From APRA to FORJA and FORJA to Peronism. Reflections on the aprismo networks in Argentina through the political and intellectual itinerary of Francisco Capelli

Abstract

The transnational perspective has renewed in recent years the historiography on APRA, from problems and approaches that do not cover the issues of disputes between its defenders and detractors in Peru. This renewal has allowed to restore the dynamics of aprismo networks in the continent. This work seeks to contribute some more threads to the knowledge of these networks, through the political and intellectual itinerary of Francisco Capelli. This is the case of a militant who promoted the formation of an APRA union of students in the city of La Plata, Argentina, in the thirties, and then served as leader of the organization Fuerza de Orientación Radical de la Joven Argentina ( FORJA), where he became the Secretary General. This nationalist organization, detached from the trunk of the Radical Civic Union (UCR), was later incorporated into Peronism, and Capelli was part of the management of the government of the Province of Buenos Aires. The choice of this particular case requires a series of introductory clarifications, which are an excuse to reflect, also, on the place of the biographical account in the historiography on APRA.