Beginnings in politics

Frondizi identified with Yrigoyenismo when he was a teenager and studying in high school. Hipólito Yrigoyen had been elected president when he was 8 years old and served his term when he was 14. For the first time in Argentine history, a president had been elected by secret and compulsory vote, in massively attended elections. Despite this, and throughout his university career, Frondizi had a negative view of political activity and vowed never to set foot in a local party.

In 1927, he entered the Law School of the University of Buenos Aires, where he graduated in July 1930. He refused to withdraw his diploma of honor the year after it was issued, due to his refusal to receive it from the hands. of the then de facto president José Félix Uriburu, who had overthrown Yrigoyen on September 6 of the previous year.

Frondizi and his family In their house called Elenita, built by them.

His opposition to the dictatorship that overthrew Yrigoyen led him to participate in a demonstration on May 8, 1931, during which he was arrested and placed at the disposal of the provisional government.

Frondizi himself has said that this arrest decided him to put aside the career of teacher that he had planned to pursue, to start a career as a politician. At the end of 1932 he was arrested for the second time and after being released he joined the Unión Cívica Radical.

On October 28, 1932, Frondizi got engaged to Elena Luisa María Faggionato, to marry on January 5, 1933. From this union his only daughter, Elena, would be born in 1937. They built a summer cottage in 1935 at the then-secluded seaside resort town of Pinamar. After the birth in 1937 of their daughter, Elena (their only child), the Frondizis named the cottage Elenita.^[5]

In December 1933 he would be arrested for the third time, suspected of being involved in an uprising against the national government.

He led the Argentine League for the Rights of Man, the nation's first recorded human rights organization, upon its founding in 1936. In December of that year, he narrowly escaped an assassination attempt while addressing a crowd.^[6]

1951 presidential election

Frondizi and Ricardo Balbín.

In the 1951 presidential elections he was nominated by the Radical Civic Union to join the presidential formula as a candidate for vice president of the Nation, accompanying Ricardo Balbín as a candidate for president. The radical formula obtained 31.81% of the votes, being defeated by the Peronist formula, made up of Juan Perón and Hortensio Quijano, who obtained 62.49%.

In 1954, Frondizi was elected president of the National Committee of the UCR.

His multiple political commitments did not prevent him from dedicating himself to intellectual activity, which is how at the end of 1954 he published Petroleum and Politics, a book-complaint on the activity of oil companies in Argentina, and spoke of YPF's monopoly on the oil sector. The book would become a best-seller the following year, during heated debates over the oil contracts signed by Perón and Standard Oil of California; Thanks to this, Frondizi would position himself in the foreground of the national political scene, reinforcing his fame as an intellectual and his leftist profile.

Arturo Frondizi on the UCR committee.

The division of the UCR

Parting ways with Balbin, Frondizi formed an "intransigent" wing of the UCR. The UCRI separated from the more conservative and anti-Perónist Ricardo Balbín at the UCR's 1956 convention.

On November 9, 1956, the National Convention of the UCR met in Tucumán. The position of the party led by Frondizi, the Intransigence and Renewal Movement, was one of repudiation of the military government; He proposed taking the initiative and putting pressure on him by appointing a presidential formula. The Balbinistas (now separated from the MIR), unionists and sabattinistas, closer to the Liberating Revolution, rejected the proposal, since they were in favor of the military government. The National Convention voted in favor of the intransigent proposal and elected Arturo Frondizi as the candidate for President of the Nation. The unionists, balbinistas and sabattinistas, then left the Convention and on February 10, 1957, they formed a new party, a separate party, the Unión Cívica Radical del Pueblo, known as the conservative wing of the UCR.

Arturo Frondizi on cover of Qué!, May 1947.

The intransigents also split into a party and took the title of Unión Cívica Radical Intransigente. The party quickly defined a position inspired by the Declaration of Avellaneda, but adapted to the postwar situation, attracting a large number of youth and progressive sectors outside the party, such as the socialists Dardo Cúneo and Guillermo Estévez Boero or the forger Raúl Scalabrini Ortiz. These were characterized by a non-anti-Peronist national center-left position, as well as by the developmental thinking supported by Rogelio Frigerio from the magazine Qué !. Furthermore, Frondizi and Frigerio established a close relationship with the newspaper Clarín, to the point that until 1982 the newspaper identified itself with developmentalism and the future MID.

