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Argentina's Forgotten Guru

By Marcelo Larraquy

Long before Brazil's Bolsonaro got inspired by a YouTube influencer, a spiritual guide called the shots in Argentina.

This article is adapted from AQ's latest issue on the politics of water in Latin America

For José López Rega, the stroke of luck was moving in to live with General Juan Domingo Perón and his wife, Isabel, in Spain in 1965. At the time, his life didn’t promise more than a frustrated marriage, his practice as a spiritual guide known for darkness more than divinity, and afternoon card games at a local social club in Buenos Aires. In a matter of years, the street cop who took early...

Read this article on the Americas Quarterly website. | Subscribe to AQ.

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