Evening star., 1941-09-02
Anti-Axis Trend

AS part of the program Of heml-
sphere defense, the United States,
through the blackliSting of pro-AXis
business firms and the use of other
economic weapons, is seeking to free
the New World from the menace of
Nazi and Fascist activities. If the
campaign is to achieve its objective,
the cooperation of other American
republics Is essential. The recent
disclosure that several of these coun-
tries are taking steps to curb Axis
propaganda will be welcomed, there
fore, as evidence of increasing
support in Latin America for the
policies of the Washington admin
istration.
In Chile, orders were issued Sat-
urday for twenty-three separate
investigations of Nazi activities.
Particular attention will be paid to
the operations of the LandeSgruppe,
so-called sports organization.
whose headquarters were raided
several weeks ago. Chile has long
had large German colony, and dur
ing the past few months many Nazi
agents from other parts of Latin
America are reported to have taken
refuge in that country. The investi-
cations just ordered plainly indicate
a growing hostility on the part Of
the Chileans to SubverSive propa-
ganda, and a desire to curb the
activities of Axis agents.
OF equal significance, as straw in
the wind, is the demand Of four
leading newspapers in Buenos Aires
| that Acting President Ramon S.
| Castillo abandon his policy of strict
neutrality to ALL" and that the Ar
gentine government use its full
power to combat Nazi influence in
the New World Like her neighbor
on the other side of the Andes,
Argentina has large German popu-
lation. Nazi sympathizers are nu-
merous. well organized, and they
have been conducting a militant and
aggressive propaganda drive. Re-
Gently, the congressional committee
investigating anti-Argentine activi-
ties listed Edmund Won Thermann,
German Ambassador, among alleged
violators of Argentine laws. The de-
mand of the four Buenos Aires papers
that the government take vigorous
action against the NaZi propaganda
machine followed the publication of
! the committees first report, which
threw much light on Axis activities
in Argentina.
Brazil, too, has had large quota
| of Axis agents AS one means OF
protecting its people against sub
versive propaganda, the Brazilian
government has ordered the suppress
| sion of thirty-seven foreign-language
newspapers, it was disclosed in a
! dispatch from Rio de Janeiro in
Sundays New York Times. Thirteen
of these are German, two Italian and
| three japanese. Many of these news
papers were used as vehicles for the
distribution of Axis propaganda.
Two other recent developments
may be cited to illustrate the current
anti-Axis trend in Latin America.
Headed by Alexandra Garlic, Presi-
| dent of the Mexican Chamber of
Deputies, twenty-five Senators and
Deputies made public a manifesto on
Saturday appealing to all Mexicans
to combat Nazi and Fascist activities,
and urging a renewal of diplomatic
| relations with Great Britain and
| Russia. In similar vein was President
Camacho's appeal yesterday for CO.
| operation with the United States.
Little Costa Rica also has rebuffed
Berlin by refusing the German re-
| quest that it withdraw its consular
representatives from the territories
occupied by the Nazis. Accession to
this demand, Foreign Minister
Echandi explained, would imply a
tacit recognition of the validity of
the Nazi conquests.
That Latin American countries
are moving to curb Axis agents
is heartening news. Though the
Nazis are on the defensive in
many of the American republics,
they still remain a threat to heni-
sphere solidarity. For the Axis still
has it's eyes on the markets of South
and Central America, and its plans
for world conquest include the New
World 1t is of vital Importance,
therefore, that the United States, in
cooperation with the neighboring
republics, continue the drive to rid
the New World of subversive propa-
ganda.