Rise of the Argentine Empire

Saint Hesser showed satisfaction with Aragon's recent outstanding performance. Aragon is now capable of handling things independently, and he also has a talent for being a double agent.

It's good to keep in touch with the people from the Police Department. Saint Hesser doesn't have much contact with the military, and he's not currently affiliated with them. The Police Department is a good group to unite with.

Indeed, successful people not only have good innate talent, but also require various acquired training. Thinking about Aragon in the past, he was really a bit silly.

Aragon politely smiled at Saint Hesser, who thought that there were probably still some rifts between them.

In public, Aragon generally no longer directly calls him 'Boss,' especially during meetings. Even the title 'Saint Boss' seems like a thing of the distant past.

"Aragon, thank you for your hard work on this matter. You did a great job."

Saint Hesser earnestly patted him on the shoulder and straightened his suit collar, his hand almost unable to resist ruffling his hair.

Aragon's current image is similar to that of a suit-clad thug in later movies. On the surface, you can't tell how powerful this guy is.

Saint Hesser found it very interesting. He wore a watch on his left hand and an engagement ring, albeit strangely on his pinky finger, meticulous and not fond of smiling anymore.

"It's all small stuff. Besides, the better the company develops in the future, the better I can develop. Speaking of which, Boss, you're getting more and more impressive."

Aragon is indeed much more mature now, and he considers things more comprehensively. Saint Hesser gave Aragon a bear hug.

"You kid, you've become too formal in private now, polite like a woman. There's not much need for that here, there are no outsiders. We're all working hard for the future of the country, and the security in Bu City is indeed not very good. Let's work together, and Argentina's future will get better and better."

"Yes, Boss."

The two rarely joked around like this.

......

General Thompson's residence was even more heavily guarded. Saint Hesser had to make an appointment with the general's office in advance to see him.

When Saint Hesser saw Thompson, he found that he was very haggard, with several white hairs sticking out.

The Ministry of Defense has been under a lot of pressure recently. The Presidential Palace is trying to regain control of the army, navy, and air force, dividing and co-opting them, while also preparing to further expand the power of the Ministry of Defense.

They are conducting a new round of military reforms and establishing a new police department, incorporating paramilitary forces, which has been strongly opposed by the three major military departments, so it came to nothing.

Argentina currently has four military departments: the Army Department, the Air Force Department, the Navy Department, and the Ministry of Defense. The four departments are on an equal footing. In addition, national institutions, including government departments, the military police, and intelligence organizations, have greatly expanded compared to before. However, this division has, in fact, strengthened the military's power and reduced Peron's control over the military, which can be said to have nurtured a faction that opposes him.

Peron's idea was that if the three armed forces were disobedient, he would downgrade the navy, army, and air force to secondary departments, all under the Ministry of Defense, making the Ministry of Defense the largest military department.

Then add a compliant police department, for a total of four major departments, and then slowly clean them up. The military certainly wouldn't be happy, as everyone was originally colleagues, but now they've become subordinates.

The Peron government once attached great importance to the army, regarding it as an important pillar of the Peron political system. Senior military officers held important positions in national institutions. The most important industrial sectors, such as metallurgy, aircraft, and tractor factories, were managed by military organs. This time, the rise of the steel plant and Renn Industries is actually a major challenge to the military-industrial economy by the civilian economy.

The Labor Confederation had only 260,000 members in 1943. After being controlled and expanded by Peron, it had 3 million members by '51, and the number is still increasing. They have their own tanks, machine guns, and pistol firearms.

Peron mainly controlled the labor union movement through the Ministry of Labor. The "Professional Union Law" formulated by Peron and his government in October 1945 stipulated that only unions recognized by the Ministry of Labor could obtain legal status, and the Ministry of Labor could only grant one union in each industrial sector legal status.

As president, you must have your own team, who know you well, trust each other, and rely on each other, which naturally leads to the team members who helped you grow in the early years becoming members of your inner circle.

In June 1943, the "United Officers Group" composed of nineteen Argentine military officers overthrew Castillo's rule, declared martial law, and formed a new government.

However, the weakness and looseness of the United Officers Group were immediately exposed. They issued declarations full of platitudes and nonsense, but could not come up with a unified policy plan, and quickly began to crush each other, and were then suppressed.

Peron was then serving as the Deputy Minister of Defense, and once controlled the army and police force. He eventually introduced a new president, and then Peron became the vice president, and was eventually put in prison. After coming out, he directly ran for president.

The current Ministry of Defense, under the leadership of the military, has begun to sing a different tune, as have the other three departments. Of course, the Ministry of Defense is the largest department in fact, and it also represents the union of the wills of all parties.

The reason why nothing has happened now is actually because Peron controls two important military forces: the Argentine National Police Force and the armed forces of the Labor Confederation. It's just that the Labor Confederation has been attacked by other forces, especially the suppression of the workers' movement last year, which greatly reduced the Labor Confederation's reputation.

