LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST: Three-time Argentine President Juan Peron hasn't been gone quite as long as Lenin - he died 40 years ago. But despite his popularity, he can't manage to get a statue in his honor. The husband of Evita, Mr. Peron ruled in the '40s and '50s and then again in 1973. And even though the party he founded is currently in power, plans to erect a statue in his honor continue to be stymied. There have been disagreements about the location and the sculptor, and only a pittance in donations has been collected. And now, according to the BBC, a rival plan by the city of Buenos Aires - the city is threatening to put up an alternate Peron monument by a different artist not far from the planned but still never realized national memorial. Enrique Savio, the sculptor who won the contest to create the national statue, told the BBC - everyone wants to see it done, but nobody actually does anything.
NPR's Linda Wertheimer takes a moment to note that 40 years after his death, former Argentine President Juan Peron still can't manage to get a statue erected in his honor.