1958 elections

The campaign for the 1958 presidential elections had a high level of activism from the militants, who, in addition to doing their usual task of stickers, began to massively paint the walls of buildings with the names of the presidential formula. Such acts did not take long to arouse criticism from the press. It was the most expensive campaign that was made up to that moment in Argentine history. The party ordered the recording of a tango entitled "Frondizi, ¡Primero vos!", With lyrics and music by Daniel Quiroga.

The famous Frondizi-Frigerio duo.

The military dictatorship decided to ban the Peronist Party in the 1958 elections. It also established that only those provinces that had a constitution in force as of December 1, 1957, could participate in it (the provincial constitutions had been abolished by the dictatorship through the military proclamation of 1956); Due to this, citizens of the provinces of La Pampa and Misiones were not allowed to participate in the election.

Most historians accept that there was some kind of secret understanding between Perón and Frondizi for the proscribed Peronist vote to turn in favor of the UCRI candidate. It is presumed that the pact was made due to a reserved personal management of Rogelio Frigerio, who made contact with John William Cooke or with Perón himself during his exile in Venezuela, agreeing on the conditions in various meetings held, first in Caracas in January 1958 and then in Ciudad Trujillo (Dominican Republic) in March 1958.

The pact would have consisted of Perón ordering his followers to vote for Frondizi, and if he won the elections, he would have to comply with fourteen points that made up the agreement, including normalizing the unions and the CGT, repealing the decrees prohibiting Peronism and order the return to Perón of the personal property that he had left in the country and the dictatorship had confiscated.

The UCRI managed to win in all the provinces where the Frondizi-Gómez formula was presented, with which it was obtained all the governorships, the senate and two thirds of the chamber of deputies, in elections classified as unusual until today. On May 1, General Pedro Eugenio Aramburu handed over command to the president elected by suffrage on February 23, 1958, to Arturo Frondizi.

Economic policy

President Arturo Frondizi with secretary Rogelio Frigerio in La Quinta de Olivos, 1958.

Frondizi sought to strengthen the economy by solving the main economic problems that had haunted Argentina over the last twenty years. These included insufficiency in oil production (60% of the oil had to be imported and 80% of all the oil was used to generate electricity), inadequate steel production, the lack of electricity, and the insufficiency and obsolescence of transport (especially railways). He had inherited economic problems from Perón's 1946-55 administration, characterized by budget deficits because of huge railroad subsidies during this period. These subsidies cost the treasury a million dollars a day. In addition, Perón had used much of the US$1.7 billion in budget reserves at the time of his election to nationalize the various private railway companies by buying them from French and British interests. The nationalized companies were modernized and expanded. Critics say they resulted in too many employees and bloated payrolls that have since strained national budgets.

Frondizi assigned economist Rogelio Julio Frigerio to develop a bold plan to make Argentina self-sufficient in motor vehicles and petroleum, as well as to quickly extend the country's semi-developed road and electric networks. (In the 1950s, these served less than half the population, and fewer than 20% in the poorer north). Frondizi's economic vision was a radical departure from the nationalist one of Perón. To achieve greater investment in industrial development, Frigerio supported passage of the Law of Foreign Investment. This provided foreign corporations with incentives similar to those offered to local ones. It created the Department and Commission of Foreign Investments, which was also designed to give foreign investors more legal recourse when operating in the country.

In 1962, Argentina was richer in terms of GDP per capita than Austria, Italy, Japan, and its former colonial master Spain.^[7] Inflation would rise as a result of the investments made in 1958 and 1959 (some of them emerging as regards the energy problem), to such an extent that at the beginning of 1959 it reached 113% per year.

Industrial policy

The Kaiser Carabela automobile produced by Industrias Kaiser Argentina and marketed between 1958 and 1962.

Between 1958 and 1963, the historical maximum of foreign investments in Argentina was reached: around 23% of the total for the period between 1912 and 1975. The industrial branches favored in this second stage of the import substitution process were the automotive, the oil and petrochemical, chemical, metallurgical and electrical and non-electrical machinery. Investments were oriented towards taking advantage of the possibilities offered by a protected domestic market.

The president testing an Argentina built DKW Auto Union 1000.

In 1958, contracts were signed with US oil companies so that they would operate on behalf of YPF. The purpose was to achieve self-sufficiency in hydrocarbons and not have to buy them abroad. In three years of management, an increase of 150% was achieved in the production of oil and natural gas in Argentina. For the first time in history, the country achieved oil self-sufficiency, and Argentina went from being an importer to being an oil exporter.

