EVITA PERON
To Be Evita
From that
initial silence sprang forth the sound of weeping and the sound of corks
popping from champagne bottles. These sounds reflected the love and the hate
that Evita inspired. The sounds of weeping reached the street and took the form
of interminable lines visible to all the world until the day of Evita's funeral
on August 11th.
Each
Argentine knew who Eva Perón was; some, however, based their knowledge on their
feelings while others depended on the rational interpretation of facts.
Tangible reality began to take the form of myth and those of us who did not
share Evita's chronological space in time but wished to know her found that for
many years our way was blocked by silence. "We Do Not Speak of That"
is not only the title of an Argentine film but also a signpost of our history.
The works
that were published, the movies that were filmed, the voices that even today
are raised in praise or condemnation confirm that Eva Perón has transcended
both time and myth.
If life
is a continual choice and we continue to evolve until the hour of our death,
then on July 26, 1952, Evita, the child born thirty-three years ago in a small
Argentine town, had reached the end of her journey: she had become forever
Evita.
Los
Toldos
Her story
began on
Prosperous
and prestigious among the Conservatives of the area, patrón of an estancia,
typical leader in the political struggles of the time, Juan Duarte was named
Deputy Justice of the Peace in 1908.
But 1919
was not a good time for Conservatives. After long years of struggles,
revolutionary in the beginning and abstentionist later, assured of electoral
victory by the Saenz Peña Law after years of electoral fraud, the Radical Party
headed to the polls and walked away with the power.
After the
Radical Party President Dr. HipólitoYrigoyen dismantled the machinery which had
prevented freedom of expression in the provinces, the Conservatives lost their
last bastion in the
Juan
Duarte's star began to decline and economic difficulties appeared on the
horizon. When he was offered the job of administering fields in the neighboring
vicinity of Quiroga, the family moved there but only stayed for a year. Erminda
attended first grade in Public School Number One, but Evita
was still too small to don the
obligatory Argentine schoolchild's white smock.
Since
Quiroga did not offer them the opportunities they had hoped for, the family
returned to Los Toldos. While the older children had enjoyed their father's
times of economic bonanza, the younger ones knew only the times of scarcity.
Their situation became even more serious when Juan Duarte died on
Juan
Duarte's funeral has been presented in both literary and dramatic form many
times over. The rejection that Eva's family supposedly experienced is at the core
of these presentations. Blanca and Erminda, Evita's surviving sisters,
categorically deny these scandalous versions. Their half brothers
and sisters had already lost their
mother. Eloisa Duarte (their half sister) has a son, Raúl Guillermo Muñoz, who has
stated in a document witnessed by a notary public that the two families have
always maintained a cordial relationship.
From that
time on, the problem of survival "became a struggle which took on a new
aspect each day," as Erminda Duarte remembers in her book, My Sister Evita
(pg. 20). Doña Juana sat at her Singer sewing machine day after day, sewing and
sewing, never complaining, ignoring her doctor's orders to rest her ulcerated
legs. "I have no time. If I rest, how can I work, how can we survive?"
(ibid, pg. 31). Elisa worked at the post office. Blanca studied to be a teacher
in the pampas town of
Eva began
primary school when she was eight. She attended first and second grade in Los
Toldos. Her childhood was spent in contact with nature, climbing trees, raising
silkworms, playing hide-and-seek, hopscotch and tag, wearing homemade costumes
which replaced store bought toys and made her into whatever she wanted to be.
Her
sister Erminda was her inseparable playmate and her brother Juan fulfilled
their wishes: he made kites and even a piano with keys that moved; he was the
architect who constructed their playhouses and the ringmaster of their
circuses. Elisa and Blanca nourished their childhood fantasies with bedtime
stories.
In 1930
Juana decided to leave Los Toldos with her "tribe," as she liked to
call her family, to seek a better fortune in the nearby town of
In Junin
at lunchtime three people sat down at the family table because they preferred
Doña Juana's homemade cooking over anything else the small town had to offer;
with time they would become part of the family.
Major
Alfredo Arrieta, Commander of the Military District, would marry Elisa. Don
José Alvarez Rodriguez, rector of the Colegio Nacional, came with his brother,
Dr. Justo José Alvarez Rodriguez, who would one day marry Blanca.
In Junin,
the childhood theatricals of Los Toldos were replaced by roles on a real stage.
Eva began to stand out for her ability to recite poetry. In her autobiography,
The Reason For My Life, she would say, "Even as a little girl I wanted to
recite. It was as though I wished to say something to others, something
important which I felt in my deepest heart." (pg.21) The Commission of the
Artistic and
Evita's
"profound artistic vocation" (as she herself spoke of her calling)
was nourished by Junin's cinema, her teenage radio auditions and her collection
of film star pictures.
In Junin
Evita had to make her first choice: "Shall I remain a small town girl and
marry here as so many girls do? Shall I be a teacher like Blanca? Or an
employee like Elisa?" By 1935 Evita had made up her mind: "I'II be an
actress."
The
characteristics of Evita's personality fit her vocation. She herself would say
in La Razón de Mi Vida, her autobiography, "Like the birds, I've always
preferred the freedom of the forest. I haven't even been able to tolerate that
minimum loss of freedom which comes from living with your parents or in your
hometown. Very early in life I left my home and my hometown and since then I've
always lived free. I've wanted to be on my own and I have been on my own."
(La Razón de Mi Vida, C.S. Ediciones, Buenos Aires, 1995, pgs. 193-194).
The
circumstances which surround Evita's leavetaking from Junin have generated
countless versions, the most common of which involves Augustín Magaldi,
nicknamed the "Gardel of the Provinces" [Carlos Gardel was a famous
Argentine tango singer]. Depending on which version you hear, he's either
interceding with Doña Juana, at Evita's request, to obtain her permission for
Evita to go to Buenos Aires, or simply providing Eva with letters of
introduction which will open the doors of stardom for her. Erminda's memory of
the conflict caused by Evita's unshakable decision to go to Buenos Aires and
Doña Juana's no less unshakable desire to prevent her from going, contradicts
the Magaldi versions. After pondering the words of José Alvarez Rodriguez, who
advised her not to stand in the way of her daughter's vocation, Doña Juana gave
in. "The rector insisted so much, that Mother, clenching her teeth, took
you to Buenos Aires.
