Papelón

About the Book

Argentina pretends to be governed as a democracy, a federal republic presided over by a president with legislative powers residing in a senate and a chamber of deputies. Supposedly, the law of the land is their constitution of 1853, a noble document emulating the ideals of the constitution of the United States of America. Constitutional documents notwithstanding, historical records suggest that something other than a democratic form of government is practiced there. For recent examples, take note that Ramon S. Castillo acceded to the presidency during 1942—when the incumbent, Presidente Roberto M. Ortiz, was compelled to give up the office due to ill health. Scarcely one year later, General Arturo Rawson removed Presidente Castillo from office. Subsequently, Rawson himself was forced out and the presidency passed to General Pedro Ramírez. Ramírez was ousted by a coup d’état in 1943 and was replaced by a junta from which Coronel Juan Domingo Perón ultimately rose to power. Perón was actually elected to the presidency three times: first, in 1946, and again in 1952; his turn to walk the plank did not come until three years later—when he was deposed by the military and General Eduardo Lonardi took charge as provisional president. [Beyond the time span of our story, Perón returned to Argentina from exile in Spain in 1973 and was again elected to the presidency that same year; he died in office during 1974.] Less than two months from Perón being deposed by General Lonardi in 1955, Lonardi was shoved aside by General Pedro Eugenio Aramburu. Most recently, Arturo Frondizi succeeded Aramburu by winning the general election of 1958. Like so, the political cycles in the history of this democracy continue. The cycles always begin with the army taking over and always end—or begin once again—with the army taking over, it all having more or less first begun with General Juan Manuel de Rosas way back in 1829. Carlos Eduardo Pagano had always had three great passions: his beloved country, Argentina; his passion for technology; and his love for his childhood companion, Juan Ricardo Belén. As circumstance and happenstance would have it, two of these passions are violently wrested from Carlos’s life when opposing political ambitions lead to bickering within the Argentine army and the result becomes the tragic death of Carlos’s friend plus the destruction of the huge electrical power plant where Carlos was employed. Thus, in the political turmoil of Buenos Aires during 1962, an apolitical Carlos is unwillingly drawn into political activism to avenge the death of his best friend; and, as young love has just begun to blossom, the brash and beautiful Lucía Beatriz Blanco will not be denied playing a role at his side. Their strategy becomes to persuade the body politic to consent to a national referendum for eliminating Argentina’s armed forces—and this in a nation where the military has always ruled with jackboot tactics. Carlos and Lucía become lovers as well as the conscience of Argentina as they orchestrate a quixotic effort that places them squarely on the path of the steamroller that is Argentina’s autistic military establishment.

About the Author

Robert Henry Wright Jr. was born in Puerto Cabezas, Republic of Nicaragua, Central America. He immigrated to Texas, USA, at the age of ten. After high school, he served in the USAF; had a brief stint at the University of Texas; and then settled into the petroleum industry, working in sales and service in the drilling and production segments—from Comodoro Rivadavia to the North Slope of Alaska—until taking early retirement in 1988. His occupational travels included a one year residency at Buenos Aires during 1962. After retirement at age fifty-six, Robert and his wife, Carol, began anew when they moved from bustling Houston to a remote ten acres on the north fork of Grouse Creek in the Idaho Panhandle to pursue his desire to write. At Grouse Creek they adapted to living without municipal amenities—without electricity, water, telephone, etc. The Wrights came in from the woods in 2001, moving into nearby Sandpoint where they reside today. Robert Henry Wright, Jr. is the author of The Sandpoint Trilogy which comprises the three novels Apology to Grouse Creek, Ten Percent Marriage, and All Things Flow. He is also the author of the novella Papelón.