Category: History

The same issue of Gente magazine with the cover story “Los restos de Eva Perón están en Argentina” contained another surprise. Immediately following the Eva Perón article was a short photo essay entitled:  “Devuelven los restos de Aramburu.” What luck!

Pedro Aramburu became de facto President of Argentina after a 1955 military coup ousted Perón. Aramburu was also behind the theft of Eva Perón’s embalmed corpse, her posthumous journey around Buenos Aires & her eventual burial in a Milan cemetery. Kidnapped & killed by the Montoneros (a pro-Perón paramilitary organization), Aramburu was buried in Recoleta Cemetery in 1970. Although Eva’s body was returned to Perón the following year, he did not bring her back to Argentina after his 1973 re-election… Eva remained in the former Perón residence in Madrid. The death of Perón in 1974 sparked the bizarre chain of events reported by Gente magazine.

The Montoneros presented an unresolved issue to Isabel Perón after she became President: they wanted Evita back in Argentina. To make sure their demands were heard, they broke into Recoleta Cemetery, broke through the bronze doors of Aramburu’s crypt & stole his casket. Isabel acquiesced & arranged for Eva to be brought back to Buenos Aires. Aramburu’s casket was returned to Recoleta Cemetery after being discovered in an abandoned truck, & his crypt was supposedly filled with concrete to prevent any possible desecration in the future. As of 2004, the damage inflicted by the Montoneros on Aramburu’s tomb could be easily seen… notice the broken hinge in the photo below. Don’t expect to see this today; it has since been repaired:

The article in Gente provides hard-to-find photographic evidence of the events described above. The police found Aramburu’s casket alongside Parque Las Heras in Palermo, & the location looks pretty much the same today as it did in 1974. Following is the complete text of the article with some comparison photos taken in July 2010.

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Less than two hours before the plane with the remains of Eva Perón would arrive in Argentina, the cadaver of Pedro Eugenio Aramburu was returned. The coffin was found in an abandoned pick-up truck on Salguero Street, where the National Penitentiary was once located.

The discovery. In this pick-up truck, abandoned in front of 2410 Salguero Street, at 08:30 on Sunday, the remains of the provisional ex-President Pedro Eugenio Aramburu were found. His cadaver had been stolen on the evening of October 15th from his mausoleum in Recoleta by an extremist group which broke the padlocks of his vault after having hidden inside the cemetery after the normal closing time of the main gates.

Amplio operativo. Luego de anunciada anónimamente la devolución del cadáver la camioneta fue rodeada por policías y patrulleros. El vehículo tenía en el lado izquierdo del parabrisas una cruz verde, distintivo que usan los médicos. La devolución del cadáver fue anunciada mediante llamados anónimos a las redacciones de los diarios.

Arrival of the police. Uniformed & plainclothed agents arrived rapidly on the scene. The casket was taken to the Mounted Police headquarters, where Aramburu was identified by General Bernardino Labayru & Mr. César Noguera, friends of the assassinated provisional ex-President.

Details. The pick-up truck had shaded windows & lacked a tailgate. [Obviously a reporter’s mistake. See photo below.] To cover the casket, the extremists used two sheets of styrofoam and wrapped it with sheets of brown plastic sewn together. On the lid of the casket, intact, were the crucifix & bronze plaque with the name of Lieutenant General Pedro Eugenio Aramburu.

Remember: The complete story of Eva Perón’s postmortem journey can be found in the Recoleta Cemetery PDF.

Found in the fantastic Life magazine archive; photo credited to Keystone/Getty Images & taken on 10 Dec 1974.

The bodies of Argentinian President Juan Domingo Peron (1895 – 1974) and his first wife Eva Peron, known as Evita, (1919 – 1952) at the Presidential Residence in Buenos Aires where they could be viewed by the public. The body of Eva Peron had been brought from a tomb in Italy.

This photo was taken about one month after the procession (see previous post), & the caskets could not have been on display for long… too much of a security risk. But the Montoneros got what they wanted —Evita back in Argentina.

After Isabel was ousted by the 1976 dictatorship, Eva’s next stop was Recoleta Cemetery. Perón went to his family vault in Chacarita. Although Perón was transferred to his San Vicente country estate in 2006, the (in)famous couple has never been reunited again.