Petroleum

Frondizi's development of Argentina's sizable petroleum reserves was used to foster nationalism among voters as well as strengthen the economy. When Frondizi came into office in 1958, oil production had not grown significantly since the sometimes abusive Standard Oil was forced out in the 1930s. As Argentina relied more on motor vehicles, oil imports drained the country in foreign exchange. How to achieve increased oil production was a contentious issue by the 1940s. The UCR (Radical Civic Union) favoured a state monopoly, believing it necessary to control the oil reserves. In the Declaration of Avellaneda (a common platform supported by Balbin's UCRP—his wing of the UCR—and Frondizi's UCRI), the state's need to invest in oil exploration and to make Argentina self-sufficient in the short term was expressed as policy.

Frondizi encouraged foreign investment in the sectors that had created chronic trade deficits between 1949 and 1962. 90% of all foreign investment during his term went into oil exploration, oil refineries, the auto industry, steel, and household durables. Ten of the 25 largest projects were for exploration of new oil fields. The record public investment in the petrochemical sector led to a fivefold increase in synthetic rubber production; by 1962, the production of crude oil tripled to 16 million cubic meters. Achieving self-sufficiency in oil freed hundreds of millions of dollars in annual import costs for Argentina. It helped create 13 years of nearly uninterrupted economic growth, particularly in industry.^[8]

Highrises in Mar del Plata dating from the Frondizi era, when modern architecture came into vogue locally.

Thirty-six oil drilling rigs had been purchased for the extraction of oil, the largest purchase made in the history of Argentina. In 1960, more than one hundred of these teams were working for the Administration, twice as many as YPF normally had, thus solving the energy crisis that existed around 1958, and ending the "electric diet" and the blackouts that occurred. the country suffered constantly.

Labor policy

From 1957 elections were held in the unions, most of them winning Peronism. The unions had been grouped into three groups: the 62 Organizations (Peronists), the 32 Democratic Guilds (socialists and radicals) and the MUCS (communists).

In 1958, through law 14 499, it was established that each retiree would automatically receive an equivalent of 82% of what they received when they worked.

In October 1960, independent Peronist unions formed the Commission of 20 to demand the return of the General Labor Confederation (CGT), which had been intervened by the government since the military coup in 1955. To pressure the government, the Commission of the 20 declared a general strike on November 7, which forced President Frondizi to receive them and finally agree on March 3, 1961, to return the CGT to the Commission of the 20.

Educational policy

Worker-student mobilization. Buenos Aires 1959.

Following the university reform of 1918, Argentine education, especially at university level, became more independent of the government, as well as the influential Catholic Church. The church began to re-emerge in country's secular educational system during Perón's rule, when catechism was reintroduced in public schools, and parochial institutions began receiving subsidies. A sudden reversal in the policy in 1954 helped lead to Perón's violent overthrow, however, after which his earlier, pro-clerical policies were reinstated by Aramburu.^[9]

Frondizi initially opposed Aramburu's Law 6403 of 1955, which advanced private education generally, and parochial, or more often, Catholic-run schools (those staffed with lay teachers), in particular. Confident the new policy would be upheld, church supporters founded the Argentine Catholic University. The UCRI campaigned against the policy, though when Frondizi took office, he shifted in favor of further, pro-clerical reforms, which he then referred to as "free education." Opposed by many in his own party, and especially by the President of the University of Buenos Aires (his brother, Risieri), Frondizi was open about his motivation for the policy change, declaring that "I need the support of the church."^[9]

The Educational Freedom Law, signed in early 1959, also freed private universities from limits imposed by the 1885 Avellaneda Law, under which they could not issue official degrees directly, only through a public university. The law led to controversy because most of the new universities and private schools, which would become eligible for state subsidies, were religious. Supporters applauded Frondizi's vision of private universities that could co-exist with public ones, and it was seen as a progressive measure. Those in favour of a strictly secular educational system believed the law to be a concession given to the Church in exchange for support, however, and became disillusioned with the pragmatic Frondizi.^[9]

Frondizi observes the student protests from the balcony of the pink house, with their slogans "Lay or free."

Frondizi, however, advanced other educational reforms to dovetail with his economic policy. His administration incorporated the National Workers' University network of campuses (technical schools inaugurated by Perón in 1948) into the national university aegis, by which he established the UTN system in 1959, and opened numerous new campuses. The UTN became the leading alma mater for Argentine engineers in subsequent decades.^[6]

International policy

The Frondizis in 1960.

Arturo Frondizi maintained a policy of good relations with foreign countries.