Doña
Juana returned alone, "furious with the Rector of the Colegio Nacional,
furious with everyone, "having left Eva in the home of friends of the
family, the Bustamantes" (Duarte, Erminda: op. cit., pg. 71). The little
girl of Los Toldos and Junin had been left behind. Together with a few personal
possessions placed in a suitcase and lost over the course of the years, Eva
took with her the pedaling sound of the New Home Sewing Machine, the
remembrance of toys wished for but never obtained, the impact of the discovery
that there are poor and rich in the world and the emotional
indignation felt when faced with
injustice... these things she would always keep.
Eva
Duarte Actress
Eva was just
one more provincial to arrive in the great city during the '30's. More and more
people with provincial accents were coming into greater Buenos Aires. Just as
in the Creek theater, Buenos Aires presented two masks, one comic, the other
tragic.
These were
times of misery, unemployment, and hunger in a country which was one of the
major producers of food in the world. These times were captured in the lyrics
of the tango "Yira"... "when you split your shoes looking for
some money so you can buy food," sang Gardel.
The
industrialization process which began during the early part of the decade
absorbed the workers pushed by the crisis to flee the interior and come to
Buenos Aires. The upper and middle classes regarded these workers with horror.
Buenos Aires' inhabitants were not used to slums and
"yesterday's mate [ herbal tea]
drying in the sun" so it could be used again. The owners of the palaces on
Avenida Alvear, the oligarchs, members of the landowing aristocracy, were used
to traveling to Europe. They were not used to the slap-in-the-face reality of
tenements and slums on their own doorstep.
Immersed
in this reality, Eva Duarte dedicated ten years to her "passion for the
arts." In 1945, having achieved the right to be considered a
"star," she said in an interview for the movie magazine Radiolandia,
"I am not an adventuress, although some (those who never forgive a young
woman for
succeeding) make me out to be one. I
have spent more than five years dedicated to what is in me a firmly-rooted vocation:
the arts. These have been five years of troubles, of noble struggles when I've
known the uncertainty of adversity as well as the gratification of
success"
(Radiolandia, April 7, 1945).
Soon
after arriving in Buenos Aires, Eva joined the Argentine Comedy Company
(Compañía Argentina de Comedias), headed by Eva France, a front line actress on
the Argentine stage. On March 28, 1935, she debuted with a small part in the
vaudeville production, "La Señora de los Perez." The critic Augusto Guibourg
wrote in his review, "Eva Duarte was very good in her small part"
(Crítica, March 29, 1935). She would
not always be fortunate enough to be mentioned but she stayed with the Company
until January of 1936, always playing in bit parts in "Cada casa es un
mundo" , "Mme. San Gene" and in "La Dama, el Caballero, y
el Ladrón.
In May of
1936 she went on tour with the Company belonging to Pepita Muñoz, José Franco
and Eloy Alvarez, and in December she joined the Company of Pablo Suero in a
new play, "Los Inocentes." In the early months of 1937 she was still
with Suero's company when they performed for a few days in
Montevideo.
When she
returned to Buenos Aires she joined the company of Armando Discépolo,
considered to be one of the best directors of those times. On March 5, 1937,
"La Nueva Colonia," written by L. Pirandello, opened in the Teatro
Politeama. In spite of the good reviews, the play was a failure at
the box office. Augusto Guibourg noted
that, "Juanita Sujo, Eva Duarte, Anita Jordan and Jordana Fain acted
gracefully together in scenes that were skillfully directed" (Crítica, May
5, 1937).
In August
Eva appeared for the first time on the big screen. She had obtained a small
contract to act in the film, "Segundos Afuera." At the same time
Radio Belgrano offered her a contract to participate in the radio theater
drama, "Oro Blanco.
In the
following years she would act simultaneously in the theater, in the movies and
on the radio. As was customary among actresses, she made incursions into the
areas of publicity and graphic arts. From 1938 to 1940 Eva appeared on the
Buenos Aires stage as part of the companies of Pierina
Dealissi, Camila Quiroga, and Leopoldo
Tomás Simari.
Her
appearances in the movies were less frequent. She was in "La Carga de los
Valientes," "El más infeliz del pueblo" and "Una novia en
apuros." She had to wait until 1944 to have a more important role in
"La Cabalgata del Circo." She was the star of the movie "La
Pródiga" in 1945, but it was never
released to the public.
In his
book, Días de Radio (Radio Days), Cesar Ulanovsky affirms, "By the
beginning of the 1940's very few people doubted the sentiments and the effects
that radio was capable of producing. Behind the polished walnut or mahogany
cabinets were hidden the national identity documents of the era:
multitudes of dreams, unleashed
imagination, talented people trained in all the different kinds of
entertainment ranging from drama to humor. Radio dictated the limits of
possibility where fiction and reality mingled and singing voices raised or
lowered the volume of people's lives as if illusion
or disillusion were a sort of
resounding destiny"
(Ulanovsky, César: Días de Radio, ed.
Espasa-Calpe, Buenos Aires, 1995, p. 121).
Eva
Duarte had climbed up that stage early on and would continue to affirm her
right to be there. In 1939 she and Pascual Pelliciotta headed the Company of
the Theater of the Air, first in Radio Mitre, then in Radio Prieto. On May 1,
1939, the soap opera "Los Jasmines del '80" was broadcast for the first
time. Eva's radio programs appeared on the Radio Argentina, El Mundo, and,
finally, in 1943, on Radio Belgrano when she began a series which would
continue until 1945, "The Biographies of Illustrious Women," among
them Elizabeth I of England, Sarah Bernhard, Margarita Well de Pat,
Isadora Duncan, Mme. Chiang Kai Shek,
Catherine the Great.
