NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE DAILY FRIDAY FEBRUARY 7, 1975[SANITIZED] - 1975/02/07

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Argentina Declassification Project - The "Dirty War" (1976-83)
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 02991969
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: April 3, 2019
• Document Release Date: April 12, 2019
• Publication Date: February 7, 1975

Approved for Release: 2018/10/01 002991969
c /yr
The
National Intelligence
Daily
3.5(c)
-TOP-SECRET
Published by the Director of Central Intelligence for Named Principals Only Copy No. 169
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 7, 1975
VOLUME 2, NUMBER 32
� The Daily
Summary
ARGENTINA: President Peron's
dependence on her principal adviser, Jose
Lopez Rega, has become a major political
liability. Lopez Rega could become the
catalyst that brings the military back into
politics, once the tide has been ' ' gainst
terrorism. (Page 2) 3.5(c)
3.5(c) ...IOP-SEORET
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2 FRIDAY FEBRUARY 7, 1975
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THE NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE DAILY
MOM
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11 EEVH
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Dependence on Aide Hurts Argentine President
The dependence of Argentine President
Maria Estela Peron on the shadowy Jose
Lopez Rega as her principal political
mentor has become a major vulnerability.
In the six months since Juan Peron's
death, Lopez Rega has emerged as the de
facto strongman of the regime, and his
personality and power have alienated the
Argentine military and the country's
other power brokers.
� As minister of social welfare since
Juan Peron returned to the presidency in
October 1973, Lopez Rega has controlled
over 20 percent of the national budget.
� As secretary to the presidency, Lopez
Rega has the authority to coordinate all
of the President's official activities and
has access to all the information she gets
from any public official. He formally
assumed this job only last month, but the
appointment merely legitimized a role he
was already filling.
� As the government's unofficial coor-
dinator for the fight against leftist
Lopez Rega
terrorists, Lopez Rega is widely believed
to be the mastermind behind the "death
squads" that are trying to terrorize the
terrorists.
� It is Lopez Rega's strong personal in-
fluence over the inexperienced and in-
secure President, however, that gives him
his greatest source of power. Mrs. Peron
relies on Lopez Rega as a political
strategist, personal confidant, and for
psychological support. She seems swayed
by his mysticism; he claims to be in com-
munication with the spirit of Juan Peron
and makes no attempt to hide his involve-
ment in the occult.
Lopez Rega serves as a kind of political
lightning rod, drawing criticism to him-
self for administrative failures that might
otherwise be blamed on the President.
Path to Power
Jose Lopez Rega had a checkered
career before he met Juan Peron. He was
a police corporal, a nightclub bouncer and
singer, a small-time publisher. He wrote
several books on astrology. He in-
gratiated himself with Juan Peron in
Madrid in the mid-1960s and became the
exiled leader's private secretary and
bodyguard.
It is unlikely that Juan Peron, during
this period, ever turned to his secretary
for advice on important matters, but
Lopez Rega did manage some of Peron's
business interests and was the leg man in
some of Peron's political and financial
dealings. On Peron's return to power in
October 1973, the loyal servant was
rewarded with a cabinet job.
Mrs. Peron and Lopez Rega have been
close friends for more than a decade and
partners in a wide variety of business ven-
tures. They are reported to be joint in-
heritors of Juan Peron's sizable estate.
Now 58, Lopez Rega is not a par-
ticularly adept administrator. Indeed, his
performance as minister of social welfare
has been mediocre. He is, however, adept
at blackmail and at intimidating his op-
ponents; he has steadily strengthened his
position by arranging the appointment of
sycophants and allies to high government
positions.
He publicly scorns popular references
to him as El Brujo (the sorcerer), but
probably finds his reputation as a mystic
useful in intimidating and confusing his
enemies. Whether he takes his
pseudoscientific interests seriously, they
give him a sinister air and inspire
widespread fear.
VORMARESEMagenterang�,
E
"I put out a bait for the enemy to
play with, arguing about whether Jam
a great astrologer, warlock, or wizard,.
and while he is busy with that, I am
able to work and serve my country... .1
have no time to listen to the barking
dogs, I must ride on..."
MENERNMENIMENNESIVESONIEREMME
Murky Atmosphere
It may be that no one person governs
Argentina today. The inner workings of
Mrs. Peron's administration are cloaked
from view. From somewhere within, ex-
ecutive decrees and ministerial
pronouncements emerge, and an inert
Peronist-controlled legislature promptly
ratifies them. The return of Peronism by
popular mandate in 1973 has proved to be
little more than the replacement of a
military cabal by bureaucratic
authoritarianism.
This murky, unstructured atmosphere
is made to order for Lopez Rega. He has
appealed to ultra-nationalistic, anti-
Marxist, and anti-Semitic forces within
Argentina. He has encouraged Mrs.
Peron to take a political stance to the
right of her late husband�a shift that has
cut off communication with the moderate
Peronist left and seriously damaged any
chances for unifying the movement.
In the process, he has made many
powerful enemies. In Argentina's
hidebound, highly stratified society, he is
regarded as an interloper by the leaders of
all major pressure groups. Instead of
attempting to mollify these critics, Lopez
Rega antagonizes them, for example, by
appearing at Mrs. Perons's side whenever
she makes a formal appearance.
One of those Lopez Rega has alienated
is Ricardo Balbin, the leader of the
moderate opposition Radical Party. Juan
Peron had started a dialogue with Balbin,
but Mrs. Peron has let it languish. Believ-
ing that Lopez Rega is chiefly responsible,
Balbin has denounced recent government
actions and criticized the extent of Lopez
Rega's power.
Protests have come from military com-
manders, who distrust the ties Lopez
Rega is said to have with the minister of
defense and the chief of the federal police.
Although the commanders share with
Lopez Rega a fear of the left and a goal of
defeating leftist terrorists, the com-
manders think that he seeks to aggrandize
his power at their expense.
Lopez Rega's earlier alliances with a
number of other cabinet ministers and a
key Peronist labor leader have cooled. He
even has enemies in extreme right-wing
circles.
An Unwanted Problem
Despite the wide range of this opposi-
tion, it is unlikely that any group or coali-
tion will move decisively to depose him.
They will try to contain and undercut him,
but none seem willing to force the issue
with the highly emotional President, who
might resign and leave them all with an
unwanted succession problem. This reluc-
tance will probably last until the tide is
turned in the struggle against terrorism.
Once terrorism ceases to be the major
preoccupation, the armed forces could
find ready support among political and
labor groups to present Mrs. Peron with
an ultimatum on Lopez Rep. Even if
they did, it is doubtful that she would give
him up.
Lopez Rega's role as a major actor
probably will have a short run in Argen-
tine politics, but he could be the catalyst
that will bring the military back into
politics. US observers on the scene see the
possibility that a military-labor alliance
will take power and im ose a neo-fascist
dictatorship. 3.5(c)
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