Brigadier General Juan Bautista Molina (29 August 1882 – 17 September 1963) was an Argentine military commander and a pro-Nazi Argentine ultranationalist who led the Nationalist Liberation Alliance (ALN).[1][2][3]
Molina was involved in a number of plots to overthrow the Argentine liberal government of Agustín Pedro Justo in the 1930s.[4] In order to contain Molina, President Justo appointed Molina as Argentina's military attaché in Germany in 1933 where Molina witnessed the Nazi regime that impressed him.[5] Molina was promoted to brigadier general in 1937 and this was followed by his appointment as director general of the army engineers in 1938.[6] Molina retired from army service in 1938 and devoted attention to his leadership of the AJN.[7]
In 1935, Molina called for the dissolution of the three powers of the national government, the abolition of political parties, the establishment of a military dictatorship, the enacting of press censorship, and actions to prevent "immorality", and changing the economic system to be led by guilds and the creation of a "consultative board [to] unite" workers and employers.[8] In 1941, Molina organized a coup that was to break out on the morning of 14 February. He was paranoid that Argentina was about to join the Allied Powers. However, the coup was foiled by a surprise inspection by a government officer the night before the coup, which resulted in Molina being suspended from the Army. In 1943, Molina led street demonstrations led by nationalist protestors against the Ramón Castillo government for its promotion of Argentine neutrality in World War II, demanding that Argentina instead join the Axis powers.[9] During the protest, Molina's supporters shouted violent anti-American, anti-British, and anti-Semitic slogans, saying "Death to the British pigs" and "Death to the Jews".[10]
References
edit- ^ David Rock. Authoritarian Argentina: The Nationalist Movement, Its History and Its Impact. First paperback edition. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California, USA: University of California Press, 1995. Pp. 99, 133.
- ^ Mark Alan Healey. The Ruins of the New Argentina: Peronism and the Remaking of San Juan After the 1944 Earthquake. Duke University Press, 2004. Pp. 319.
- ^ United States State Department. Blue book on Argentina: consultation among the American republics with respect to the Argentine situation. Greenburg, 1946. Pp. 22.
- ^ David Rock. Authoritarian Argentina: The Nationalist Movement, Its History and Its Impact. First paperback edition. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California, USA: University of California Press, 1995. Pp. 99.
- ^ Sandra McGee Deutsch. Las Derechas: The Extreme Right in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, 1890-1939. Stanford University Press, 1999. Pp. 240.
- ^ Sandra McGee Deutsch. Las Derechas: The Extreme Right in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, 1890-1939. Stanford University Press, 1999. Pp. 240.
- ^ Sandra McGee Deutsch. Las Derechas: The Extreme Right in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, 1890-1939. Stanford University Press, 1999. Pp. 240.
- ^ David Rock. Authoritarian Argentina: The Nationalist Movement, Its History and Its Impact. First paperback edition. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California, USA: University of California Press, 1995. Pp. 103.
- ^ David Rock. Authoritarian Argentina: The Nationalist Movement, Its History and Its Impact. First paperback edition. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California, USA: University of California Press, 1995. Pp. 103.
- ^ David Rock. Authoritarian Argentina: The Nationalist Movement, Its History and Its Impact. First paperback edition. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California, USA: University of California Press, 1995. Pp. 103.