Esc. 48 NARRATOR:
As First Lady, Evita spent hours debating and listening to Union delegates from all over the country. She was witty and streetwise - and felt she knew the hearts and minds of the workers. Evita’s lack of formal education played in her favour – helping to build and consolidate a close relationship with the Union bosses, who associated levels of literacy with the wrong-doings of the ruling-class. Everything Evita said and did was recorded on film - and the newsreels were delivered to theatres all over the country. She not only was a star in the leading role of a lifetime, she was also getting more publicity than Ava Gardner or Ginger Rogres; all courtesy of the State propaganda machine.
Esc. 49 NEWSREEL: (subtitle).
Evita lived through a tireless routine. She was always first to answer a call in distress and was a worthy patron of the Arts.
Esc. 50 NARRATOR:
Two years had passed since the end of WWII and Argentina needed to make amends within the European community. Something had to be done, and Evita seemed the perfect ambassador. The role called for a new look. Beautiful and blonde were fashionable. Jewellery, furs, designer clothes and expensive cars would make up for all Evita had missed before - and the people loved it.
An illegitimate child of a failed relationship between a middle class businessman and his servant had made it to the top and she looked like a million dollars.
Esc. 51 NARRATOR:
In June of 1947 Eva Duarte embarked on what she called The Rainbow Tour. The first stop was Madrid, capital of Franco’s post-war Spain. Franco welcomed the First Lady with all the honours. Thousands of cheering Spaniards poured onto the streets of Madrid. Italy was next. For the first time a woman was greeted at the Roman City Hall with the honours of a foreign dignitary. The Italian press labelled Evita “La Signora Presidentessa”. While at the Vatican, the Holy Father requested the First Lady to provide sanctuary for a handful of Croatian war criminals who, later joined the former-Nazis already in Argentina training Federal and State Secret Police. Lisbon was next. Dictator Salazar welcomed Evita in Portugal where the First Lady met Umberto the First of Savoia, former King of Italy and fervent sponsor of Mussolini. Paris was next and then a short visit to Zurich where bankers hoped to capitalize on the growing personal fortune of the presidential couple. Since 1945, the US State and Treasury Departments of the United States, had conclusive evidence of illegal dealings and transfers of gold and currency between Argentina and Swiss Banks. The Rainbow Tour was almost over. Evita had spent over two months building bridges with Europe.
Esc. 52 NEWSREEL: (subtitle).
Evita was, to the European People, the young and beautiful vision of the happy citizen of Argentina. Evita was like the smile of life itself.
Esc. 53 NARRATOR:
From the European experience, Evita learned that simplicity was most effective outside the ballrooms and royal courtyards. Upon her return in August 1947, she changed her charisma entirely. In public appearances, a simple “tailored suit” replaced fancy couture. The hairstyle changed accordingly; her neat chignonbecame a signature look.
Esc. 54 NEWSREEL: (Subtitles).
I am the Argentine woman, the one who never breaks down, putting herself on the line for both Evita and for Peron.
Esc. 55 NARRATOR:
By now, the Labour Party had been re-organized as the Peronist Party. It was a clever move. To advocate the interests of the labour movement meant to be a Peronist; anti-Peronists, by definition, were enemies of the working class. Evita’s next step was to organise women within the Party. In her own words, to be a Peronist woman meant “to be loyal and to have blind confidence in Perón”. The Women’s Civil Rights Act was passed and Evita addressed a massive demonstration in the Plaza de Mayo. She was already an accomplished public speaker.
Esc. 56 NEWSREEL: (Subtitles).
Women of the Fatherland! It was brought to my attention that the law granting our civil rights has been passed in Congress. It is an honor to relate this news to you on behalf of all Argentine women. Peronist girls unite! Together we shall overcome!
Esc. 57 NARRATOR:
Traditionally, the First Lady was designated the honourable chairperson of The Society of Charitable Women of Argentina. A tradition was about to be broken. The Society was to deny the privilege under the pretence that Evita was still too young and immature.
