Economic Relationships between Czechoslovakia and Argentina in 1945–1955: Cooperation of the “Communist Police State†and the “Fascist Demagogue†at the Beginning of the Cold War

The aim of this study is to analyse the economic relationship between Czechoslovakia and Argentina in the period 1945–1955 via archival documents. At the end of World War II Czechoslovakia was unable to recover the positions it had established in Latin America in the 1920´s and 1930´s. The increasing influence of Russia on Czechoslovakian foreign policy and the incipient Cold War drastically limited Czechoslovakian opportunities. In addition, the relationship with Argentina was rather specific within the region. On the one hand, the country was of key financial importance and commanded massive surpluses that were required by the Czechoslovakian economy (wool, raw leather, meat, tannin, fodder, corn, plant oils, etc.). On the other hand, there was Juan Domingo Perón´s political regime whose foreign-political line was to seek ever greater autonomy from the USA. Despite the mutual antagonism between both regimes, Peronist Argentina became one of the Czechoslovakia´s largest non-European markets. As a matter of fact, Czechoslovakia implemented a large number of major orders in the country, of which the distillery in San Nicolás was the most significant. At that time it was to be the largest distillery in the world.