"I
was lucky," she said in the Radiolandia interview, "to go from one
microphone to the next until I came to the one which for me is the best radio
has to offer. In Radio Belgrano I found people who believed in my
possibilities. Here I have reached the height of my career, a very rewarding
career which began modestly but grew as I dedicated myself to my work, as I
strove to perfect myself and to assimilate the very valuable lessons I
received.
When Eva
Duarte actress leaves the radio stage Eva Perón will take her place. Her voice
will continue to reach each home, not as the incarnation of another woman's but
as her own. By then she will have made a commitment to a cause and to a man, to
Colonel Juan Domingo Perón.
The Day
Which Split History: October 17, 1945
In 1943
the separation between the real country and the government dominated by the
oligarchy was a flagrant one. The climate became more tense as the time for
elections drew near. With the increased tension came the foreboding that the
regimen would put its fraudulent seal on these elections just as it had on
previous ones. On June 4, 1943, a military coup ousted President Ramón
Castillo.
When
General Pedro P. Ramirez assumed the Presidency, Colonel Juan Perón, unknown to
the citizenry but prestigious among his military colleagues, took over the
National Department of Labor. One month later the Department was transformed
into the Secretariat of Labor and Social Welfare. Here Perón laid the political
groundwork which would affect the next decade of
Argentine history.
A real
national tragedy would now join two people who up to this moment had been
ignorant of each other's existence.
On
January 15, 1944, an earthquake destroyed 90% of the Andean city of San Juan.
Seven thousand people died and 12,000 were left injured. From the Secretariat
of Labor and Social Welfare, Perón organized a national relief effort and
invited the most popular stars of the day to participate. Eva
Duarte was among them and helped take
up collections for the needy.
On
January 22, a great festival was held at Luna Park Stadium with all benefits
destined for the victims of the earthquake. Eva Duarte and Colonel Perón began
a relationship which would be socially confirmed at a gala held at the Colón
Opera House on July 9 to celebrate Argentina's Independence Day.
Two days
before, General Farrell (who assumed the Presidency on March 11 when Ramirez
resigned) had designated Perón as Vice President. Perón retained his first
position in charge of the Secretariat of Labor and Social Welfare as well as a
second position which he had recently assumed as Minister of War.
Eva, for
her part, had three programs on Radio Belgrano: at 10:30 A.M. she starred in
"Towards a Better Future" which exalted the goals of the 1943
Revolution; at 6:00 P.M. she was in charge of the cast of the drama,
"Tempest," and at 10:30 P.M. she starred in "Queen of Kings.
On May 6,
1944, she was chosen President of the Agrupación Radial Argentina, a union
entity which she had founded in 1943.
Perón had
become the key figure in the new military government-and the most irritating as
far as the opposition was concerned. Eva's presence and the place Perón
accorded her presented another target; this time his own colleagues would take
aim at it. If Perón was atypical, the woman at his
side was even more so: she had decided
to stand at the side of her man, not behind him. And Perón had accepted that
which was unacceptable at the time.
On October
13, 1945, one sector of the government was successful in obtaining Perón's
resignation from all his positions. He was detained and sent to Martin Garcia,
an island off the coast of Buenos Aires. By this time the workers had realized
that Perón's disappearance would mean the
disappearance of his labor policy and
all the conquests they had made. At dawn on October 17 they began to abandon
their workplaces and head towards Plaza de Mayo: they demanded the appearance
of their Colonel. Perón's withdrawal had produced a vacuum of power which only
he could fill.
That
night Perón appeared on the balcony of the Casa Rosada and announced that
elections would be held soon. The Plaza became a witness to a new political
force in Argentina. For the cheering occupants of the overflowing Plaza de
Mayo, Perón was now not only their leader but also their candidate.
As far as
Eva's role in the crisis of October 17, at this stage of our investigative
research, we have only the testimony of witnesses. Some have her fighting elbow
to elbow with the workers (Alberto Mello), weaving together the threads of the
movement, bringing the people to the Plaza and
on the 17th placing herself at the
vanguard of the movement (Perón), playing no part at all in the mobilization of
the workers (Cipriano Reyes), or totally absent from all the events (Luis
Monzalvo).
In the
light of what we know about Eva's personality at the time and from what she
showed herself to be in later years, it is difficult to validate the opinion of
those who sustain that she did not participate at all in the events. At the
same time, the position she occupied at Perón's side, with the knowledge of
what mechanisms it was necessary to activate but not yet with the power and
influence to activate them makes it difficult to sustain that she was the pivot
of these foundational events of the Peronista
Movement. Perhaps Eva was situated
between the two extremes: she could seek a habeas corpus, open contact with
those she knew she could count on and who would be able to mobilize people, and
participate in the events to the extent her resources would permit.
Eva never
claimed for herself the role of leader on that 17th of October: Perón was won
back by the people.
"That
week of October, 1945, is a week of many shadows and of many lights. It would
be better if we did not come too close.., we should look at it again from
farther away. However, this does not impede me from saying, with absolute
frankness and in anticipation of what I will someday write in more
detail, that the light came only from
the people"
(Eva Perón, op.cit., p.39).
October
17th confirmed for Eva that the events of the past few days did not portend an end
(as some had wished) but a new beginning in Argentine history. This new
beginning would have as its foundation the relationship between a man, Perón,
and the bases of his support, the workers - the
descamisados (the shirtless ones). This
relationship withstood all attempts to destroy it and lasted until Perón's
death in 1974. It brought him to the Presidency of Argentina in 1946, in 1952,
and in 1973, after eighteen years in exile.
Perón
wrote two letters to Eva from his prison on the island of Martin Garcia. In one
of them he said, "Today I have written to Farrell, asking him to
accelerate my retirement: as soon as I get out of here we'll get married and
we'll go someplace where we can live in peace.
Their
civil marriage took place on October 22 and the religious ceremony on December
10, the time when they could go somewhere and live in peace never came.