Esc. 58 NARRATOR:
Evita dissolved the Society and established her own: “The Maria Eva Duarte de Perón Foundation”. The new society was to be presided over by Evita for as long as she lived and bankrolled with Federal resources, contributions, wage withholdings and extorted “donations”.
Esc. 59 NARRATOR:
Evita was taken her role has Godmother to seriously: She inaugurated hospitals, schools, safe-havens for single mothers and homes for the elderly.
Esc. 60 NEWSREEL: (Subtitles).
Before Evita came along, most children were excluded from the best things in life. Little did the poor children know of a smile, love and the joy that a toy could bring.
Esc. 61 NARRATOR:
A miniature city was built not far from Buenos Aires. It was meant for children to play and learn. It was fun and clever, an incubator for future Peronists. Evita was convinced that the women’s vote would bring Perón to his second term as President of Argentina. Moreover, that it was the children who would reaffirm his mandate in a not so distant future.
Esc. 62 NARRATOR:
Support for the regime was encouraged in public schools, where religion had become mandatory. School textbooks emphasized Evita’s maternal role as “a tender and generous soul”: “My mommy loves me”, “Evita loves me too”. Learning how to read and write also meant understanding the rules of the game, a game, in which everyone was being reminded at all times of Evita’s generosity and love for mankind. At Christmas, Santa Evita would personally bring toys printed with the regime’s propaganda while her voice captured the hearts of millions, with soft and tender tone.
Esc. 63 NEWSREEL: (Subtitles).
Let the smile of our children be our goal and concern, wherever Fate might lead us as a Nation. Let us humbly do as Christ in our hearts with nothing but love for our fellow Argentines. Amen, workers of my Fatherland.
Esc. 64 NARRATOR:
It was a new religion called Peronism, and Evita was to be regarded as the Apostle of the dispossessed. However; all too soon, the resources began to dry out. The vaults at the Central Bank, once loaded with gold, were now virtually empty.
Esc. 65 NARRATOR:
Argentina was now more Peronist than ever. Joining the Party was required to apply for government jobs and teaching positions. Radios and newspapers were nationalized. No news was to be printed without the approval of the feared RAUL APOLD, a close advisor to Evita and Minister of Information. From now on: Total Control. Nazi-styled paraphernalia and propaganda were a constant reminder that Fascism was alive and well in Argentina.
Esc. 66 NARRATOR:
“Oligarchy”, became Evita’s favourite word to identify anything and anyone opposing her will and that of the Peronist Revolution. The territory of La Pampa, birthplace of Evita and Perón, was renamed after the First Lady and the former territory of Chaco became Presidente Perón Province. Streets and cities were also renamed after the presidential couple. Boats, planes, railroad stations, schools, hospitals, stadiums and airports were named after Evita or Perón.
Esc. 67 NARRATOR:
Europe was now slowly recovering from years at war. The Marshall Plan, implemented by the United States, had grave consequences for Argentina. The European export market for grain and meat was lost to the United States. Without a back-up plan, Argentina was beginning to feel the effects of a new a recession. Once again, the United States became the scapegoat: The Americans were stifling Argentine business abroad and the dream of a Peronist Paradise was grinding to a halt.
Esc. 68 VOICE OVER: EVITA (Subtitles).
Listen to me carefully, comrades: Striking against Peron makes you a scapegoat for the oligarchy.
Esc. 69 NARRATOR:
The workers had been warned. No strikes against Peron.
Esc. 70 NARRATOR:
Evita founded the “Women’s Wing of the Peronist Party” and helped o rganize it by setting up recruitment centres in small towns as the General Confederation of Labour called for the First Lady to become the next vice-president. In August of 1951, two million rallied in Buenos Aires to support for the presidential ticket of Perón-Perón. A massive march was scheduled and workers bussed-in from all corners of the country were to encourage the First Lady’s commitment. It was a dream come true: cameras, lights, and a cheering audience below.
