Anecdotes from the Quinta de Olivos, as the presidents pass by

The old Azcuénaga estate, yes, of the member of the First Board, It was donated by one of his descendants, Carlos Villate Olaguer, so that it became the summer residence of the presidents of the Nation.

The donation became effective in 1918, when Hipólito Yrigoyen accepted it but lived during his two terms in office in his humble house on Brasil Street in the Constitución neighborhood.

As there was a testamentary clause that indicated that, if it was not occupied, the property should be returned to the family, he ordered his chancellor, Honorio Pueyrredón, to inhabit it occasionally.

The first president to reside there was the dictator José Félix Uriburu. His successor, fraud through, Also General Agustín P. Justo, installed a holiday colony in the farm, forested the place and undertook restoration works. in the old house built in 1854 by the painter Prilidiano Pueyrredón.

In 1935 the State bought a splendid mansion located at 1034 Suipacha Street in the Capital from the Madariaga Anchorena family to become the official residence of the presidents. General Justo, Roberto Marcelino Ortiz, Castillo and Generals Ramírez and Farrell will reside there.

When Villate’s family noticed that the clause imposed by the donor was not fulfilled, they demanded the return of the Quinta de Olivos from the State, but The Supreme Court determined in 1941 that the property would henceforth be the Presidential Fifth.

Juan Domingo Perón decided to reside with Evita in the mansion that the State had acquired in 1937, the Unzué Palace. After Evita’s death in July 1952, Perón lived for seasons in the villa, installing a microcinema and giving up an important sector for the sports and social activities of the Secondary Student Union.

General Eduardo Lonardi, first president of the Liberating Revolution, moved to the villa. In November 1955 an internal crisis occurred within the government. Lonardi resigned and the residence was left to be occupied by General Pedro Eugenio Aramburu.

In 1958, through elections, Arturo Frondizi lived there. In mid-1961 lErnesto “Che” Guevara came to visit the place, invited by the president at the special request of his colleague John Fitzgerald Kennedy, seeking mediation regarding the Cuban problem.

Dr. Illia took office in October 1963 and sporadically occupied the fifth position, although I preferred to use the room at the Casa Rosada to save time.

That noble government was overthrown in June 1966 by another civic-military coup led by the dictator-general Juan Carlos Onganía who The Olivos farm almost burned down when a short circuit occurred on a stage mounted over the residence’s pool for the Five Latinos to perform.

In October 1973, Juan Domingo Perón left the house on Gaspar Campos Street and moved to Olivos. There his historic challenge to the JP deputies will take place. and they will spend their last days among doctors, nurses and the witchcraft of their private secretary.

From there, on July 1, 1974, the funeral procession that would paralyze the country left and his body would return there. Months later, the body of Eva Perón would be added to the crypt, returning to the country after an incredible and macabre journey that began in 1957.

After the expulsion of Isabel Perón from the government, and therefore from the Fifth, the dictator Videla and his wife refused to move until they removed the bodies of Perón and Evita.

Other dictators would come, Viola, Galtieri and Bignone until in December 1983 we recovered democracy and Dr. Raúl Alfonsín settled in.

His successor, Carlos Menem, carried out the last reforms to the Fifth. According to the media of the time, He turned Olivos into a sports center surrounded by a small zoo.