ARGENTINA: FORMER PRESIDENT AND PARTY FOUNDER JUAN PERON REBURIED AMID VIOLENT CONFRONTATIONS.
The body of former Argentine President Juan Domingo Peron (1945-1955, 1973-1974) was exhumed from a crowded urban cemetery in October and ceremoniously moved to a 19-hectare mausoleum complex outside Buenos Aires in what had been planned as a demonstration of the strength and unity of the party that bears Peron's name, the Partido Justicialista-peronista (PJ). But the Oct. 17 ceremony saw no appearances by President Nestor Kirchner or the two ex-presidents who had committed to speak there after it devolved into rioting, rock-throwing, and shooting. The conflict between union groups and different Peronist factions resulted in over 50 injuries. The incident threatened to bring down the country's top union leader and became a political liability for President Kirchner as he prepared for a potential re-election bid in October 2007.
Nation's top labor chief accused of allowing violence
The most damaged political figure after the violence of Oct. 17 was teamster Hugo Moyano, head of the Confederacion General de Trabajadores (CGT), the nation's largest umbrella union organization. He had been in charge of organizing the reburial ceremony in the farming community of San Vicente and of security arrangements for the event. News video captured a member of his union who worked as a chauffeur for Moyano's son shouting, "Shoot them! Shoot them!" and firing four shots from a handgun during the melee. The accusations that Moyano had allowed circumstances that led to the factional conflict led a group of his opponents both within and outside the CGT to seek his resignation and call for elections to name a replacement.
Violence marred the lavish ceremony to rebury former strongman Peron, as rival factions hurled rocks at one another and riot police dispersed them with rubber bullets and tear gas. The fighting between club-wielding groups of men on the fringes of a mostly peaceful crowd of thousands resulted in at least 50 injuries. The violence was reportedly touched off by members of rival labor factions of the Peronist party who became angry at being refused entry to the ceremony. However, authorities had no immediate confirmation on the motives for the battles, and labor leaders denounced the violence shortly afterward.
Riot police tightly ringed the flag-draped coffin topped by a military cap and saber, as it neared the new US$1.1 million mausoleum built to house Peron's remains on his former estate in San Vicente, a farming community 45 km southwest of the capital.
Peron's many burials
It was the third burial for Peron since his death in 1974 at age 78. His supporters felt he deserved a more dignified resting place than the crowded, urban Chacarita cemetery where grave robbers broke in and stole his hands in 1987 (see Chronicle, 1987-07-07). Some supporters hope one day to put the remains of Peron's wife Eva by his side in the gleaming, cement-and-marble crypt.
Peron was elected president three times and radically reshaped Argentina by redirecting farm wealth to poor urban workers. He and his glamorous blond wife Eva, known as Evita, were Argentina's dominant political figures in the 20th century and still inspire passionate responses from Argentines. During his years as undisputed political leader of Argentina, Peron commanded wide popular and union support, including the backing of the...
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