Nación, república y Constitución: La Liga Patriótica Argentina y su Congreso General de Territorios Nacionales

The purpose of this article is to analyze the discourses performed by the participants of the General Congress of National Territories, organized in 1927 by the Liga Patriótica Argentina, a nationalist association of notorious presence in the political life of the Argentinian Republic during the 1920’s. The congress was the Liga’s response to some of the problems its members found not only in the political situation of the republican institutions, but also in the specific case of the Territories, units that had no political autonomy and that were subject to the authority of the federal government. The Territories represented almost half of the Argentinian territory, and were seen as spaces inexcusably abandoned by the federal governments. Thus, the Liga embraced the self-assigned mission of ‘argentinizing’ those spaces and their populations. Among other aspects, this involved debating the institutional status of the Territories, namely their recognition as new provinces. Although some Territories had reached the legal conditions required, that transformation had not yet occurred by 1927. However, establishing a position on that subject was not an easy issue for the Liga. As this article proposes to demonstrate, the difficulties the Liga had in defining its official position on the provincialization of Territories can be explained as a result of the ways in which its members understood the key concepts of Nation, Republic and Constitution, so as the relations between them.The purpose of this article is to analyze the discourses performed by the participants of the General Congress of National Territories, organized in 1927 by the Liga Patriótica Argentina, a nationalist association of notorious presence in the political life of the Argentinian Republic during the 1920’s. The congress was the Liga’s response to some of the problems its members found not only in the political situation of the republican institutions, but also in the specific case of the Territories, units that had no political autonomy and that were subject to the authority of the federal government. The Territories represented almost half of the Argentinian territory, and were seen as spaces inexcusably abandoned by the federal governments. Thus, the Liga embraced the self-assigned mission of ‘argentinizing’ those spaces and their populations. Among other aspects, this involved debating the institutional status of the Territories, namely their recognition as new provinces. Although some Territories had reached the legal conditions required, that transformation had not yet occurred by 1927. However, establishing a position on that subject was not an easy issue for the Liga. As this article proposes to demonstrate, the difficulties the Liga had in defining its official position on the provincialization of Territories can be explained as a result of the ways in which its members understood the key concepts of Nation, Republic and Constitution, so as the relations between them.El propósito de este artículo es analizar los discursos expuestos por los participantes del Congreso General de Territorios Nacionales, organizado en 1927 por la Liga Patriótica Argentina, una asociación nacionalista de notoria presencia en la vida política de la República Argentina durante la década de 1920. El congreso fue una respuesta de la Liga a algunos de los problemas que sus miembros observaron no sólo en el estado de las instituciones republicanas, sino también en el caso específico de los Territorios, unidades que no tenían autonomía política y que estaban sujetas a la autoridad del gobierno federal. Los Territorios representaban casi la mitad del territorio argentino, y eran vistos como espacios inexcusablemente abandonados por los gobiernos federales. Así, la liga abrazó la misión auto asignada de “argentinizar” aquellos espacios y sus poblaciones. Entre otros aspectos, esto implicó debatir el estatus institucional de los Territorios, es decir, su reconocimiento como nuevas provincias. Pese a que algunos Territorios habían alcanzado las condiciones legales requeridas para ello, para 1927 esa transformación todavía no había ocurrido. Sin embargo, definir una posición sobre el tema no fue un asunto sencillo para la Liga. Como este artículo se propone demostrar, las dificultades que la Liga tuvo en definir su posición oficial sobre la provincialización de los Territorios puede ser explicada como resultado de los modos en que sus miembros entendieron los conceptos de nación, república y constitución, como las creaciones entre ellos