A wonderful online source, Mágicas Ruinas takes popular magazines from Argentina during the 20th century & reposts original photos & reports… a great documentation source. After the Montoneros held the corpse of de facto President Pedro Aramburu as ransom for the return of Eva Perón embalmed body, she finally returned to Argentina on November 17, 1974. The following article appeared in Gente.

Update (28 Jul 2010): Marcelo obtained a copy of the 21 Nov 1974 issue of Gente, so we replaced the scans from Mágicas Ruinas with our own. Text has also been added & translated which did not appear online.

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Saturday, the 16th, 16:00. The Aerolíneas Argentinas Boeing 707 especially destined for the final transfer to Argentina of the mortal remains of María Eva Duarte de Perón positioning on the runway of the international airport in Barajas, Madrid, ready to begin the historic return flight. The funeral procession was sent off by Spanish Foreign Minister Pedro Cortina Mauri. Vigilant reporters waited for hours:

Sunday, the 17th, 06:00. The specially-fitted Aerolíneas Argentinas Boeing 707 has arrived at the Morón air base. An Argentine Air Force Fokker TC-76 waited there, whose mission was to transfer the casket with the remains of Eva Perón to the metropolitan airport (Aeroparque). Heavy security had been placed at both military bases. After 19 years, the remains of Eva Perón returned to the country:

Sunday, the 17th, 10:00. After the Air Force plane landed at Aeroparque, the casket is lowered & place in a hearse which would immediately take it to the official stage, where the President & other high authorities waited. Meanwhile along the coast gathered in silence to witness the procession exit to Olivos:

Aeroparque, military zone, 10:05. From left to right, Ivanissevich, Rocamora, Savino, Campano, Martinez, López Rega, Blanca Duarte & Herminda Duarte (sisters of Eva Perón) & María Estela Martinez:

Funeral prayer. Aeroparque, 10:10. The chaplain of the General San Martín Horse Guard regiment, reverend father Héctor Ponzo, prays a final blessing for the soul of Eva Perón. Impressive general silence:

Aeroparque, Sunday, the 17th, 10:15. After the funeral prayer, the heavily guarded coffin is slowly taken by the hearse out of the military zone area of Aeroparque. Soon after, cars began the journey toward the Presidential residence in Olivos, while people threw flowers on the street & cried out along the entire route: Thank you, Isabel:

The procession, Avenida Libertador & General Paz. Motorcycle Federal Police, dressed in formal uniform, escort the procession, drawing a symmetric & moving scene. The car with the President goes immediately behind the hearse:

Flowers, silence. Along the entire way people threw flowers as the funeral procession passed in Vicente López. The only things left are the empty street, stains of color on the cement, a few police agents & people with signs. The remains of Eva Perón are already in Olivos (the presidential residence):

Waiting. Intersection of Villate & Libertador. The procession is about to enter the residence in Olivos. People who have waited hours express emotion as the coffin of Eva Perón passes. This took 19 years to happen. There are choruses, flags & mourning:

Olivos, Sunday, the 17th, 10:38. The remains of Eva Perón arrive at the Presidencial residence in Olivos. The unloading of the coffin is witnesses by María Estela Martinez de Perón, José López Rega & the Argentine embassador in Spain, José Campano Martinez. At that time, the men & women who had come to receive the body of Eva Perón returned to their homes:

To the crypt. Presidencial residence in Olivos. At 10:40 the coffin with the remains of Eva Perón is taken to the crypt which holds the body of Juan Domingo Perón. A dramatic chapter in Argentine history comes to an end:

Olivos, Sunday, the 17th, 10:45. Historical moment. Eva Perón’s casket enters the crypt where Juan Domingo Perón rests in peace. It was placed on a pedestal in front of the altar to Our Lady of Luján. Within two weeks, after some site improvements, the coffin will be placed alongside that of Perón, where it will remain until the construction of the National Altar:

In the crypt. The casket with the remains of Eva Perón now rests in front of the altar of Our Lady of Luján, in the crypt of the Presidential residence in Olivos. Héctor Ponzo, the chaplain of the Horse Guard regiment, prays again for the soul of the deceased. María Estela Martinez de Perón, José López Rega & José Campano are present. The coffin has been covered by an Argentine flag crossed with a black stripe: