• Submitted by: manso
• International
• 07 / 27 / 2011

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Iron artwork inaugurated on anniversary of beloved first lady's death inspired by similar image of Che Guevara in Cuba. Associated Press in Buenos Aires. Wednesday 27 July 2011 09.40 BST.

Associated Press in Buenos Aires.guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 27 July 2011 09.40 BST. President Cristina Fernández iinaugurates the artwork in front of the social development ministry in Buenos Aires Photograph: Juan Mabromata/AFP/Getty Images

A giant portrait of Eva Perón was unveiled Tuesday on the front of Argentina's social development ministry, where she gave a historic speech prior to her death from cancer in 1952.

The 31m-high , 24m-wide (79ft by 102ft) work weighing 15 tonnes resembles the iconic portrait of Argentine revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara in Havana, Cuba.

Argentinian president Cristina Fernández, who inaugurated and backed the portrait, said it was during a visit to Cuba that it occurred to her to pay homage to the wife of former President Juan Domingo Perón.

"I saw an image of Che on the ministry building he worked in. How is it possible that a society pays tribute to a man who is not from that country and we have no tributes to a woman who not only marked the entry of women into politics and the country's most important social revolution, but who also represented the people and country with more passion than anyone in history," Fernández said.

The portrait was unveiled at 8.25pm local time, the hour when the woman knows as Evita died on 26 July 1952. It was created by Argentine plastic artists Daniel Santoro and Alejandro Marmo.

It hangs from the front of the ministry building on one of Buenos Aires' main avenues. It was here that Evita, with advanced cancer, announced on 22 August 1951 that she was stepping down from her candidacy for the vice-presidency on her husband's ticket.

Source: www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/27/eva-peron-portrait-argentina-guevara