The Frondizi presidency began in times of the Cold War and politics exterior embodied by the president sought to be at the service of a national strategy of economic development and integration. They were the beginnings of decolonization, sought to avoid conflicts even though they existed at a lower rank, within the blocks.

The Frondizi government imagined the postwar world in competition economic and peaceful coexistence, factors that replaced the bloc strategy and containment. Against a majority political opinion, he dismissed a new world conflagration. Argentina's foreign policy should then serve a national development and integration strategy. The perimidated economic link with the United Kingdom and the need to finance development led to the foreign policy will veer towards relocation within the continent.

Frondizi becomes in more than one country the first Argentine president to set foot on these lands. He maintained strong relations with his Latin American peers, with the United States, European countries and also Asian countries.

Latin America

While Arturo Frondizi formed his cabinet, he planned a tour of countries in Latin America, with the purpose of promoting bilateral relations. Between April 7–17, 1958, frondizi toured the cities of Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Santiago and Lima.

Frondizi with the Uruguayan president, Eduardo Víctor Haedo.

Arturo Frondizi during a visit to Chile in 1961 is received by President Jorge Alessandri.

Beagle conflict

After the Snipe islet incident in the Beagle Channel, the governments of Argentina and Chile tried to make approaches to solve their border problems. On February 2, 1959, President Arturo Frondizi landed at Los Cerrillos Airport and signed, together with his Chilean counterpart Jorge Alessandri, the Joint Declaration on Arbitration in which both leaders agreed to "immediately enter into negotiations aimed at finding the right formulas appropriate arbitrations, which allow the resolution of existing disputes ". The two presidents had agreed to submit to arbitration by the British government (or in its absence the president of the Swiss Confederation), the border dispute in the area of the Encuentro river and the valleys of Palena and California, while the Beagle dispute would be submitted to the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

A series of diplomatic protocols were signed with Chile in 1960, one of the protocols submitted the Paleina issue to arbitration, another was the Beagle Protocol, in addition to two Agreements: one for navigation through the southern channels and another for permanent arbitration.

Janio Quadros and Arturo Frondizi.

Presidents Frondizi and Alessandri met in Santiago de Chile, where they made a Declaration on the "agreement that contains all the bases for the peaceful solution of pending boundary issues within the two countries" except Antarctica. It was in this agreement that the dispute in the Beagle Channel was intended to be submitted to the decision of the Inter-American Court of Justice in The Hague. On June 12, 1960, they met in Buenos Aires the ambassadors of both countries to sign what became known as the Beagle Protocol and the Navigation Protocol, which allowed, among other things, the passage of Argentine warships through the channel and the Strait of Magellan, in addition, the treaty established limits precise, as for example, a border line that would run along the middle line of the canal leaving the canal divided for both countries. But the treaty like the Navigation Agreement were rejected by the congresses of both nations.

Arturo Frondizi with Adolfo López Mateos.

Throughout his entire government, Frondizi had meetings with Latin American figures such as Juscelino Kubitschek, Janio Quadros, Jorge Alessandri, Manuel Prado Ugarteche, Adolfo Lopez Mateos, Víctor Paz Estenssoro, among others.

Europe

Frondizi with the queen of the Netherlands.

Throughout the year 1960, President Frondizi carried out a European tour in which he visited Italy, The Vatican, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Germany, Holland, Great Britain and Spain.

Frondizi arrived in Rome where he was received by the President of the Italian Republic Giovanni Gronchi. The Argentine president included a short stay in the city of his ancestors: Gubbio. Frondizi visited the pontiff John XXIII in a private audience that, later, was shared by other members of the Argentine delegation. The Pope stated that the Argentina, born Catholic, sought to bring to the world a message of peace in which the values of the spirit will illuminate understanding among men.

Arturo Frondizi with John XXIII.

Frondizi visited Bern. Although the Swiss country did not maintain an intense movement trade with Argentina, however it was an opportunity to do business with Swiss industrialists. The Argentine president was received by Max Petitpierre, president of the Confederación, who hailed him as "the rebuilder of the economic stability of Argentina, the new liberal line that you adopted for the new Argentine economy has won the sympathy and trust of our authorities and those who support commercial relations with your country ".

Frondizi arrived in France with knowledge of the discrepancy between the two countries in the United Nations Assembly, on Algeria. In the first interview between Frondizi and de Gaulle, he received him with his hand raised and a question: "How has your country voted in the United Nations against France?" Frondizi will responded: "my country cannot stop showing solidarity with the peoples who fight for theirself-determination ", and added" we learned it from the influence of the French Revolution ".

