Orthodox Peronism

Orthodox Peronism, Peronist Orthodoxy, National Justicialism, was a faction within Peronism, a political movement in Argentina that adheres to the ideology and legacy of Juan Perón. Orthodox Peronists claimed to represent the original policies of Perón, and reject any association with Marxism. Some of them were aligned with far-right elements, while others with the left. Orthodox Peronism also referred to the Peronist trade union faction that split from the “62 organizations" and that opposed the “legalists", who were more moderate and pragmatic. They were also known as “the hardliners", “the 62 standing with Perón" and they maintained an orthodox and verticalist stance. Orthodox Peronism had been in several conflicts with the Tendencia Revolucionaria, for example during the Ezeiza massacre.

Origin of the denomination

The term "orthodox Peronism" emerged during the Peronist resistance following the 1955 coup, a period when historical revisionism took hold, deepening the connection between Peronism and nationalism. While the Peronist government had some ties with nationalists, it had not embraced a revisionist historical view, and the nationalists did not play a dominant role in government policy. American historian Michael A. Burdick wrote that despite the nationalist support for Perón, he did not embrace their ideology, sidelined them in favor of the trade unions and dissident socialists; the Peronist administration even dissolved some of the nationalist organizations. According to Burdick, "Nationalism of the Right died with the rise of Perón." It was only after 1955, amidst the context of resistance and under the influence of nationalist thought, that orthodox Peronism began to take shape, in which nationalists reappropriated and redefined key elements of Perón’s original discourse.