ARGENTINA APPLIES PRESSURE

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5296, 8 January 1947, Page 2

ARGENTINA APPLIES PRESSURE

peron's bid to control south america Washington Americans see in the recentlyannounced Argentina-Chile trade pact the most determined bid yet. by Prejident Juan Peron to give shape to his dream of- a United States of South America. Some Washington observers *declared that the deal with Chile was more important to Peron than the taking of Austria was to Hitler. Ever since Colonel Peron, a former War Minister, was elected Presi-dent-of Ai-gentina last March, he has mqde no secret of his desire to rid South America of Ufiited States' influence. He launched almost immediately a campaign of economie bullying whereby he aims to draw all the South American Republics into an Argentine-dominated economie and political bloc. Interlocked Economy The treaty with- Chile, skilfully engineered by Peron, interlocks the economy of the two southermost South American countries. It has been received "wtith enthusiasm in both countries, because Argentina is rich in meat and agricultural products, hut lacks the coal, oil, and mineral which Chile, herself short of foodstuffs and industrial markets, possesses. The treaty eliminates tariff barriers on vital materials, provides for a loan of 148,000,000 dolIaJrs by Argentina to Chile, and makes the Chilean Pacific port of Valparaiso a free port for Argentina, which will build a railway to it. The pact assures Peron of raw materials for his five-year industrial and defence programme. While Argentina and Chile are happy about the arrangement, which gives Argentina her first direct outlet to the Pacific, some of their smaller neighbours, notably Uruguay and Bolivia, are worried by the prospect that they will be next on Peron's list. Land-Iocked Bolivia is believed to be ready to string along with Peron in surrender to his simple technique of withholding food supplies from recalcitrant neighbours. Uruguay, forced to eat brown jbread while white bread is abundent over the River Plate in Argentina, continues to resist economic pressure from Peron. In Peru, whieh is similarily dependent on Argentina for food, protests against Peron's dictatorship have died down to a token whisper, and land-locked Paraguay continues to do exactly what Argentina requests. Washington Concerned Washington was also concerned with the recent abortive revolt in Venezuela, which guards the approaches to the Panama Canal. Although the revolt fizzled out in a day, with rebels in gaol, in hiding, or grouped defensively inland, observers in Caracas, capital of Venezuela, felt that the revolt was merely the first round in a fight and control of the Government. Strong hands of rebels are dug in in tough mountainous terrain in the Andes and out to the frontier of Colombia. Jt is doubtful wh-ether the Government forces are powerful enough to force their surrdnder without heavy bloodshed. The revolting army forces are suspicious of the Left-wing Government led by Romulo Betancourt, a former Communist, who'is now denounced by Communists as a "socialistic apostate." American officials fear a renewal of fighting will give the clamorous Communist minority a chance to seize power, and confiscate American investments in Venezuela's great petroleum resources. The revolt was touched off by the younger army officers' resentment at moves by the Betancourt regime to Whittle down the political power of ;he uniformed "forces.