First Act By Uruguay To Assist Brazil

Taranaki Daily News, 25 August 1942, Page 3

First Act By Uruguay To Assist Brazil

All facilities available for ships and planes. Rec. 10.10 p.m. New York, Aug. 23. The Times Montevideo correspondent says Uruguay has granted Brazii all rights to non-belligerency, thus enabling Brazilian warships and planes to use Uruguayan facilities as in peacetime. Officials emphasised that this was only the first of several steps Uruguay intends I taking to give tangible expression to her isolidarity with Brazil. | As Brazil entered the war Brazilian ' air force pilots arrived at Rio de Janeiro after a successful mass fiight of 9000 miles from the United States with 44 new American planes, it was learned. The fiight consisted of 25 Fairchild primary trainers, and 19 cabin monoplanes, which replace obsolete German Focke Wulf trainers. After the introduction of the new trainers Brazil will commence the production of American craft in a Government facfory. Sweeping searchliglits over the harbour, shrieking police cars rounding up Axis nationals, patriotic crowds chanting "Give us guns" and "Death to Germany" witnessed Brazil's entry into the war, while hundreds of Axis nationals tried by night to escape to Uruguay, The Uruguayan Government, however, which I has granted Brazil non-belligerent treatj ment and,hinted that "further steps will probably be taken," has ordered the authorities to detain Axis refugees and extradite them to Brazil. Militarists are concentrating on stiffening the defences of Brazil's Atlantic bulge, which is only 1700 miles from Africa, and is therefore the continent'a most vulnerable point. They are also paying close attention to Vichy-ruled French Guiana, which threatens the Brazil-American communication line. Thousands of young Brazilians are

waiting their call-up papers following the declaration of war. The Brazilian Navy is now reported to be at sea hunting for U-boats. The people have been told . not to damage Axis property, because it is now the property of Brazil. The British Ambassador to Rio de Janeiro has been instructed to convey to the Brazilian Government the deep satisfaction of the British Government with. the decLsion of the Brazilian Government to declare war on Germany and Italy. The President and Foreign Minister of Uruguay conferred on Uruguay's attitude' to the Axis. The country has already declared itself as solidly with Brazil, but the Foreign Minister denied reports that it had already been decided to go to war.