Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
16
Ordinarily, the Catholic Chur ch would
not hav e sanctioned the marriage, giv en
Duarte's reputation as a “tainted” woman,
but the priest was a r elative of Perón's.
Perón became pr esident in 1946 in an
election marked by fraud and brutality on
both sides. Though J uan was technically
the power, he could not hav e retained his
popularity without E va (nicknamed E vita
by the people) at his side. Kno wing that
their power was based in wor ker's unions,
the couple launched numer ous economic
and work initiatives, many along the lines
of communist-style 5-y
cervical cancer, Evita was dying, and for-
feiting this final fight worsened her health.
She voted in the elections from her hospi-
tal bed. She was so weak for the inaugural
parade thr ough B uenos Air es that they
doped her up with painkillers and strapped
her body to a wood frame, hidden b y an
oversize fur coat, so she could wav
e to
crowds.
On July 26, 1952, Evita finally died. A
2-week mourning period ensued, and mil-
lions pour ed into B uenos Air es to pay
their final r espects. M ore than a doz en
people died and hundreds were injured in
the commotion as mourners lined up for
days to view Evita's body in its glass coffin.
Knowing that without E vita his days
might soon be o ver, Perón commissioned
a monument to her, which was never com-
pleted, and had her body embalmed to be
preserved forever.
A period of economic instability ensued,
exacerbated b y P erón's o wn policies. H e
had, in essence, r obbed the countr y of its
wealth by spending on social causes (and
siphoning much for his own use). In 1955,
the militar y deposed P erón and stole
Evita's body, sending it on a journey that
lasted nearly 17 y ears before it resurfaced.
Images of the P eróns w ere banned in
Argentina; even uttering their names was
an offense.
Perón bounced thr ough sev eral coun-
tries—Paraguay, P anama, Venezuela, the
Dominican R epublic—before finally set-
tling in S pain, r uled by his longtime ally
Francisco F ranco. D uring his time in
ear plans, and
employment and wages spiked under the
new regime.
The modern middle class of Argentina,
now w eakened b y mor e r ecent economic
policies, owes its existence to this period.
Eva used her position to cr eate the E va
Perón Foundation, which was as much a
public relations tool as a charity service for
the first lady. Under the official economic
plans and the foundation, contributions
were forced from workers and the wealthy
alike; land, buildings, and factories w ere
seized fr om the oligar chs; and the rail-
roads, formerly in the hands of the British,
were nationaliz ed in lieu of payment for
unpaid war debts owed by Great Britain to
Argentina. Throughout the countr y, the
couple built hospitals, schools, and play-
grounds for lo wer-class citiz ens and their
children. One children's park, the Ciudad
de los N iños in La P lata, ser ved as the
model for Walt Disney when he designed
Disneyland, in California. The popularity
of the po wer couple soar ed among the
poor, but the two w ere despised b y the
upper classes and the militar y alike.
After E vita's long insistence, women
received the right to vote in 1947, and the
presidential elections of 1951 w ere the
first in which women par ticipated. Want-
ing to legitimiz e her po wer within the
government, Evita sought to be vice presi-
dent on the 1951 election ballots, but
Perón forced her to decline. S tricken with
2
Panama, he met his futur e third wife and
vice pr esident, I sabel M artínez, a night-
club dancer.
While Perón was exiled in Spain, Evita's
body was r eturned to him, and his po wer
base in Argentina str engthened, allo wing
his return to the presidency in 1973. Still,
his arriv al was wr ought with chaos. G un
battles br oke out at E zeiza Airpor t when
his plane landed, leaving several of his fol-
lowers and riv als dead. When he died in