Esc. 71 NARRATOR:
Although Evita enjoyed extraordinary support; she was beginning to suspect that the Armed Forces and the oligarchy were behind a plot to keep her form achieving her goal. However, the truth behind Peron’s reluctance to back her nomination was indeed more dramatic. Unbeknown to Eva Duarte, she had been diagnosed with cervical cancer. It all happened to fast. What the crowds gathered to support Evita heard - was her heart-felt renunciation. The First Lady was dying.
Esc. 72 NEWSREEL: (Subtitles).
Mrs. Eva Peron Addresses The People. Comrades! Don't you agree I would have taken upon the challenge; if only I thought that accepting the burden of the vice-presidency would be the solution to our problems?
Esc. 73 NARRATOR:
The veil of secrecy surrounding Evita’s health was absolute. The First Lady was told she had appendicitis and she believed a simple intervention would carried out her physician. In the meantime, Perón made arrangements for New York cancer surgeon George T. Pack to be flown into Buenos Aires to head the team of experts that would perform a hysterectomy on the First Lady. Dr. Pack entered the operating room only after Evita was fully sedated - and he left before she ever regained consciousness.
Esc. 74 NARRATOR:
A group of army officers felt they could not wait for the regime to collapse and tried to overthrow Perón. Evita was beginning to confront the facts. She was dying, and the regime she helped build and sustain was at the brink of collapse. She felt she was being attacked from within and without. Cancer and the feared oligarchy were about to pull down the curtains on the role of a lifetime. In a desperate act, Evita ordered the purchase of 5000 pistols and 1500 machine-guns to be distributed among union workers in case of yet another military uprising.
Esc. 75 NARRATOR:
On Election Day, November 11th 1951, Evita cast her own vote from her hospital bed. Outside, thousands of women exercised their civil rights for the first time, and Perón was re-elected for a second consecutive term, as President of Argentina.
Esc. 76 NARRATOR:
On May 1st, 1952 Evita addressed the crowds gathered at Plaza de Mayo, for the last time. She was a fragile figure of just over eighty pounds and had to be held by Perón as she was constantly about to faint.
Esc. 77 NEWSREEL: (Subtitles).
I do not want, nor have I ever wanted, anything for myself. My Glory is to have been a shield for Peron and a standard-bearer for my people. I know the threads of life I am leaving behind will someday be harvested by you and will rise with my name as a flag of victory for the People.
Esc. 78 NARRATOR:
On June 6th, Evita, heavily sedated -was fitted with a straight metal cast and joined her husband as they paraded through the streets of Buenos Aires on the way to Peron’s second inauguration. On July 26, a crowd gathered in front of the presidential residence to pray for the one they regarded as the Spiritual Leader of the Nation. At sundown, thousands of torches light-up the winter skies of Buenos Aires. Argentina was wrapped in silence as a sombre broadcast issued from the Ministry of Information:
Esc. 79 NEWSREEL: (Subtitles).
It is our sad duty to inform the people of the Republic, that Eva Perón, the Spiritual Leader of the Nation, died at 8:25 P.M. The remains of Mrs. Eva Peron will be taken tomorrow morning to the Ministry of Labor…
Esc. 80 NARRATOR:
Evita was dead. At Perón’s request, her body was embalmed to be preserved for eternity. On August 9th, Evita was taken to the Parliament and thousands passed by her coffin to pay their last respects. Evita was then taken to the Workers Confederation Headquarters. Over two million followed the cortège – which had been choreographed like that of a Roman emperor. Paramount Pictures stage what would be remembered as the first colour-mega-production in Argentina. And in a final grand, cinematic turn - Evita’s performance was coming to The End.
Esc. 81 NARRATOR:
Three years later, On June 16th, 1955, the Armed Forces, in an attempt to kill Perón, bombarded downtown Buenos Aires without warning. Hundreds of civilians were killed. The attempt failed again, and Perón was able to hold on to power until September when yet another revolution forced him into exile. Once again, thousands of cheering Argentines jammed the streets to celebrate: The King is dead. Long lives the King!
Esc. 82 NARRATOR:
Without Perón by her side, Evita, once again became a target for her enemies. On November 22nd, General ARAMBURU, leading officer of the latest Revolution, ordered his military commandos to seize Evita’s corpse. The operation was to be the beginning of a long and macabre journey.