The Labor
Party chose Perón as its presidential candidate and Quijano as vice president.
The opposition, united under the name of Democratic Union, chose Tamborini and
Mosca as its candidates. Elections would be held in February of 1946.
The
campaign was giddy, violent, aggressive-as are so many in Argentina-in word and
in deed (it was marred by sabotage).
By the
end of December the political campaigns were ready to hit the interior of the
country. "El Descamisado," the Labor Party's campaign train, came and
went along the tracks. For the first time in history, a candidate's wife
accompanied him. At each campaign stop, she handed out buttons and
greeted the people personally.
We begin
to see the profile of another woman: Eva has definitely entered into the
political arena. On February 8 she took another step forward: a convocation of
working women met at Luna Park to show their adhesion to the Labor Party
ticket. The presidential candidate was ill and could not go. Eva went in his
place. It was her debut as a speaker- but they wouldn't let her speak. Every
time she tried, the women shouted, "We want Perón!"
A few
months later she would be acclaimed. She would have become another person. She
would be EVITA.
(1945-1952)
Once
again Evita redefined herself
When
Perón assumed the Presidency, Evita, unlike other Presidents' wives, asked
herself what role she would assume from then on. Once again she questioned
herself about herself, she redefined herself. This time her role would be
defined by her relationship to Perón as President and Leader.
"This
is a foundational circumstance and is related directly to my decision to be a
President's wife who does not follow the old model. I could have followed those
models. I want to make this clear because sometimes people have tried to
explain my "incomprehensible sacrifice" by arguing that the
salons of the oligarchy would have been
closed to me in any case. Nothing is further from the truth nor from common
sense. I could have been a President's wife in the same way that others were.
It is a simple and agreeable role: appear on holidays, receive honors,
"dress up" and follow protocol which is almost what I did before, and
I believe more or less well, in the theater and the cinema. As far as the
hostility of the oligarchs goes, I can't help but smile. And I ask: why would
the oligarchs reject me? Because of my humble origins? Because of my career as
an actress? But has that class of persons ever taken those reasons into
account, here or in any part of the world, when it is the case of the wife of
the President? The oligarchy was never hostile to anyone who could be useful.
Power and money are never bad advantages for a genuine oligarch... . But I was
not just the spouse of the President of the Republic, I was also the wife of
the leader of the Argentine people.
"Peron
had a double personality and I would need to have one also: I am Eva Peron, the
wife of the President, whose work is simple and agreeable ... and I am also
Evita, the wife of the leader of a people who have deposited in him all their
faith, hope and love.
"I
am Eva Perón, the wife of the President..."
The
Museum of the Casa Rosada contains a portrait collection of all the Argentine
Presidents. Each President stands alone, except for one. "Perón and Eva
Perón" by Numa Ayrinhac.
"I
am also Evita..."
"A
few days of the year I represent Eva Perón ... "
"Most
of the time, however, I am Evita ... "
We do not
need to speak of Eva Perón. What she does appears profusely in newspapers and
magazines everywhere.
"On
the other hand, I would like very much to talk about Evita... ."
(Perón, Eva: op cit. pgs. 69-71).
Strangely
enough, when the historical figure of Evita is discussed, people seem to be
most interested in delving into other instances of her life: her childhood, her
family, the life of her parents, the circumstances surrounding her decision to
leave home, her personal life in Buenos Aires,
her success as an actress, the
beginning years of her relationship with Perón, the reasons for her actions.
However, if she had not made the decision to "be Evita," we
Argentines would not even be aware of her name, as we are unaware of the names
of so many other first ladies.
Therefore,
it is very interesting to talk about Evita, interesting to talk about her work
with the disadvantaged, the working class, with women, all woven together into
the fabric of her unceasing activity.
After
Perón became President, Evita went to work on the fourth floor of the Central
Post and Telecommunications office where she began to attend to delegations of
workers who asked her to intervene in solving labor disputes or helping them
obtain better wages. This relationship with the unions continued to intensify
until 1952. It provided her with a solid political power base and created a
foundation for her social work. She also began to receive the needy and to take
care of their emergencies. She supported the government's policies, and she
paid special attention to a sector which had not been taken into consideration
before. On July 25th she spoke to the women of Argentina, and announced new
measures designed to curb speculation. Beginning in October, her visits to
factories increased and her trips to poor neighborhoods put her in contact with
the people and their needs.
She found
much to do. "And we began," she said in The Reason for My Life.
"Little by little. I couldn't tell you on what exact day. I can tell you
that at first I took care of everything myself. Then I had to ask for help.
Finally I had to organize the work which in just a few weeks had become
extraordinary." (Perón, Eva: op. cit. pg. 134).
On
September 24th Evita began working from Perón's office in the Secretariat of
Labor and Welfare. "I went to the Secretaría de Trabajo and Previsión
because there I could meet my people easily and without problems; because the
Minister of Labor and Social Welfare is a worker and he and Evita
understand each other without any bureaucratic
runarounds; and because the Secretaría offered me the tools I needed to begin
my work... The functionaries of the Ministry collaborate with me in finding a
solution to the problems brought by the unions, gathering background
information, examining the solution on its own merits as well as studying the
possible social and economic repercussions." (ibid, pgs. 83-84)
The
Secretaría was a symbolic place. On July 30, in one of the meat packing plants
at Parque de los Patricios, Evita said, "My mission is to transmit to the
Colonel the concerns of the Argentine people." Evita saw herself as
"the bridge" which brought Perón nearer to his people. She would
become more than that; as the years went by, her activity became more intense
and her working
days interminable.
She began
her mornings by receiving the people with the most urgent needs at the
Residence, then going to the Secretaría to meet with the unions and the poor.
If she had to interrupt her interviews because of an official reception,
homage, visit or any other activity involving protocol, the people left waiting
at the Secretaría would stay until she returned. And she always would return
and would not leave until everyone had been taken care of. Her days were
divided into two parts-- mornings and afternoons one could say, with a light
lunch at 2:00, 3:00 or even 6:00 P.M.
