1955 Bombing of Plaza de Mayo

The 1955 Bombing of Plaza de Mayo was a major episode in the crisis that brought Juan Perón’s first period of rule to an end. On June 16, anti-Peronist military leaders bombed the presidential palace and Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires. Juan Perón escaped the coup attempt, but the confrontation unfolded amid deepening opposition and was followed by months of unrest before he resigned and went into exile.

Political Background

The bombing came amid a bitter conflict between Juan Perón’s government and the Catholic Church, which had become a refuge for opposition. The Church opposed his cancellation of subsidies to religious schools, legalization of divorce and prostitution, and encouragement of religious sects. Demonstrations and counter-demonstrations accompanied the dispute; Juan Perón imprisoned priests, while the Church excommunicated him. In this atmosphere, the June attack was part of a broader struggle over his authority, not an isolated military action.

The Attack and Its Immediate Outcome

On June 16, 1955, anti-Peronist military leaders bombed the presidential palace and Plaza de Mayo. Juan Perón survived the coup attempt, and his government did not fall that day. The failed effort to remove him by force nevertheless intensified an already volatile political climate, in which religious confrontation, street mobilization, and military opposition were increasingly entangled.

From Crisis to Exile

The conflict continued through the austral winter. Juan Perón threatened severe retaliation for each Peronist killed, while unrest spread beyond the capital. By September, mutinies had broken out in Córdoba and the port of Bahía Blanca. On September 16, the navy blockaded Buenos Aires and threatened to bomb the refineries. With Argentina on the verge of civil war, Juan Perón resigned and fled aboard a Paraguayan gunboat bound for Asunción.

His departure followed the destruction of politically compromising files and ended his rule, but not the instability. A military junta took power; after one general was deposed, Pedro Eugenio Aramburu became leader and promised to purge Argentina of Peronism. The June bombing thus stands at the beginning of a chain of confrontations that carried the country from a failed coup attempt toward Juan Perón’s resignation and a new military government.