Charles de Gaulle with Arturo Frondizi.

The Argentine president arrived in Brussels, where he received a "warm reception"; in the speeches the reference to José de San Martín was present, for his residence during some of his years of exile. It was the first time that a president Argentinean visited this country which ranked third in European exports to the Argentina. The Argentine president visited the port of Antwerp and took the opportunity to make contact with businessmen and authorities of the Chamber of Commerce of that city. Jacques van Offelen, Minister of Foreign Trade, was present at the press meeting given by the Argentine president.

Frondizi in Bonn and Bad Godesberg, Bethovenian cities, exalted the German contributions to universal culture. He also visited Cologne, where he met with businessmen, and Essen, a city in North Rhine-Westphalia located in the heart of the industrial region of the Rhur basin, center of the German steel industry. The Argentine president was received by Adenauer, who was accompanied by his finance minister Ludwig Erhard. At the meal offered by Chancellor Adenauer to Frondizi, he called him "a friend of our country "and praised the skill with which he kept the helm:" we continue with interest in the development of Latin America ".

The Argentine president arrived in Amsterdam, where he was received by members of the royal family: Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard. The Dutch press had greeted to the president who came with favorable headlines. Queen Juliana entertained Frondizi with a meal in which she recalled the cordiality with which Prince Bernhard had been received, on the occasion of attending the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the declaration of Argentine independence. He stressed: "isolation is no longer of our era."

Frondizi arrived in the United Kingdom, in a trip that aroused great expectations, Upon his arrival he was received by the Prime Minister English Harold Mac Millan; complied with the protocol for visiting Queen Elizabeth II, the imposition of the decorations and, immediately afterwards, a meeting awaited him press at the Argentine embassy. In the two interviews with Mac Millan, the Argentine president expressed his hope that Britain would use its influence to channel investment into Argentina. The Argentine president raised the possibility that Argentina could be part of

Arturo Frondizi in Kyoto, Japan.

the OECE or, at least, have an observer, since in it Latin America it must have his voice.

Spain could not be absent from the European tour of the Argentine president, who was hailed as "professor of humanism." He was received by General Francisco Franco, remembering the community of language, religion and culture that united both peoples. In the official interview, Frondizi was awarded the Order of Isabel la Catholica and, in turn, imposed on the head of the Spanish government that of the Liberator General San Martin. The two leaders held an interview behind closed doors.

United States and Cuba

Frondizi and Eisenhower in Ezeiza.

Arturo Frondizi was the first Argentine president to make an official visit to the United States. He was there from January 19 to February 1, 1959. Frondizi met with Eisenhower on January 22 at the White House. The Argentine President would once again highlight the achievements of having been in office for a year, and reiterated that Argentina would need credits for hydroelectric power and producing steel. Then he mentioned the Peruvian-Ecuadorian border conflict, everyone present agreed that the solution to the conflict would be of great importance for the entire continent. Eisenhower then told Frondizi that members of his administration were watching the progress made in Argentina, and they admired the president's courage and leadership. During a speech before the OAS Frondizi denounced the deterioration of the terms of trade in the region and supported the Pan-American Operation of President Juscelino Kubitschek, whose goal was the development and formation of capital in Latin America.

The president Eisenhower visited Argentina in February 1960. Both leaders issued the "Declaration of Bariloche" (a treaty on the protection of national parks), with the intention of promoting a better standard of living for the American countries.

in Bariloche.

Presidents Arturo Frondizi and John F. Kennedy came to have a good personal relationship and even mutual consultation on international issues. Although both had similar positions politically and economically, they defined certain aspects of security in the hemisphere. On the one hand, Kennedy encouraged the Alliance for Progress to counter Cuban influence in order to help underdeveloped countries and favored democratic change in Latin America. However, his administration endorsed a security policy with characteristics opposed to the foreign policy of the Frondizi government, and precisely in February 1962 he delivered a message to the country in which he defended the principle of non-intervention and the right of self-determination of the peoples.

Frondizi and JFK.

Kennedy wanted Argentina to be the mediator between the United States and Cuba in the conflict of the "missile crisis", since these two countries were experiencing a very serious confrontation motivated by the fear of the United States that Cuba could have weapons at its disposal nuclear weapons coming from the Soviet Union pointing towards its territory. Hence, at the request of the US president, a meeting between Frondizi and Ernesto Guevara was encouraged to discuss the thorny issue in addition to trying to direct relations between the two countries after the Americans failed to invade the island. from Cuba.

