Raul Alfonsin: Lawyer from Chascomus

hat I admire most is humility. What I cannot stand is arrogance." As a statement of his philosophy of political leadership, it is vintage Raul Alfonsin. It also sets him in sharp contrast with the military rulers Argentina has endured for the better part of a decade. Stocky, garrulous and indefatigable, Alfonsin, 56, has brought a shudder of excitement to a citizenry long inured to monochromatic military men and ineffectual demagogues steeped in the mythology of Juan Perón. Alfonsin has also projected an image of forcefulness and competence necessary to command his unruly nation.

With his ample girth, trademark black mustache and a twinkle in his eyes, Raul Ricardo Alfonsin Foulkes seems the quintessential Argentine. Born in the provincial city of Chascomus (pop. 30,000), 78 miles southeast of Buenos Aires, Alfonsin was the oldest of five children. His parents made a comfortable living running a general store founded by his great-grandfather, who emigrated from the Spanish province of Galicia in 1870. His father, Serafin, was a fervent supporter of the Republican cause in the Spanish Civil War, and that sense of commitment seemed to rub off on his son. Says Alfonsin: "I came from a home atmosphere where liberty was not only learned from books."

At 13, young Raul was packed off to the San Martin Military Academy in the province of Buenos Aires. Among his classmates was Leopoldo Galtieri, who as head of the military government in 1982 guided Argentina into invading the Falkland Islands. Alfonsin sometimes jokes that because his Jesuit-educated father and uncles had failed to become priests, his mother hoped that he would prove equally resistant to the lure of a military career. "She was right," he says.

Instead of the barracks, Alfonsin chose to enter law school in La Plata, where he first became active in the progressive Radical Civic Union Party. He was drawn to the party by its populist orientation and historic opposition to Argentina's landed oligarchy. After marrying his childhood sweetheart, Alfonsin began his career as a lawyer in Chascomus. He ran successfully for the provincial legislature in La Plata, then for the National Congress in 1963.

In 1972, just before one of the military's periodic withdrawals from power, Alfonsin challenged the aging party war horse, Ricardo Balbin, for the Radical presidential nomination. Alfonsin was intent on proving that voters could be lured away from their rote support of Peronismo. Said he: "It is intolerable that there should be any authoritarian component in a popular movement." He lost, but gained a name for himself in party ranks. When the Radicals held their nominating convention last July following the junta's vow to hold national elections, he was ready.

Alfonsin considers himself a frustrated writer and enjoys movies. (His favorite: Hiroshima Man Amour, a 1959 antiwar film by French Director Alain Resnais.) Asked once to elaborate on qualities necessary for leadership, he listed "honesty, courage to confront situations ... not to be ambiguous." He added, "Politics does not give satisfactions except for the sensation of duty accomplished. It is an unhealthy trade. But I believe it is what I should do."