"Cohen, what do you think Peron means now? Does he really want to prop up the Ministry of Defense, or is he taking the opportunity to stir things up?"

Little Thompson suddenly wanted to hear Saint Hesser's opinion.

"General, I think Peron is really anxious. He can't do anything right now, and there seems to be signs of him falling out with the Pope. The military opposes the Labor Confederation, which is like cutting off his own hand, so he's also taking drastic measures and wants to dismantle the military."

Saint Hesser couldn't say much, but simply said a few other things and shared some news.

"Peron has really been out of his mind recently, or something, and some of the decisions he's making are all messed up."

"The Labor Confederation's military strength should not be underestimated. They have seven or eight tanks, and the military is not a monolithic faction either. The Free Officers Group is not monolithic. To put it bluntly, the Blue and Red factions are only divided into factions to confront each other because of the young officers group."

Peron was once a master of picking sides, and almost always bet successfully.

"Actually, I've guessed one reason, and that is that the union is trying to break away from his control. As for the reason, it's very simple, and that is that Mrs. Peron is not going to make it."

Saint Hesser once again stated a reason. A large part of the union's, or rather Peron's, supporters come from Mrs. Peron, but Mrs. Peron herself only has a few months to live. Peron is obviously aware of this problem.

In addition, the military officer forces represented by the Free Officers Group have begun to break away from his control. The former sweetheart has now become a shrew, which, to a large extent, has made Peron realize the crisis.

"Mrs. Peron is not going to make it? How would you know such news? Logically, you shouldn't have access to this."

Little Thompson's expression changed slightly. Now, through various channels, there is very little news about Mrs. Peron. This is being blocked by Peron himself, unless Mrs. Peron really dies, it may be announced.

Mrs. Peron, this second-rate actress or, shall we say, person with unspeakable experiences, has extraordinary political talent. She stands on the side of the common people, calling for social fairness and justice, which makes these hungry and lovely Argentines strongly support her. Her prestige is like the Holy Mother of Argentina. If she really passes away, it will be a huge blow to Peron.

"I have intelligence sources, and the reporters at the New Argentina Newspaper are indeed quite good."

Saint Hesser didn't shy away from mentioning some of his industries. As for Mrs. Peron, she will indeed pass away in two or three months. This time, Mrs. Peron's death will indeed have a far-reaching impact on the Argentine political situation.

and subtly pointed out that the New A Newspaper was his own power.

“If your information is accurate, our Cordoba local faction and the Blue faction can make some new arrangements.”

Thompson wasn't stupid and obviously realized the enormous value of this news. If Mrs. Perón really passed away, it would mean that Perón's power throne would collapse by at least a third. Who would fight for this vacant power became a big question.

“Yes, this news can't be faked. I have several channels to verify it.”

Saint Hesser certainly couldn't reveal the source of his information. In fact, this wasn't known through the Falcon Bureau and the newspaper. It was simply information known to anyone who understood Argentina's modern history. Nothing else, because the Perón couple had occupied a very large position since the 1940s, whether good or bad.

“If it is indeed as you said, and our faction gains the upper hand in this power struggle, I can make a small promise on behalf of the Cordoba faction and the Blue faction to provide you with some support in the future, and even help you rise to the rank of Major, or get you a city councilor position.”

Regardless of where the news came from, he truly admired Saint Hesser now, a genuine appreciation, with sufficiently keen political instincts.

If Saint Hesser really offered some specific suggestions, he would instead feel that Saint Hesser was somewhat arrogant and not worth continuing to cultivate.

The rank of Major was already quite remarkable, and Thompson would not have been able to transition from Captain to Major without someone backing him. The same went for the councilor position. With Thompson's influence, it certainly wouldn't be a councilor in some small town, but at least a councilor in a decent city.

“This news is nothing. I have a trivial little suggestion, which is to suppress and split up the Labor Confederation. I think we can start with public opinion, especially in the labor union aspect, just by publishing articles in those small newspapers.”

In fact, the Labor Confederation was later stripped of its military power. It was indeed fooled into directly cutting off one of Perón's legs. Argentina's military power only consisted of the army and the police force.

The military directly rebelled, the police force chickened out, and the police force couldn't possibly have tanks and warships, but the navy had warships, the army had tanks, and the air force had airplanes.

The National Police Force's nominal strength was now inferior to the Labor Confederation, and the Labor Confederation was Perón's completely trusted force. Compared to the fence-sitting police force, the Labor Confederation was not a formal military organization, but only an armed force. Their leaders and those in charge were Perón's confidants.

“Okay, I will consider your opinion.”

Saint Hesser was still somewhat capable in propaganda. As for the expansion of the Ministry of Defense's power, it still depended on the intentions of several generals. In fact, for the army, navy, and air force, resolving the Labor Confederation was the most important thing. As long as a new police department was not established, everything would be fine.