Thus Frondizi tried to approach as a mediator between both sides in a neutral way, but, due to military pressure, on February 8, 1962, he would be forced to break relations with La Havana.

Frondizi and Kennedy.

Four months after the revolution in 1959, Cuba was still part of the Organization of American States (OAS), the island had not yet declared itself a socialist, and the figure of Fidel Castro was even sympathetic to some sectors that would later revile him. On May 1, he arrived at the Ezeiza Airport, and Hermes Quijada was the first to welcome him on behalf of President Arturo Frondizi. He immediately arrived in Buenos Aires, and the following day he gave a famous ninety-minute speech before the Commission of the 21 of the OAS in the building of the Secretariat of Industry, in his speech praised the American democracy, which had welcomed Latin American immigrants with decorum. A group of protesters received the leader of the Cuban revolution. The visit was not welcomed by the Argentine military. During the OAS Conference, meeting in Punta del Este in January 1961, Argentine Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Cárcano opposed the exclusion of Cuba from the inter-American system. After the conference, Frondizi received Ernesto Guevara, Argentine representative from Cuba, at the Olivos residence.

Frondizi and Fidel Castro.

Of the four possible mediators, Arturo Frondizi argued in favor of Argentina, due to its balance in foreign policy (Brazil and Mexico were closer to third-partyism) and due to the lack of a deep internal contradiction (Chile had a conservative government with opposition communist). In the first polls, both John Kennedy and the Cubans were willing to accept that basis for the talks: Frondizi came very close to achieving a great diplomatic solution, but did not take into account the inconveniences he would encounter on his home front. Preliminary talks were held at the Cuban Embassy in Buenos Aires. Someone who did not belong to the diplomatic service, but who was linked to the Frondizi team, contacted Ernesto Guevara at that time (1961) and let the Argentine president know that the Cuban minister accepted his mediation to try to find a negotiated solution. At the same time, some Argentines such as Horacio Rodriguez Larreta (father) met with Guevara in Punta del Este and participated in the famous meeting he held with Richard Goodwin, an advisor to President Kennedy. After that conference, Guevara let Frondizi know that he was interested in talking with him.

Che reading La Nación.

At that time, Guevara agreed to reach an understanding with the United States to coexist peacefully. When Guevara told Frondizi that he wanted to speak with him and that he was willing to travel to Argentina, he also added that if the news of his visit to Argentina was publicly known, his life was at great risk, and that it would most likely be murdered. Frondizi replied schematically: first, that he was preparing to receive him and considered the interview convenient; second, that if he was determined to travel, he should go to Montevideo Airport (Guevara was in Punta del Este): from that moment on, he would be under the responsibility of the Argentine government. Guevara accepted and Frondizi sent a civilian plane from Buenos Aires to the Uruguayan capital.

The meeting between President Arturo Frondizi and Ernesto Guevara caused Adolfo Mugica to resign twenty days later from his position as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship on August 29, 1961. Frondizi's attitude towards the Cuban Revolution of 1959, along with the visit of Fidel Castro and Ernesto Guevara ended up weakening the government's relationship with the military power, even more than it already was. The army formally protested these meetings with Cuban leaders, and pressured the president to change his policy with respect to Cuba. Cuban exiles in Buenos Aires tried to forge documents with the intention of implicating members of the Government in an alleged Castro plot. Frondizi ordered an investigation, and even the army's own report, the famous case of the "Cuban letters," was nothing more than a lie. Frondizi gave a speech on the national network to try to provide explanations.

Asia

Gift from Premier Sukarno to President Arturo Frondizi.

During a tour of India, Thailand, and Japan, President Frondizi met Rajendra Prasad, King Rama IX and Emperor Hirohito. The objective was to seek new markets, in response to Argentina's imperative need to trade and obtain investments, a key to the program development and trade cooperation.

One of the objectives sought with these meetings was to reinforce Argentina's non-aligned international position in the face of the Cold War.

Israel: kidnapping of Adolf Eichmann

At the end of 1952, the fugitive Nazi criminal Adolf Eichmann had been located in Argentina thanks to information provided by a friend of the Austrian Nazi hunter of Jewish origin Simon Wiesenthal. Given the difficulty that Israel could obtain the extradition of Eichmann by Argentina (with the consequent danger that the criminal would flee), the Israeli secret services of Mosad designed the kidnapping of the wanted Nazi criminal with the firm support of Israeli Prime Minister David Ben Gurion, thus violating consular assistance treaties and Argentine national sovereignty.

