José López Rega

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
In this
Spanish name, the first or paternal surname
is López and the second or maternal family name is Rega.

José López Rega
Héctor Cámpora,
Raúl Lastiri,
Juan Perón,
Isabel Perón
Preceded byOscar Puiggrós
Succeeded byCarlos Villone
Chief of the Triple A
In office
13 July 1973 – 18 June 1976
Preceded byTitle established
Succeeded byTitle abolished
Personal details
Born(1916-11-17)17 November 1916
Peronist Party
Spouse
Josefa Flora Maseda Fontenla
​
​
(m. 1943; died 1989)​
ChildrenNorma Beatriz
ProfessionPolice officer, diplomat
Nickname(s)"The Warlock", "Argentine Evola"
Military service
AllegianceArgentine Federal Police
Years of service1945–1976
RankPolice commissioner
Captain
Corporal

José López Rega (17 November 1916 – 9 June 1989) was an Argentine politician who served as Minister of Social Welfare from 1973 to 1975, first under

Rasputin-like power and influence over Isabel Perón during her presidency, and used both this and his unique access to become the de facto political boss of Argentina.[1] His orthodox peronist and far-right politics and interest in the occult earned him the nickname El Brujo ("the Warlock"). Rega had one daughter, Norma Beatriz, who went on to become the spouse of President Raúl Lastiri
.

Biography

Early life

López Rega's mother died giving birth to him in

occultism). He married at the age of 27. In 1944 he joined the Federal Police; with the help of police chief Filomeno Velazco he joined the guard which protected the Casa Rosada, seat of the executive, with the rank of corporal
.

In 1951, he met Victoria Montero who introduced him in the subject of esoterism. López Rega was a frequent visitor in Montero's home, where he met members of the

CGT de los Argentinos, a labor union federation which, between 1968 and 1972, gathered opponents to a pact with Juan Carlos Onganía's dictatorship, and which had an important role in the 1969 Cordobazo
insurrection. After winning Isabel's trust, López Rega traveled to Spain, where he worked first for Perón's security before becoming the couple's personal secretary.

Allegiance with Perón

When

Raúl Alberto Lastiri, also a member of P2
, became interim president and organized the elections. On 23 September 1973, Perón won them with almost 62% of the votes, naming his third wife Isabel Perón as vice-president.

Beside Raúl Lastiri's interim presidency, López Rega's success in the expulsion of the left-wing Peronists from power was confirmed on 4 August 1973, during the National Congress of Perón's

radical
senator Hipólito Solari Yrigoyen was seriously injured in the first terrorist attack claimed by the Triple A. Federal Police Chief Rodolfo Almirón had been suspected of organizing this attack.

Role in the government

Among Juan Perón's first actions after taking office were tougher sentences against "sedition" and "subversion". Started after the

Federal Police
; he had reached the rank of corporal when a member of the police force.

As Isabel Perón's Minister of Social Welfare, López Rega conducted an unpopular policy of fiscal conservatism. In 1975 his protégé Celestino Rodrigo, Minister of Economy, devalued the Argentine peso by 50%, causing massive economic havoc, inflation, loss of savings, and general hardship on the middle and lower classes (in particular, public employees and retirees). López Rega came under attack from the leftist factions of the Peronist Party, accused of being a counter-revolutionary and a fascist.

In July 1975 he was formally accused by the main party organ of instigating the action of the

disappeared" (the Argentinian army acknowledged 22,000 disappearances between 1975 and 1979 [3]
8000 more in 5 years are a conservative guess).

Under heavy criticism due to Celestino Rodrigo's economic policies, López Rega was forced to resign on 11 July 1975; he was hurriedly appointed

Manuel Fraga, leader of the People's Alliance
post-Franco conservative party, but was arrested in Spain in December 2006.

Fall and final years

On 24 March 1976, President Isabel Perón was deposed by the military Junta, which in turn organized the so-called "

Bahamas. He lived between Miami and the Bahamas until 1986, when he was arrested in the United States while trying to renew his passport, and extradited to Argentina, where he was wanted for corruption, conspiracy, and multiple homicides. He died of diabetes
on 9 June 1989 in Buenos Aires, while awaiting trial in prison.

In film

In the 2013 film Puerta de Hierro, el exilio de Perón, Fito Yanelli plays López Rega during Perón's exile in Madrid. López Rega is dismissed by Perón but allowed back because of his wife's intercession.

References

  1. ^ "José López Rega". Encyclopedia Britannica.
  2. ^ The Times of the Americas. Times of Havana Publishing Company. 1 January 1978.
  3. ^ "El Ejército admitió 22.000 crímenes - LA NACION". La Nación.

Sources

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