RAUL RICARDO ALFONSIN FOULKES - ARGENTINA - 1984/08/01

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Keywords: BIO
• Keywords: MEETING
• Collection: Argentina Declassification Project - The "Dirty War" (1976-83)
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 01442185
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: April 3, 2019
• Document Release Date: April 12, 2019
• Publication Date: August 1, 1984

3.5(c)
Approved for Release: 2018/10/01 C01442185
CO TIAL
Raid Ricardo ALFONSIN Foulkes
(Phonetic: ahlfohnSEEN)
President
(since December 1983)
Addressed as:
Mr. President
A man of deep political convictions and a
human rights activist, Raul Alfonsin is attempting
to reestablish democratic government in Argentina
after an almost unbroken 40-year string of military
and Peronist governments. He is the first
democratically oriented president in almost 70
years to exercise genuine political control. He is
popular with the people, who admire his honesty,
moral leadership qualities, and political savvy,
according to US Embassy officials. He is, however, �
besieged by militant labor unions demanding wage increases, an antagonist opposition party,
and mounting social unrest created by Argentina's economic difficulties. As a result he has
lost the initial momentum generated by his sweeping reform actions aimed at placing the
military under civilian control and democratizing labor union leadership. The above-
mentioned officials add that, although Alfonsin is the undisputed leader of the government
and of his Radical Civic Union (UCR) party, his administration lacks a coherent program
and managerial expertise.
3.5(c)
ARGENTINA
3.5(c)
Alfonsin combines pragmatism with strong moral principles, say US diplomats. They
note that his governing style is to maintain equilibrium among opposing forces, delay
making decisions that cause division, and build consensus when possible. At the same time
he has demonstrated administrative weaknesses such as poor planning, and he has failed to
delegate authority and to capitalize on opportunities to implement his programs. His
attempts to handle problems on a day-by-day basis have resulted in inconsistent and
counterproductive decisions, report these same officials 3.5(c)
Domestic Politics
After his inauguration, Alfonsin moved quickly to fulfill his campaign promises and to
confront the wide range of problems inherited from the previous military government. He
appointed a blue-ribbon commission to investigate the disappearances of about 7,000 people
during the military's anti-insurgency campaign in the late 1970s. He also ordered the court-
martialing (on charges of murder, torture, and kidnaping) of nine members of military juntas
that ruled between 1976 and 1982. On the labor front he proposed democratic elections in
the trade unions�a move designed to break the Peronist grip on union leadership. After the
Peronist-dominated Senate defeated his labor union reform proposal in March 1984,
Alfonsin took a less confrontational approach toward his political opposition, and he himself
engaged in negotiations with labor leaders. He has also advocated the creation of a "social
pact" that would be backed by all major political parties, report US diplomats.
Foreign Policy
Alfonsin has pursued a pragmatic foreign policy based on the principles of
nonalignment and Latin American integration. Increased trade relations with Cuba and
COlNTIAL
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CR M 84-13753
3.5(c)
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-GeNfli3ENTITE
Nicaragua have been balanced by efforts to improve ties to the United States. Moreover,
while acknowledging the legitimacy of Argentina's foreign debt, he has rejected what he
calls the orthodox mechanisms prescribed by the International Monetary Fund for handling
repayment, and he has assumed the leadership role among Latin American governments in
the quest for better terms. He has adamantly upheld Argentine claims to sovereignty over
the Falkland Islands; at the same time, Argentine negotiations with Chile over the disputed
Beagle Channel are apparently close to an agreement.
3.5(c)
Career and Personal Data
Alfonsin has a doctorate in law and social sciences from the University of Buenos Aires.
He has held positions in the UCR since the 1950s. He has served two terms in the Buenos
Aires provincial Chamber of Deputies, and during the early 1960s he represented Buenos
Aires Province in the national Chamber of Deputies, where he was vice president of the
UCR bloc. Alfonsin was the UCR candidate for governor of Buenos Aires Province in 1967,
before the then ruling military canceled the election. 3.5(c)
Embassy officers report that Alfonsin acquired an image as a populist and a reform-
minded democrat in the late 1960s, when he published antigovernment editorials in the
UCR monthly and was arrested for participating in an illegal street demonstration. In the
early 1970s he was the heir apparent to then UCR leader Ricardo Balbin, but he became
dissatisfied with Balbin's conservative, accommodating position on military rule, according
to Embassy officials. Convinced that the UCR needed to take on a more populist character,
Alfonsin founded the Renovation and Change faction in the UCR in 1972 to move the party
leftward to challenge the Peronists and to take advantage of widespread public discontent
with the military government. For the next decade he fought tenaciously for the party
leadership, championing human rights causes and helping to found the Argentine
Permanent Assembly for Human Rights. He traveled to Europe in 1980 to win the support
of socialists and established ties to several European leaders, including French President
Francois Mitterrand and Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez. In the year preceding the
presidential election, he organized massive political rallies; backed human rights marches;
and, as an attorney, defended numerous political detainees. He assured his dominance in the
UCR when his Renovation and Change faction won absolute control of the party's National
Committee in internal party elections in July 1983. 3.5(c)
A lifelong sports enthusiast, Alfonsin, 57, enjoys playing paleta, a form of racquetball.
He also enjoys reading Spanish literature. Married to the former Maria Lorenza
Barreneche, he has six children and 13 grandchildren. One daughter lives in Oklahoma.
2
-CONFIDENTIAL
Approved for Release: 2018/10/01 C01442185
1 August 1984