Buenos Aires, July 26, 1952. Argentina is wrapped in silence as
the country listens to the official communique from the
Subsecretariat of Information: "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.
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.
The champagne glasses were raised in private.
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.
