Friends in High Places? International Banks and the Argentinian Military Dictatorship

The presence of international banks in Argentina remained extremely stable throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. The situation changed dramatically after the military coup of 1976 as the number of international banks in the country rapidly increased from 15 in 1976 to 33 in 1982. The article will investigate the international financial relations of the last military junta by focusing on the relations of the regime with international commercial banks. The article will shed light on the role that private commercial banks played in the financing of the regime, in its ability to overcome international boycotts and, ultimately, to carry on its economic plan. First, the article will focus on the presence of international banks in Argentina since the second half of the nineteenth century. The second part will investigate the attitude of international banks towards Argentina in the 1960s and early 1970s to highlight how political and economic instability limited the efforts to establish solid financial relations with the country. Finally, the article will analyse the changing relationship between international banks and the Argentinian regime once the military ousted the Peronist government. We will focus on the perception of the new regime by international bankers, how new ventures in the country were planned and the attitude of the regime towards international finance to shed light on the role that non-state actors played in the consolidation of authoritarian rule.