Did Eva Peron have enemies

Answer 1

Yes. During Eva Peron's politically active years 1946-1952, she was violently opposed by the Oligarchy and although the army respected her power, they blocked her vice-presidential candidacy in 1951. There are several reasons why the upper classes opposed Eva Peron and it has been widely speculated that Eva Peron despised the rich because she was born poor and had a bone to pick with upper society. Although this is not entirely inaccurate, the are other factors to consider. Eva Peron had too many strikes against her in the eyes of the established classes and the military and therefore they could not accept her regardless of her status as Argentina's First Lady. She was born poor in a country that was run by the Oligarchy (prior to Peron) and therefore, Eva could never be one of them since tainted blood ran through her veins. The fact that she dressed lavishly didn't hide the fact that she was still a "low class" country girl with no education. What fueled this feud between Eva and the upper classes is that Evita herself did not care what they thought of her. Eva took their insults as a badge of honour (the word "Descamisados" for instance was, according to some, originally used as an insult to describe the poor and Eva and Peron turned it around by using it as a term of endearment and it became a common word in their speeches). From then on, it became a war of the classes with Eva representing the lower classes and she empowered the poor who for previous generations, were exploited. She was also an actress of no considerable talent who also modelled for several cheesecake and "scandalous" photographs. These pictures (along with her films) were banned from circulation once Evita was in power but were later distributed after her death (and Peron's downfall) to discredit her and to feed the Black Myth - Evita "The Prostitute". Since there is no evidence of any kind that Eva Peron was ever a prostitute, once she reached a certain level of power, those who opposed her started creating these myths to explain her meteoric rise. How else can you explain an uneducated girl of 26, with no class and no morals becoming, over-night, the First Lady of one of the richest nations in the world? Evita certainly had lovers but it was no more than the several other actors of the time. She was also the mistress of a powerful man and did not "hide" herself when in public. Parading yourself with your man in today's society is common, but back in 1940's Argentina, this was a big "no-no". While it was common for men of all walks of life to have mistresses, they were to be kept hidden. Peron did not hide Eva Duarte and in fact he flaunted her. Eva's reputation as a prostitute also stems from this because according to some scholars, during that time, it was believed prostitutes had a special kind of influence over men. The fact that Peron married her became almost unbearable to the established classes since this woman represented everything they loathed. Also, Eva Peron chose to become active in politics in a country where women were seen as silent ornaments. They were not allowed to vote and were considered inferior to men. During the first years of Peron's presidency, Eva had a minor political role due to her gender. It wasn't until after her European Tour of 1947 when Evita became an international star and Peron saw the impact she had on the working classes, that he allowed Eva to totally immerse herself into politics. Aside from her charitable works, she started organizing the women and created the Woman's Peronist Party. In 1947 Eva got woman the vote and during the elections of 1951, more women voted for Peron than men. It was Eva's active role in politics that angered members of the military. It was offensive to many of them that a woman of Eva's back-ground and age was ordering men around and their final straw was when she wanted to become the Vice-President. The military could never accept a woman commander-in chief which would have happened if anything happened to Peron during his second term so they blocked her. According to some sources, they threatened Peron with a revolt if he did not tell Eva to step down. So it was Eva's background, gender and active political role that angered her enemies- the military and the Oligarchy and these are some of the reasons Eva Peron remains controversial to the very day.