Decline of Evita

Though Evita Peron is far from forgotten in Argentina, her personal legend is now being soft-pedaled, apparently by official decree. She seems to be receding rapidly into the mists of history, while current emphasis is concentrated on President Peron.

More than two months after Evita's death, the "Association of Friends of Eva Peron," founded in the first hour of grief by high-placed Peronistas, has yet to hold its first meeting. The film Evita Immortal, released shortly after her death, has evidently had its run and been withdrawn from circulation. Press and radio have drastically reduced the amount of time and space devoted to her. The President himself has not mentioned her name in a public speech for more than a month.

Clearest indication of the dimout is the unpublicized decision to change plans for Evita's mausoleum. At the outset, the idea was to hold a world competition for the design of a colossal monument, then build it at one of Buenos Aires' main street intersections and preserve Evita's embalmed remains within, perpetually on view. By last week, the site had been changed from downtown Buenos Aires to the grounds of the presidential residence in the Palermo section. Evita's monument has been consolidated with an old project for commemorating the descamisados. Under the latest plan, the body will be sealed beneath the monument, which is to be topped by a statue of a descamisado.

As Evita's worldly fame was fading away, Peron took steps last week to settle her considerable fortune. To Europe, aboard an Argentine Airlines DC-6, he sent her brother Juan Duarte and the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Hector Campora. On arrival in Switzerland they were to transfer her international investments to the President's name. Under Argentine law, when a childless woman dies, all her property acquired after marriage must be divided between her parents and her husband. Duarte and Campora, however, carried with them--besides a power of attorney from Peron --a document signed by the president of the supreme court certifying that Evita's mother had waived all rights to her estate.

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