Finally, on May 11, 1960, Eichmann was kidnapped in the middle of the street, getting him into a private car when he was getting off the bus to return home from work. Later, the four men of the Israeli Secret Service transferred him on May 20 from Ezeiza International Airport in Buenos Aires to Israel in a private plane, with another identity and pretending that he was drunk.

Faced with this kidnapping, the Foreign Ministry, through Ambassador Mario Amadeo, complained to the United Nations Security Council for the serious violation of sovereignty. It received support from the international body, but Israel never intended to return the Nazi criminal to Argentina. Diplomats from the United States, Great Britain and France tried to formalize a meeting between President Arturo Frondizi and David Ben Gurion so that both would seek a solution to the Eichmann case, and that diplomatic relations between Argentina and Israel would not be broken as a result. After several contacts, it was agreed that the meeting between the two leaders would be held in Brussels in June 1960, finally frustrating such meeting due to misgivings between the diplomacy of both countries.

Ultimately, Frondizi severed diplomatic relations with Israel, relations that had recently been established by President Juan Perón. A short time later, Frondizi re-established ties with Israel.

On December 11, 1961, Adolf Eichmann was found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death on December 15, carried out on May 31, 1962. His last words were: "Long live Germany. Long live Austria. Long live Argentina. These are the countries that I identify with the most and I will never forget them. I had to obey the rules of war and those of my flag. I'm ready ".

Antarctic Treaty

On a trip to Antarctica, March 1961.

The Antarctic Conference was inaugurated in Washington, D.C., United States on October 15, 1959, in an atmosphere of uncertainty, attended by representatives of twelve states, of which seven claimed their sovereignty over some fraction of the Antarctic continent, among which were : Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, Norway, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. The territorial rights claimed by Argentina, Chile, and the United Kingdom overlapped considerably. Meanwhile, five other countries (Belgium, the United States, Japan, South Africa and the Soviet Union) had carried out explorations in the region without having presented territorial claims. There were aspects of the future regulation for Antarctica that had the general consensus of the nations, such as the pacification of the continent and excluding all activities of a warlike nature, as well as guaranteed access for scientific research for any country that desired to do so. The most complex problem was the consideration of sovereignty claims.

On Deception Island, President Arturo Frondizi gives a speech that is broadcast by radio.

Argentina's position was to establish the peaceful use of Antarctica and scientific cooperation within agreed limits, and that the Conference not modify the rights of the parties in the least. Regarding the use of the territory, the Argentine Government maintained the need to put limits on absolute freedom, in order to preserve ecological interests, and to prohibit nuclear tests and the deposit of radioactive waste. The last proposal took the US delegation as well as the Soviet one by surprise, and the Argentine insistence on it came close to causing a crisis in the meeting, not only internationally, but also within the government of Arturo Frondizi.

The treaty was finally signed on December 1, 1959, and was maintained in accordance with the demands of Argentina that activities of a military nature had to be outlawed. The Antarctic Treaty entered into force on June 23, 1961. The pact had some success since the area remained free of conflict. The council also succeeded in internationalizing and demilitarizing the Antarctic continent, where nuclear testing and storing radioactive waste were banned. During the Cold War these activities were carried out with great intensity by the belligerent powers. It was ensured that the region is used for peaceful purposes, including mainly joint exploration and scientific research. The signatory countries obtained free access to the entire region with reciprocal rights to inspect their facilities.

In his speech on May 1, 1960, Frondizi dedicated a paragraph to the Conference on Antarctica, stating that Argentina had been able to include in the treaty its opposition to the internationalization of the area. The principles of freedom and scientific cooperation had also been included in the treaty.

After signing the treaty, Frondizi visited Antarctica. On March 6, 1961, he embarked, along with his entourage, in the Aguirre Bay to go to the Decepción base (Decepción Island). The outward journey was somewhat uncomfortable, as they had to endure severe storms at the crossing of Drake Pass. On March 8 in the afternoon, they anchored in Bahía 1º de Mayo, and then with the icebreaker General San Martín the first tributes were paid to the authorities who disembarked, being transferred by helicopters and boats to the detachment where the honors were repeated. The military vicar Donamin held a mass, and from there Frondizi gave a speech to the country and greeted the members of the National Navy, researchers, scientists and technicians.

Frondizi's plan

Since the previous day, a group of civilians and soldiers had been moving against the clock and in the midst of great difficulties, to carry out Frondizi's latest plan, destined to save what could be legally, making Guido swear before the Supreme Court, under of the law of acephalia.

