The bombing of the presidential palace and May Square on June 16, 1955, was a failed coup attempt against Juan Perón that exposed the mounting instability of his rule. Perón survived, but the attack formed part of a broader confrontation that culminated in his resignation and flight from Argentina in September.

Background: Opposition to Perón

By June 1955, anti-Peronist military leaders known as the Gorillas were challenging Perón’s government. The Church had become a refuge for opposition to him, amid disputes over his policies toward religious schools, divorce, prostitution, and religious sects. Political life was marked by demonstrations and counter-demonstrations, while hostility between Peronists and their opponents deepened.

The Bombing

On June 16, the military leaders bombed the presidential palace and May Square. Perón escaped the coup attempt. The account identifies the targets and the survival of the president, but gives no figures for casualties or a fuller description of the attack; its emphasis is on the political crisis that surrounded the bombing and its place in the unraveling of Perón’s government.

From Failed Coup to Perón’s Fall

The bombing did not remove Perón from power, but his position was increasingly precarious. In the months that followed, violence and counter-revolution intensified. By September, mutinies had broken out in Córdoba and Bahía Blanca, and the navy blockaded Buenos Aires and threatened the refineries. Perón resigned and escaped to Asunción aboard a Paraguayan gunboat. The June bombing thus stands as an early, dramatic episode in the crisis that ended his rule, rather than as its conclusion.