ABSTRACT
The main political objective of Alfonsin's government was the consolidation of democracy (Alfonsin, 1992, p. 49). In this sense, the Radical government was, at the very beginning, much more aware of the political aspects of the Argentinian crisis than of the economic ones. Alfonsin believed that, in order to consolidate democracy, his government had to 'democratise' the unions and the Armed Forces. By 'democratise' Alfonsin meant the incorporation of both these actors into the democratic system (Alfonsin, 1992, p. 19). He believed that both the unions and the Armed Forces were deeply authoritarian. While, in the case of the Armed Forces, this assumption was correct, in respect of the unions it was very simplistic. Behind Alfonsin's objective of 'democratising' the unions, there was the objective to 'desperonizar' the unions, that is, to break down the traditionally powerful role of Peronist trade unionists within the union movement. There was, also, the objective of controlling the disruptive power of the unions. The unions were viewed as a vehicle of social unrest which could provoke a military coup. The Radical government, by 'democratising' the unions, wanted to restrain and ultimately defuse their political power.
