Evening star., 1941-09-14
Intrigue in a Diplomatic Pouch
Argentne.Naz Crisis Arises 'Smugged Radio
ByCn j.

ToL1 1lSAL SUOlUl DOiIl VI 1NdAl
n intrigue is reaching a climax in
Argentina and is bound to have reper-
cussions in South America to the pos
sible extent of completely changing the
continents neutrality in the war and its
relationship with the United States.
The writer has just had an opportunity
of checking on the spot the effect of
the congressional investigation of Nazi
activities in Argentina. His reaction,
backed by the opinion of prominent
members of the Argentine Parliament
with whom he spoke, is that the Argen-
tine Dies Committee" which is working
in close cooperation with its American
counterpart has smoked out several pO-
tential conspirators, made diplomatic
relations with Germany extremely deli
cate ito the point that it would not be
surprising if the German Ambassador is
declared persona non grata any moment
now and created tense situation be-
tween the Congress and the administra-
tion in BuenoS Aires 1t is this tenSeneSS
that threatens to develop into crisis Of
continent-wide import.
Internal Controversy.
Given the position of Argentina as an
exponent of the most cautious and
punctilious school of international pro-
cedure and in view of antiNazi meas
ures taken already by Uruguay, Bolivia,
Peru and Ecuador, it is plain that an
abandonment of complete neutrality by
Argentina would be the signal for a
series of similar or even more drastic
measures on the part of the whole of
South America.
Internally, there is widening gulf
between the Argentine Congress, backed
by the most influential newspapers, and
the Executive, which has been observing
a policy Of ltraconServatiVeneSS in its
diplomatic relations with the Reich.
This gulf is now made especially wider
by differences between the federal gov
ernment and Admiral Eleazar Videla,
appointed "interventor," or federal ad-
ministrator, of the province of Buenos
AireS-differences that also arise from
the activities of the NaziS.
The Argentine Dies Committee" has
been digging into two branches of to-
talitarian activities-the foreign and the
domestic. 1t has uncovered a mass of
evidence against the German Embassy
and it has also uncovered the nature
of the Alliance of the Nationalist
Youth" headed by the retired general
Juan Bautista Molina and banned by
the Minister of the Interior on August
as an illegal organization established
along military lines and avowedly to-
talitarian.
Press Demands Action.
As the investigation has progressed, the
temper of Argentine public opinion has
been growing shorter. At this writing
the atmosphere could not be much worse
for the German diplomatic representa-
tives. Even the most staid newspapers
like La Prensa and La Nacion, the two
foremost dailies in the Spanish-speaking
world, demand in violent terms that the
Executive take stern measures in de-
fense of the nations honor. The Foreign
Minister DR.. Enrique Ruiz GuinaZu, a
recent visitor to Washington, has not
been exactly cooperative in the con-
gressional investigation of the Nazis, and
this has served to estrange the admins
tration still more from the people Now
there are only two possible alternatives:
Either Congress backs down and aban-
dons the investigations and the policy
it has been following, which is unthink-
able in view of the state of public opin-
ion, or the Executive, if it wants to avoid
an explosive situation, takes steps
against the Reich Embassy-and these
steps cannot be short of the most ener-
getic protest, which would make in
evitable the recall, or even the expulsion,
of Baron Edmund Won Thermann, the
German envoy who has shown a lack of