Economic policy in the Alfonsin years (1985-1986):the “lobbying” vision of the Catholic press

Abstract

The Cabildo magazine constitutes a historical piece of vital importance to analyze the nationalist Catholic thought of Argentina during the last quarter of the 20th century. The main historical and sociological approaches around this publication have dealt with political, partisan, programmatic and cultural ideological debates. Based on the importance of these studies, it is intended to generate a contribution by analyzing the economic facet that characterized the magazine between 1985-1987, attending to the debates that occurred in the national economy from the implementation of the Austral Plan, during the years of the government of Raul Alfonsin (1983-1989). In a context of national economic crisis and international capitalist restructuring, the Catholic nationalist sectors translated important discussions, debates and controversies around the economic future of the country, which largely preceded the changes of the 1990s. Thus, it was observed that Cabildo's thinkers also contributed to processing political-economic discussions regarding development strategies, the resolution of economic problems, and the role of new and old power actors. The main hypothesis is that the magazine assumed an economic position that wavered between the classic post-war recipes associated with nationalism and some adherence to new recipes such as export, privatization and global integration, among others.