Ricardo Caballero and "Radicalism" in Santa Fe during the First Half of the 20th Century

Abstract

The article is an attempt to reconstruct the political course of Ricardo Caballero within the tradition of Radicalism in Santa Fe throughout a bit over half a century (between the end of 19th century and halfway the 20th century). However, we think that it particularly contributes to the explanation of something that goes beyond the very peculiar courses a politician might take. It is also a way to understand the subsequent experience of "Peronism". In this sense, we state that the experience of "Caballerism" had prepared the local actors for "Peronist" populism. In this case, we might refer to "Caballerism" in terms of a kind of “populism before populism” which, throughout its historical experience (almost half a entury), underwent fully its several ideological tensions, whether they belonged to the left or right, the reactionary or the progressive typology.