On
Wednesdays the unions visited Perón, and Evita would usher the members in to
see him. However, she rarely participated in these meetings. She continued to
work at her own affairs in a nearby office.
Evita had
the habit of dropping by unexpectedly to visit the Foundation's works under
construction and on Thursdays she would visit its establishments around greater
Buenos Aires.
In 1947
she was leaving the Secretaría around 10:00 P.M. and as the years went by her
working day grew longer. The daily paper Democracia described one day, Friday,
May 19, 1950:
"She
starts her morning very early in her office at Trabajo y Previsión and the
first part of her day lasts until 4:00 P.M. At 5:00 P.M. she's back and
continues to work until dawn with only a few short breaks. One break is around
8:30 when she and General Perón attend the signing of a contract
which benefits the alimentation (food)
workers. Another is around 11:00 P.M. when she attends the homage the railroad
workers pay to one of their leaders who has been named a board member of the
National Railways. From there she goes to a banquet at Retiro Park where she is
fervently cheered by the workers of the bottled water industry. Once back at
Trabajo y Previsión, she presides over an act organized by the workers of the
cooking oil industry."
Even
during her last illness, when she was advised to decrease her workload, she
would inevitably respond, "I don't have time; I have too much to do."
The same
rhythm and the same demands were placed on her collaborators. Implacably.
During
the early months of 1947, Evita was busy creating her first weapons in defense
of the poor: she set in motion a children's tourism plan and the first
contingent of workers' children left for the hills of Córdoba on January 6,
1947; she negotiated and gave out subsidies to assist in the
construction of polyclinics designed
for workers in the textile and glass industries; she distributed subsidies granted
by the state through her mediation to more than 500 destitute families; she
distributed clothes, food and household goods to needy families. On January 20,
1947, she received a delegation from Villa Soldati (a slum) which informed her
of their unhealthy living conditions. On the same day she visited their
neighborhood, situated close to the Flores marshlands. She personally took
charge of implementing a plan to provide residents with health care and social
services as well as suitable housing. On January 25, some families began to
move into
newly-constructed modern chalets in
Avellaneda while the rest of the families waited their turn in emergency
housing. On February 12th these families also moved into housing provided for them
by the municipal government on the 400 block of Belgrano Avenue.
(Democracia, January 18, 1947).
From the
beginning, Evita had aimed for "direct social help": a job, medicine,
housing. She would continue throughout her few remaining years of life to
create immediate solutions.
Simultaneously,
Evita began to travel to the interior. On October 26, 1946, she left for
Córdoba where two policlínicos were inaugurated. These hospitals for
railway workers had been constructed under the auspices of the Ministry of
Labor. On November 30 she traveled to Tucumán, a province in the
north of Argentina. Her reception was
so enthusiastic that it exceeded the ability of the authorities to control the
crowds and some people were injured.
On August
21, the Senate approved the project which would give women the vote. Evita went
to the Chamber of Deputies to meet with the leaders of the Peronista bloc.
Their objective: women's right to vote. She would return to the Chamber in the
following days to talk to the legislators of the
Peronista Party. The campaign had
begun.
Evita in
Spain
In June
of 1947, officially invited by the government of Spain, Evita began a tour
which would take her to Spain, Italy, Portugal, France, Switzerland,
Monaco, Brazil and Uruguay.
Acclaimed
in Spain, she received the country's highest decoration: the Great Cross of
Isabel the Catholic.
In Italy
she was received by Pope Pius XII. The gold rosary he gave her would be placed
in her hands at the hour of her death. In Italy she did not always receive a
warm welcome: the Communist Party demonstrated its repudiation of her visit by
shouting, "Down with Fascism!" There were other protests along the
way as the tour continued, but the Communists' were the strongest.
In France
she met the future Pope John XXIII and gave a large donation to the victims
injured in the violent explosion which destroyed the Port of Brest. She also
took time from her schedule to relax.
Wherever
she went, the official itinerary of visits and receptions was interspersed with
trips to workers' neighborhoods and to their institutions. At the same time
that she left donations she sought to learn the lesson: what could Europe teach
her about social action?
Three
years after her trip was over she wrote, "With a few exceptions, on those
apprenticeship visits, I learned everything that institutions of social welfare
should not be in our country. The peoples and governments I visited will
forgive me my frankness which is direct and yet so honorable. On the other
hand, they - peoples and governments - are not to blame. The century which
preceded Perón in Argentina is the same century which preceded them."
(Perón, Eva. op.cit.179).
After she
returned from Europe, Evita plunged back into her activities. Before she left
she had begun to fight for women's suffrage. The battle for women's right to
vote started many years ago and was fought within the framework of the
worldwide battle for women's emancipation. Argentina was not a pioneer. New
Zealand had given women the right to vote in 1893 and many nations had already
followed in her footsteps before Argentina's law 13010, passed in 1947, gave
Argentine women the right to equal suffrage.
Before
leaving Madrid, on June 15, 1947, Evita addressed the women of Spain:
"This century will not go down in history as the "Century of World
Wars" nor even as the "Century of Atomic Disintegration" but
rather as the "Century of Victorious Feminism." The prediction has
not come true; much remains to be done but obtaining for women the right to
vote remains a significant
milestone.
In
Argentina the struggle for women's rights began with the turn of the century.
The names Cecilia Grierson, Alicia Moreau de Justo, Elvira Dellepiane, Julieta
Lantiri, Carmela Horne and Victoria Ocampo will be forever linked to this
cause.
The
feminist organizations of the time were mostly made up of women from the middle
and higher classes, university graduates who had already begun in their own
homes the struggle to not to be limited by thetraditional roles assigned them
by society: to become wives and mothers.
The
suffragettes presented bills in Congress. Some were wide, some more restrictive
and some had the support of political figures like Alfredo Palacios: all were
systematically buried. The last one, dated 1938, was signed by Victoria Ocampo
and Susana Larguía.
