Re pensando el Radicalismo, los Territorios Nacionales y el petróleo, 1916-1930

Abstract

The objective of the presentation is to bring together reflections on the Radical Civic Union (UCR) and the work carried out in terms of oil exploration and exploitation in national territories of Argentine Patagonia: Neuquén and Chubut. The proposal aims to rethink the reasons why the political force prioritizes intervention in the National Territories, in terms of resources, in the period 1916-1930. These spaces were part of the concern of radicalism as an integral part of the central instance and had important strategic assets to
reduce imports in the context of the war. Likewise, this decision is related to the development of the incipient industry, meeting
the needs of the population and the expansion of the social support base within the framework of the universalized State.
the thesis consists of thinking, on the one hand, that the State intervened in spaces of its direct dependence because its societies
were in formation, in such a way that political conflicts would not occur as happened with the provinces and, on the other, it
would allow us to see the situation of those areas, evaluating the possibility of converting them into provinces. To do this, the existing historiography will be reviewed, incorporating regional and national documentary sources to which we had access, with
the purpose of contributing other problems, in a local key, to national history.