The difficulties to carry out Frondizi's plan were many. Guido had no direct contact with Frondizi and his loyalty to the President prevented him from making any decision that Frondizi had not ordered. Martínez, for his part, did not belong to the UCRI, he had assumed as Minister two days ago on the recommendation of Aramburu and did not even know Guido personally.

For that, Guido himself, the members of the Supreme Court, the coup commanders and the leaders of the UCRI had to be convinced. Potash says that four men played the most important roles in this operation: Defense Minister Rodolfo Martínez, Supreme Court President Julio Oyhanarte, Air Force Commander-in-Chief and one of the coup leaders Brigadier Cayo Alsina, and himself Arturo Frondizi.

Guido's oath before the Supreme Court

At 3:55 p.m., when the formalities for Guido's oath before the Supreme Court were still being completed, the three coup leaders settled in the Casa Rosada. Aware of the fact and with Guido on his way to court, Martínez went to the Casa Rosada to buy time and prevent the military from formally taking over the government, especially Poggi, who showed a clear intention to assume as president. Shortly after five o'clock in the afternoon, Guido appeared at the Supreme Court to take the oath, visibly shaken. The oath was carried out in the utmost reserve, with the sole presence of the judges of the Court, Guido, and his private secretary. Minister Martínez had asked General Aramburu to join the small group, but Aramburu did not accept.

Tradition indicated that the oath was taken on the Bible, but due to the urgency and the lack of a Bible in the offices of the Court, the decision was made to take the oath on the text of the Constitution. Immediately afterwards Guido burst into tears and embraced Oyhanarte, asking that he not be considered a "traitor to his party or the people." Villegas Basavilbaso for his part said - expressing his objections -: "We can say, like Cicero, that we have saved the Republic by violating the law." It was Colombres who replied: "Cicero is wrong, because whoever saves the Republic can never be breaking a law."

Personal life and death

Frondizi lost his daughter in 1976, and his wife in 1991. Living in seclusion in his Beruti Street apartment (in Buenos Aires' northside), Frondizi occasionally received political figures seeking advice.

On April 18, 1995, Arturo Frondizi died at the age of 86 at the Italian Hospital in the city of Buenos Aires for unknown causes. His death went so unnoticed that to this day it is very difficult to find out the exact cause of it. In 2019 his remains, which rested in the Recoleta Cemetery, were transferred to the Concepción del Uruguay.

Three years after his death, in 1998, the Konex Foundation awarded the memory of the former president with the decoration of honor.

Theft of the presidential sash and stick

On April 3, 2008, almost one hundred years after his birth, and the Casa Rosada museum was being remodeled since January of that year, an employee noticed that the cane and the presidential sash that Frondizi had donated seventeen years earlier to the museum were missing. . No explanations were found for this fact, since there were four security cameras around the museum sector, and to enter it you had to leave a fingerprint, but, apparently, no progress was made in the investigation of this case.

Decorations

Award or decoration		Country	Date
	Grand Collar of the Order of the Condor of the Andes	Bolivia	8 July 1961
	Collar of the Order of Merit	Chile	1 July 1958
	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Legion of Honour	France	8 May 1960
	Grand Cross Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany	Germany	June 1960
	Knight Grand Cross with collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic	Italy	11 June 1960
	Grand Cross of the Order of the Chrysanthemum	Japan	14 December 1961
	Collar of the Order of the Aztec Eagle	Mexico	21 January 1960
	Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion	Netherlands	1 July 1960
	Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun of Peru	Peru	17 April 1958
	Knight of the Collar of the Order of Isabella the Catholic	Spain	7 July 1960
	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Chula Chom Klao[11]	Thailand	8 December 1961
	Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George	United Kingdom	4 July 1960
	Collar of the Order of Pope Pius IX	Vatican	June 1960

Honorary doctorates

•  Canada: University of Ottawa, 1961
•  Peru: University of San Marcos, 1958
• Hawaii: University of Hawái, 1961
•  Italy: University of Perugia, 1960
•  Japan: Waseda University, 1961
•  Spain: University of Madrid, 1960
•  Thailand: Thammasat University, 1961
•  United States: Fordham University, 1959

Awards and distinction

Several allegorical City keys that President Arturo Frondizi received in various visits to the interior of the country.

•  Argentina: Konex of honour, 1998
•  Japan: Key to the city of tokyo, 1960
•  Spain: Key to the city of madrid, 1960
•  Uruguay: Uruguayan Parliamentary Distinction, 1958