The
methodology used by the feminists was limited to the presentation of the bill,
the pretense of a vote, the distribution of consciousness-raising brochures.
Compared to the English suffragettes, for example, Argentine feminists'
activity was extremely moderate.
What was
lacking was a projection of their organizations beyond their own limits, a
broad appeal addressed to all Argentine women whose profile was very different
from that of the women who were petitioning in their name.
From the
Secretaría, the Secretariat of Labor and Social Welfare, Colonel Perón took up
the political cause of Argentine women and created a Women's Work and
Assistance Division. The right of women to vote was again brought to light. On
July 26,1945, in a session of Congress, Perón specifically underlined his
support for the initiative. The Commission Pro Women's Suffrage was formed and
the government was petitioned to show its support for the Acts of Chapultepec
(in which those countries which had signed the Acts but had not yet given women
the vote agreed to do so).
The
subject of women's right to vote had been taken up by the government itself. A
sea change was underway. With the exception of the Argentine Suffragette
Association, presided over by Carmela Horne, the women's suffrage organizations
opposed the government's support of their projects.
On September 3, 1945, the National
Assembly of Women, presided over by Victoria Ocampo, decided to reject the vote
given to them by a de facto government and to demand that the Supreme Court
assume the job of governing the country. The theme of the Assembly was
"Women's Vote Only If Sanctioned by a Congress Chosen in an Honest
Election."
Women's
suffrage was once again put on the back burner during the momentous events of
October, 1945.
The
electoral campaign of 1946 made it clear that, whether they supported the Labor
Party or the Democratic Union Party and even without any political rights,
women had become part of Argentine politics. All they needed was to become a
legitimate part.
As
President, Perón returned to the topic of women's suffrage in his First Message
to Congress, on July 26, 1946, and in the Five Year Plan. Within this
framework, Evita began her campaign. She worked from different vantage points:
with legislators, with the delegations who visited her, with the
women congregated in the civic centers,
by means of radio and the press. For example, on September 17, 1946, she and
women from different Peronista feminist organizations drew up a common action
plan. On January 17, 1947, she spoke to a delegation of women educators from
Rosario: "I'm fighting for women's right to vote and I won't cease in my
struggle until that right
becomes a reality."
Beginning
on January 27, every Wednesday at 9:00 P.M. she broadcast a message from the
Residence to all women, urging them to join her the struggle for their rights.
When she returned from Europe-where she had alluded to the struggle on several
occasions-she found that the bill was still on the back burner.
Democracia
published a "Letter from Eva Perón to Argentine Women" in which she
exhorted them to fight twice as hard to quickly obtain the passage of the
women's suffrage law.
"Evita
addressed her message to a wide spectrum of women."
There
were two turning points in the history of this process: the entrance of women
into politics and the gaining of official support. A third can be added: Evita
addressed her message to a wide spectrum of women who made the cause their own
and began to assume an active role: they organized meetings and published
pamphlets. Working women took to the streets to put up posters
demanding the passage of the law.
Feminist centers and institutions declared their support. On September 3, when
the law should have been debated in the Chamber of Deputies, a great
concentration of women was convoked. The debate was postponed. A concentration
assembled again on the ninth. Evita, who could not be present on the third, was
inside the Chamber on the ninth. Outside, a multitude acclaimed her. Another
turning point: women began to see Eva Perón as their spokeswoman.
On
September 23, amidst a gigantic civic convocation in Plaza de Mayo, the law was
passed.
The
pioneers among the women feminists rose up against the passage of the law,
seeing it as a political maneuver and not as a defense of the cause of all
women. Their slogan became "Now we don't want to vote."
But in
1951 they all voted, the Peronista women and the "antis."
The
sanction of Law 13010 set in motion a series of events which would make it more
effective. On May 23 the voter registration process began as outlined in
article four of Law 13010. In 1951, with Presidential elections on the horizon,
Evita, as President of the Peronista Women's Party, sent a
message to the Chamber of Deputies,
asking for amnesty "for that new sector of voters who have not yet
registered."
The road
which led to women's suffrage was arduous. The road towards civic capacitation
and the preparation of women so they could take part in the political struggle
would be even more arduous.
On
September 14, 1947, the Peronista Party reorganized so as to permit the
formation of another Peronista Party, exclusively for women (Partido Peronista
Feminino-PPF).
The PPF
would become a reality on July 26, 1949. The first National Assembly of the
Peronista Feminist Movement met in the Cervantes Theater. There the Peronista
Women's Party was born. Its underlying principle would be its adhesion to the
doctrine and person of Perón. Evita was elected President with full
organizational powers. The internal structure of the PPF was monolithic: the
President of the party made the decisions and determined the direction of the
work to be undertaken.
"The
organization of the Partido Peronista Feminino has been for me," Evita
wrote in The Reason for My Life, "one of the most difficult enterprises
which I have undertaken. With no precedent in the country-something which I
believe has been to my good fortune-and without any other resource but a heart
placed at the service of a great cause, I called together one day a small group
of women. There were only about thirty. All were very young. I had known them
as infatigable collaborators in my work of social help, as fervent Peronistas,
fanatics in the cause of Perón. I had to ask great
sacrifices of them: to leave their
homes and their jobs, to set aside one lifestyle and take up a more difficult
and intense one. I needed women like them: untiring, fervent, fanatical. It was
necessary to conduct a census of the women of the whole country to find those
who believed in our cause. This
undertaking would require intrepid
women who were willing to work day and night."
(Perón, Eva: op.cit., pg. 228)
They were
the census delegates who also had the job of opening the "unidades
básicas" (neighborhood meeting centers). In January of 1950 the first
unidad básica was inaugurated in Buenos Aires, in the President Perón
Neighborhood in Saavedra.