In fact, propaganda was the military's weakness. Strengthening propaganda in this regard was too difficult for them. They preferred to use force to subdue people when others didn't listen to them.

Thompson certainly understood Saint Hesser's little thoughts, which was to combine the two aspects, but he couldn't make this decision, and even felt that Saint Hesser was somewhat whimsical, as the strength of the two sides was not equal.

“For the time being, don't think about this matter. After all, not all members of the military are like me. You can contact the Radical Party more.”

Thompson warned Saint Hesser that the Argentine military was a monster and not to be trifled with. Once you got involved, you couldn't get rid of it.

The two then chatted about some other things, and Saint Hesser changed the subject.

“By the way, General, can those tractor and motorcycle production equipment from the Argentine Aircraft Factory be sold now?”

“Hmm? Those tractor and motorcycle factory equipment? There's not much of a market in Argentina. If you want it, I'll directly find someone to talk to. Now even the Aircraft Factory is having difficulties, and these other factories are also failing.”

“Another case of good intentions gone wrong. General Thompson, I suggest reforming the management of the Aircraft Manufacturing Factory, otherwise, I don't think it will last a few years.”

The Argentine Aircraft Manufacturing Factory was established on the basis of a foreign company nationalized by Perón. Its competitiveness was very poor, and the military didn't purchase much from it, relying entirely on appropriations from the Ministry of Finance. This was for

“Do you have any good suggestions? To be honest, this aircraft factory has been losing money year after year, and it's not as good as your Rennes Military Industry.”

“I don't have many suggestions, I just think that the aircraft materials must be resolved, otherwise it will still be very difficult.”

Argentina still had some aircraft industry. It seemed that the failure in the 1950s was because the metal industry was too poor.

“That is indeed a problem. A powerful aircraft joint manufacturing factory requires a great country. There are too few of us Argentinians.”

Saint Hesser had always suspected that Argentina's post-war development was not good because there were too few Argentinians. After all, the larger the population, the greater the competition, and the greater the chance of producing geniuses.

You should know that the current Argentina is not even as large as the first unified empire dynasty in New China's history - the Qin Dynasty.

“I also have this concern. Even though Argentina has added three to four million people in so many years after the war, the birth rate of the urban population has declined by more than half.”

It wasn't just Saint Hesser who thought this way. In fact, many Argentine high-level officials also realized that Perón, in order to secure his power as the second president, once again led a group of his supporters to the cities, but the cities simply couldn't provide enough jobs.

“If only Argentinians could return to the countryside again. When Perón came to power, he boasted about land reform, but now he's not doing anything.”

“Yes, this guy can do anything for his own power. Argentina's newborn population growth rate last year was not even half of Brazil's.”

Since Perón came to power, Argentina's population growth rate, apart from foreign immigrants, has been decreasing year by year.

“This is also a troubling problem. If we want Argentina to be strong again, we still need people.”

“Yes, do you know why the Argentine army is looking for gauchos? Isn't it because Argentina can't even recruit enough conscripts?”

“Haha, so that's how it is. This solved a very big doubt I had before. I was just curious who made this policy.”

“It was me who formulated it. At that time, there were too few soldiers from the Cordoba province. The Cordoba City Garrison was able to become the second largest local army in Argentina, and I put in a lot of effort.”

Speaking of this, Thompson was also somewhat complacent. Who said that gauchos didn't have talent? Perón was even said to be a nouveau riche, but Cohen was much smarter than most white people.

“So that's how it is. With fewer people, nothing can be done well, and even the army will have big problems.”

Since the year before last, which was 1950, Argentina had begun to gradually lag behind countries like Italy and Japan.

Faced with many difficulties, the presidential palace used its ultimate move, which was to start the printing press—printing banknotes! Because without currency devaluation and inflation, the presidential palace would not be able to continue painting its blown-up dreams and pie in the sky.

The only thing worth rejoicing about was that Argentina's average customs tariff had dropped directly from 84% to 50%, which was a rare highlight. This could at least allow some Argentine companies to recover and participate in international competition.

In the past 5 years, Argentina, the most economically open country at the end of the 19th century, saw its exports plummet to 2% of its gross national income, becoming a dispensable part of the national economy.

After World War II, Europe accelerated the modernization of agriculture and provided large subsidies to agricultural producers. The United States and Japan also strengthened subsidies and exports to agriculture.

Europe strengthened its ties with the United States and broke away from traditional markets such as Argentina. International agricultural product prices continued to fall, Argentina's income fell, and its debt rose.

This year, the United States, Europe, and other countries have implemented strict import restrictive policies, which have severely harmed Argentina. Argentina negotiated within the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, proposing that European and American countries lower tariff barriers, but achieved no results.

It must be said that Argentina is really in a difficult situation this year. This is what Saint Hesser witnessed with his own eyes. Even many street lights in Bu City have started not to light up at night, and many ordinary residents have started to stop using electricity at night and switched to kerosene lamps and candles.