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Héctor José Cámpora Demaestre (1909-1980) was a former president of Argentina from May 25 until July 13 1973.
Cámpora, affectionately known as el Tío (the Uncle) was born in the city of Mercedes, in the Province of Buenos Aires. He earned a degree on Dentistry and carried out his trade in his hometown, before moving to nearby San Andrés de Giles.
Being Juan Domingo Perón's personal delegate, he run for President in 1973 to avoid the veto on Perón issued by the Argentine dictator gen. Lanusse. The presidential ticket also carried Vicente Solano Lima as Vicepresident. Despite Campora left-leaning tendencies, Solano Lima belonged to the Popular Conservative Party.
His inauguration, on May 25, 1973, gathered controversial names such as Chile and Cuba presidents, Salvador Allende and Osvaldo Dorticós, respectively.
One of Cámpora first presidential actions was to grant amnesty to political prisoners, which motivated a massive release of prisoners, including convicted criminals, even before the amnesty was signed.
On May 28 Argentina restored diplomatic relations with Cuba, who received Argentine aid, such as food and industrial products, to break the American blockade.
Cámpora's radicalized ideology set him against the right-wing Peronism. When Perón returned to Argentina (June 20, 1973), his plane has to be redirected to a military airport because of the armed fighting between peronist factions, known as the Ezeiza Massacre, that left 13 deaths.
Jose Ber Gelbard, president of a Small and Medium-sized Enterprise association was designated as Economy Minister. He tried to established a "social pact" among the CGT workers and the "National Bourgeoisie", including a price freeze and widespread salary hikes.
Finally, on July 13, 1973 Cámpora resigns to allow Juan Domingo Perón return to power. He was designated as Argentine ambassador to México.
After the coup d'etat of 1976 he sought refugee at the Mexican Embassy in Buenos Aires. Three years later, he was allowed to fly to México, dying in Cuernavaca, shortly after his arrival.
References
- Enciclopedia Libre Universal en Español - Héctor José Cámpora (). Original version in Spanish, released under GNU FDL.
See also
| Preceded by: Alejandro A. Lanusse | President of Argentina 1973 | Succeeded by: Raúl Alberto Lastiri |