The
unidades básicas of the Peronista Women's Party, besides being centers of
political activity (they were campaign headquarters during the 1951
Presidential elections), were centers of social work. "The
descamisados," she would say in her autobiography, "do not
distinguish between the
political organization over which I
preside, and my Foundation. The unidades básicas are something which belongs to
Evita. And they go to them looking for what they hope Evita can give them. They
themselves, my descamisados, have created a new function for the unidades
básicas: inform the Foundation about the needs of the humble people of the
entire country. The Foundation attends to these requests by sending help
directly to those in need. I have been severely criticized for this.My eternal
super critics consider that in this way I use my Foundation for political
purposes. And maybe they are right! The end result of my work does have
political repercussions; people see in my work the hand of Perón which reaches
to the most remote corner of my country... and his enemies cannot be happy with
that consequence of mywork."
(Perón, Eva:op. cit., 230-231).
The
political action taken in favor of women harvested its fruits in the elections
held on November 11, 1951. For the first time ever 3,816,654 women voted, 63.9%
for the Peronista Party,and 30.8% for the Radical Civic Union Party.The
Peronista Party was the only one to include women as candidates for election.
In 1952, 23 women deputies and 6 senators took their seats in Congress.
If being
a candidate on the ballot is a right which has been acquired, being elected
involves a continuing struggle. Law 24012, passed in 1991, which establishes a
30% quota for women in representative political positions, and provides clear
evidence of the discrimination which still pervades our society.
"Everything,
absolutely everything in our contemporary world," wrote Eva Perón in the
middle of the 20th century, "has been tailored to the measure of
men."
"We
are absent from governments."
"We
are absent from Parliaments."
"From
international organizations."
"We
are neither in the Vatican nor the Kremlin."
"We
are not part of the upper echelons of the imperialist countries."
"We
are not in the atomic energy commissions."
"Nor
in the great multinational corporations."
"Nor
in freemasonry nor in any secret societies."
"We
are not in any of the great power centers of the world."
(Perón,Eva:op.cit., 223-224)
Since
then the world has undergone profound and vertiginous changes but it is still
made to the same measure.
Evita,
whose concept of feminism saw women as protagonists while continuing to be
feminine, thought that the feminist movement should, for love, be united to the
cause and doctrine of a man worthy of trust. She understood that among the many
differences between a man and a woman, one difference involved the concept of
"action": "A man of action is one who triumphs over the rest. A
woman of action is one who triumphs for the rest."
The
"action for the rest" had a name: Eva Perón Foundation.To this
Foundation, Evita dedicated her best efforts.
Mothers
and children found a refuge in the Hogares de Tránsito, temporary homes where
they stayed until work and a permanent home could be found for them.
The social
work which Evita began in 1946 began to acquire far-reaching influence and
importance. The Social Help Crusade worked specifically to create neighborhoods
of affordable housing, Temporary Homes (Hogares de Tránsito), school food
programs, and to provide jobs to unemployed workers, instruments for hospitals,
mediation for the provision of water and sanitary facilities for low income
neighborhoods, donation of household items to needy families, and distribution
of toys to poor children, especially during Christmas and Epiphany.
The funds
and the articles were donated, especially by the workers' unions.
Also, the
Social Work Crusade received funds from the Ministry of Social Welfare which
were destined for the purchase of clothes, shoes, food, and medicine.
Evita's
special position in the power structure (power from the outside) permitted
access to the place where the decisions were made involving projects or
increasing workers' rights. Her position permitted her to take action outside
the bureaucratic structure.
By the
end of 1947 it was clear that her social action required an organic structure.
The María
Eva Duarte de Perón Foundation came into being on June 19, 1948, and obtained
non-profit status on July 8. From September 25, 1950, until it was dismantled
by the military coup in 1955, it was known as the Eva Perón Foundation.
Evita
presided over international congresses.
In her
speech of December 5, 1949, given to the First American Congress of Medicine in
the Workplace, Evita was very clear about why the Foundation was created: to
bridge the gaps in the national safety net (because in any country which is
undergoing a national reorganization there are always gaps to be covered and
the government must be ready with a quick, rapid and efficient response). She
conveyed the idea of transforming the traditional concept of beneficence and
redefining it within the Peronista program of social justice.
From
beneficence ...to social justice
Children
from the orphanages run by the Society of Beneficence
Children
at the Children's City, Evita's beloved Ciudad Infantil
The
greatest gaps in the safety net were found in the assistance provided to the
elderly, children and women.
On August
28, 1948, in the Ministry of Labor, Evita read the Declaration of the Rights of
Senior Citizens. She then placed it in the hands of the President, asking that
it be incorporated into the legislation and the institutional fabric of the
nation. It was included in the National Constitution of 1949.
The
Foundation was not content with words. It constructed Homes for Senior
Citizens; the first residence was inaugurated on October 17, 1948, in Burzaco.
Others were constructed in the interior of the country. At the same time, Evita
obtained the passing of a law which granted pensions to people over 60 who were
without resources.
Evita in
the Children's City.
Evita was
especially worried about the education, entertainment and health of the
children and youth of the country. The Foundation set up a plan for the
construction of one thousand schools throughout Argentina, as well as
agricultural schools, workshops, nursery schools and daycare centers. The
Amanda Allen Children's City and the Students' City formed part of the
educational action plan. The Children's City was created to shelter children
from two to seven years of age who were orphans or whose parents' were unable
to care for them. The Students' City was a residence for students from the
interior who came to Buenos Aires to study and had no place to stay.
The
Children's Tourism Plan began in 1950 and enabled children to vacation in the
mountains,at the seashore and in other tourist spots throughout the country.
The vacation colonies were the jewels of this plan.
The
Children's Competitions began in 1948 with soccer and were expanded to include
many other sports; they enabled the Foundation to provide medical checkups to
over 300,000 children.
The
Children's Hospital and Epidemiology Center, and the Children's Recuperation
Clinic in Terma de Reyes were among the Foundation's contributions to improving
children's health care. The National Pediatric Hospital was almost finished at
the time of the military coup in 1955. It was never completed.
Evita's
work to help children was inspired in her belief that "the country which
forgets its children renounces its future."
