UCRI	11	29	4.6%
Federation of Centrist Parties	10	10	3.1%
Democratic Progressive Party	9	3	3.2%
UDELPA	7	7	2.0%
Christian Democratic Party	4	3	2.7%
Socialist Party	4	2	2.0%
Democratic Socialist Party	2	3	1.9%
Others	19	23	13.4%
Invalid votes			4.2%
Total seats	192

^[1]

^[2]

Background

The exiled populist leader, Juan Perón, continued to set the electoral agenda. The economy had recovered vigorously from the 1962-63 recession, and this only seemed to deprive voters and the media of a distraction away from speculation as to what steps Perón might take next to return to Argentina. This issue was highlighted by his failed December 1964 attempt to arrive in Buenos Aires - thwarted almost by accident. His still-sizable Peronist base, in turn, were divided between those who felt his return was critical to their political future, and those who sought alternatives. One of the most successful projects to these ends was the Popular Union (UP), a party founded within days of Perón's violent, September 1955 overthrow. Its founder, Juan Atilio Bramuglia, had been a close advisor of Perón's since the birth of the movement, in 1945. Bramuglia had been unable, however, to obtain support for the idea from Perón himself, who favored electoral alliances. Bramuglia died in 1962; but the failure of one such alliance in 1963 provided Popular Union supporters with their first realistic chance to represent the aging leader.^[3]

Augusto Vandor, whose strategic skill and call for "Peronism without Perón" allowed the UP to benefit from Illia's policy of Peronist inclusion.

The President, Dr. Arturo Illia, faced immediate pressure from the military and other anti-peronists to bar the Popular Union from fielding any candidates; but the moderate Illia refused. The adoption of the UP mantle by Steelworkers' leader Augusto Vandor defied Perón's call for open conflict with the Illia administration, moreover. The issue of the UP divided Vandor and his allies in the CGT from the CGT Secretary General, José Alonso, and his allies (including Andrés Framini, who had run on the UP ticket in 1962 and won, only to have the elections annulled). Vandor's very prominence made him the UP's paramount figure, and by extension, the first viable Peronist alternative to Perón in the movement's twenty years of existence.^[4]

Despite fears this might trigger a coup, the elections proceeded on schedule. President Illia's centrist UCR did not benefit from economic growth, and they lost 4 seats. Former President Pedro Aramburu's anti-peronist UDELPA benefited even less from Perón's barely thwarted return, and they lost half their 14 seats. Former President Arturo Frondizi's MID, which had been barred from running by conservative opposition in 1963, picked up 16 seats in its first electoral test. This was significant because the MID had bested his former party, the UCRI (with which he had parted ways in 1963). The UCRI was left with but 11 of its 40 seats, the result of losing both Frondizi's and Perón's erstwhile support. Most of these seats went to the Popular Union, which gained 44. Its leader, Dr. Rodolfo Tercera del Franco, was elected Vice President of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies.^[5]

The 1965 elections were a notable accomplishment for President Illia, who had stopped military interference against them without it immediately costing him the presidency.^[5]

Elections and referendums in Argentina

Presidential elections	1854 1860 1862 1868 1874 1880 1886 1892 1898 1904 1910 1916 1922 1928 1931 1937 1946 1951 1958 1963 1973 (Mar) 1973 (Sep) 1983 1989 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019

Parliamentary elections	1854 1856 1858 1860 1862 1864 1866 1868 1870 1872 1874 1876 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1931 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1946 1948 (Mar) 1948 (Dec) 1951 1954 1957 1958 1960 1962 1963 1965 1973 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1994 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019

Provincial elections	1854 1856 1858 1860 1862 1864 1866 1868 1870 1872 1874 1876 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1931 1934 1936 1937 1938 1940 1942 1946 1948 1951 1954 1957 1958 1960 1962 1963 1965 1973 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2005 2007 2008 2009 2011 2012 2013 2015 2016 2017 2019

Referendums	1984

References

↑ Nohlen, Dieter. Elections in the Americas. Oxford University Press, 2005.
↑ Andy Tow's Electoral Atlas of Argentina
↑ El primer peronismo sin Perón (Spanish)
↑ McGuire, James (1997). Peronism Without Peron: Unions, Parties, and Democracy in Argentina. Stanford University Press.
1 2 Todo Argentina: 1965 (Spanish)

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