Esc. 83 NARRATOR:
At some point, the corpse was hidden in the attic of Major ARANDIA, Aramburu’s second in command. One night, hearing sounds coming from his attic, Arandía reached for his weapon and shot in the dark - killing his pregnant wife. Evita was becoming an embarrassment to the new government. With the complicity of the Vatican, Aramburu planned to ship the remains out of the country. Twenty-five identical coffins were manufactured and delivered to twenty-five collaborators with strict orders to get rid of Evita in absolute secrecy. As time passed, many broke the pact of silence through family or friends. Some confessed to have buried Evita in Uruguay or Chile; where Juana Ibarguren – Evita’s mother – was now living on exile. Others were prepared to testify that Evita had been laid to rest on the Island of Martín García, where Perón had been taken under arrest in October of 1945. There were those who swore to have incinerated the corpse and still, there were also those who recall shipping the former First Lady for burial in Belgium, Germany or Italy. It was not until many years later that the truth would surface. The remains of Maria Eva Duarte de Peron, arrived in Genoa, Italy on April 23, 1957 A few days later, she was laid to rest in Milan under the fictitious name of María Maggi de Magistris.
Esc. 84 NARRATOR:
Thirteen years later, the terrorist organization known as Montoneros kidnapped former President Aramburu demanding the immediate restitution of the corpse. The military tried to re-construct the evidence-at-hand, but not even Aramburu knew where the real Eva Duarte had been buried. The government failed to find the general or his abductors and ARAMBURU was executed, June 1, 1970.
Esc. 85 NARRATOR:
In September of 1971, then President General LANUSSE orchestrated "Operation Return" and the remains of Eva Duarte were finally exhumed and brought to Perón’s doorstep in Madrid where the general, now married to Maria Estela Martínez, had been living under the protection of General Francisco Franco.
Esc. 86 NARRATOR:
Perón, returned to Argentina in 1973 to be re-elected for a t hird term. Maria Estela, a former chorus girl known as “Isabelita”, joined the nomination becoming vice-president; a dream denied her predecessor twenty years earlier. In the meantime, Evita’s coffin remained in Perón’s residence in the suburbs of Madrid, guarded by Franco’s secret police. When Perón died of natural causes shortly after his third inauguration, Isabelita was sworn-in as the first woman to head the Argentine State.
During this short-lived and chaotic administra-tion Montoneros ransacked Aramburu’s crypt at the Recoleta Cemetery kidnapping the General, a second time. Once again, they demanded that Evita be returned. This time, they succeeded. Evita was laid to rest next to Perón in a crypt built at the Presidential Residence where Isabelita was living at the time.
Esc. 87 NARRATOR:
Isabelita was finally overthrown by a military coup on March 24th, 1976. The new military regime relocated, once again, the bodies of the former rulers of Argentina. Evita was placed in the Duarte Mausoleum at the Recoleta Cemetery.
Esc. 88 NARRATOR:
In the years to come, Perón’s grave would be desecrated, at least twice, and his hands cut off and stolen. In 2006, Ghosts of Argentina's turbulent political past rose again as the remains of Peron were transferred from Buenos Aires to a new mausoleum at San Vicente, the Presidential Retreat favoured by Perón and Evita at the peak of their powerful affaire. The melee left at least forty people injured, though it appeared that no one was hurt when one of the combatants emptied his gun at the entrance of the residence, which is now a museum dedicated to the former
President. It is believed that some day Evita will join her husband in San Vicente where there are plans to erect a memorial to perpetuate the legacy of the most revered and yet despised couple in the history of Argentina. For the time being, Evita rests in Recoleta, next to Aramburu and the mausoleums of the most prominent families of Argentina.
Every day, thousands of tourists from all over the Globe come to visit the Recoleta Cemetery, certain, that this is the final resting-place of the woman who inspired so much from so many. Nevertheless, there are reasons to believe the saga will continue to unfold.
THE END