The
problem of finding work and temporary shelter for women was alleviated by
constructing and maintaining three Temporary Homes in Buenos Aires. Other homes
were built in the interior.
The General
San Martin Home for Women Employees sought to resolve the problem of single
women who needed permanent lodging.This Home had a dining room where Evita
would often go for supper after her day's work.Here Juan Castiñeira de Dios
organized the Peña Eva Perón. The Peña, or Poetry Reading, where poets often
dedicated their works to Evita, provided her with much joy and needed
relaxation.
Evita
frequently dined at the Hogar de la Empleada (a home for single working women).
The Peña Eva Perón was held in the dining room.
In her
desire to raise the general standard of living, Eva Perón provided the working
girl with the maximum of comfort, combined with gracious surroundings.
To meet
health care needs, the Foundation constructed four polyclinics in Buenos Aires,
in Ezeiza, Avellaneda, Lanus and San Martín, and others in the interior of the
country. The Foundation also donated modern medical equipment to other
hospitals.
The Eva
Perón Hospital Train, equipped with state-of-the-art medical technology, crisscrossed
the country providing checkups and services to the people in the most remote
areas.
In
September, 1951, the School of Nurses was inaugurated. The School was one of
Evita's most cherished successes; graduates worked all over Argentina and
abroad.
Evita's
nurses
The
Foundation's Nursing School had hospital-ambulances equipped with ten beds and
an operating room.
Chalets
with red tile roofs were typical elements of Peronista architecture.
To meet housing
needs, the Foundation constructed workers' homes, such as the President Peron
Neighborhood and Evita City which provided housing for over 25,000 families.
All the
Foundation's works were followed and supervised by Evita, from the drawing
board to their daily operation. She was often accompanied in her tours by
visitors from abroad.
The
Foundation also helped other countries in times of need or catastrophe, as
Ecuador, Spain, Italy, Israel, France, Japan, Peru, and Bolivia (among others)
can testify.
Columbia
receives help from the Eva Perón Foundation after an earthquake.
The
origin of the funds which the Foundation used for its works has been an object
of controversy in Argentina. The Foundation's Balance Sheet for 1953 specifies
the origin of its funds: cash donations, mostly from unions but also from
individuals and companies; collective bargaining agreements;
taxes; rents; Legislative grants, etc.
We must mention that stories circulated about forced donations where resistance
was met with persecution; the Mu-Mu Candy Factory is cited as an example.
Historian
Marysa Navarro, in her biography Evita, notes: "But if the
"spontaneous contributions" had existed on a large scale and been
accepted systematically, those who were forced could have denounced them after
September of 1955. If they did not wish to denounce them publicly they could
have done so before the commission in
charge of investigating the administration of the Foundation and presumably the
commission would have been pleased to receive these accusations. We must
believe that there were not a large number of denunciations because if there
had been, the
commission would have listed them and
it does not do so"
(Navarro, Marysa: Evita, ed. Planeta,
Buenos Aires, 1994, pg. 263).
After Evita's
death the Foundation continued to operate but without its former vigor and
achievements. Perón tried to take her place but two circumstances were
different: Perón was not Evita and the economy was not the same as it had been
when Evita was alive.
As
Evita's popularity and power grew so did criticism from the opposition and (in
some cases) from certain sectors of Peronismo. They attacked from different
angles: activities inappropriate for a First Lady, undistilled resentment,
dangerous influence on Perón, uncontrolled ambition for power. Under the
surface, but not too far under, was the criticism not of what was being done,
or how it was being done, or why it was being done but that it was being done
by a woman. As J.M. Taylor says, "Evita confronts us with the enigma of
power attributed to a woman in a traditionally and formally patriarchal
society, a society that devalues women as against men."
(Taylor, J.M.: Eva Perón, The Myths of
a Woman, University of Chicago Press, Chicago,
1981, pg. 10).
Evita
reached the height of her power in 1950-1951. These were also the years when
she was confronted with her illness and her last choice: should she be Vice
President of the nation?
On August
2, 1951, the CGT asked Perón to run again for President (this was possible
after the reform of the Constitution in 1949) and expressed the desire that
Evita would be his running mate. Support for the ticket Perón - Perón grew in
the following days.
On August
22, in the historic Cabildo Abierto de Justicialismo, a mass concentration on
Nueve de Julio Avenue, over a million people voiced their desire and support
for Evita's candidacy.
Evita
spoke to the multitude but eluded accepting the office of vice president. The
people insisted and a dialogue began whose fervor and intensity is difficult to
put into words. Evita asked for time to think things over before reaching a
decision.
"At
least four days."
"No!
Now!"
"I
do not renounce my work, I only renounce the honors ... ."
"Now!"
"I
don't want any worker in my country to be without a response when the
resentful, the mediocre people who
never understood me nor never will, who
believe that everything I do is for
personal gain ... ."
"Now!"
"One
day ... ."
"No!"
"Two
hours ... ."
"No!"
Evita
left the microphone. Torches were lit and illuminated a multitude willing to
spend the night there waiting for a reply. Evita took the microphone.
"Friends!
As General Perón said, "I will do as the people ask."
The
dialogue was over. The people believed she had accepted.
On August
31, in a nationwide broadcast, Evita announced her "irrevocable decision
to renounce the honor which the workers and the people" had wished to
bestow on her.
June,
1952. Perón's second inauguration and Evita's last public appearance.
The
background behind the story of Evita's renunciation has yet to be written.
There are many threads to be woven together ... the Armed Forces, her illness,
the CGT, the people, Evita herself.
The
Perón-Quijano ticket won the November elections. Evita voted from her sickbed
in the Polyclinic in Avellaneda for the first and last time.
She
accompanied Perón during his second inauguration.
It was
her last public appearance.
Her work
had become a part of the thousands of men, women, and children who mourned her.
In only thirty-three years Evita had found the reason for her life and had left
to others, as she herself once said when she inaugurated a polyclinic, the
easiest task: that of changing the names of the works she had built.
Evita's
love for her people changed their lives.
I will return and I will be millions!