The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-08-29
RIOS MAY AIR
 CHILE'S VIEWS
 TO ROOSEVELT
By LAWRENCE s. HAAS

RY AA " MELNAE As HAHA2
 United Press Latin American Editor
 New York, Aug. 2o-WP)-Ad- mirers of the Good Neighbor policy foresee an era of closer coopera- ton between Chile and the United States as a result of the offlcial visit of president Juan Antonio Rios of Chile, scheduled for October.
 Rios, a follower of democratic principles, accepted an invitation from President Roosevelt to come to the United States, and it is ex- pected that the chief executives of the two American republics will hold important conferences at the White House.
 The invitation was sent shortly after the return to Washington of Chilean Ambassador Rodolfo Mi- chels, who flew down to his country to explain to his government the state of official and public senti- ment with regard to Chile, which is one of the only two Latin -Ameri- can countries that have not sev- cred diplomatic relations with the Axis. The other is Argentina. Could Crush Espionage
 Chilean ofhcialdom apparently has felt that a rupture of relations with the Axis would not necessarily contribute to the benefit of the United Nations cause, and might, on the contrary, add to the already heavy military defense burdens of the Western Hemisphere.
 Chile has an extremely long coastline to defend, small and obsolescent navy, an air force that i is anything but strong, and within the country's borders are many thousands of Germans and resi- dents of German descent with defl- nite Nazi leanings and undoubted- ly well organized if not secretly armed to undertake dangerous sub versive activities.
 There is little doubt that should Chile and Argentina, or either, break with the Axis, they would be in a position to crush Axis espion- age activities and wipe out the last vestiges of Nazi-Fascist propa- ganda and intelligence operations in the Western Hemisphere. A break in relations would thus be of extreme value to hemisphere de- fense even if no military measures were to be undertaken by the two American Republics.
 Watches Shin SinkingS
 Careful observers of the inter- American situation refrain from predicting that the Rios visit will result in an early break with the Axis, although anything might happen. Other circumstances and developments might have great influence in bringing about a change in Chile's policy.
 The torpedoing and sinking of the five Brazilian coastwise steam CTS, with heavy loss of life, has pro- voked bitter and indignant official and press reaction in Chile as well as in most of the other American republics. Chilean officials are watching Brazil's moves in connec- | ton With the SlnklngS, ana events on the East Coast could have an important bering on any Chilean action.
 Chile's great contribution to the war cause of the democracies has been as a purveyor of strategic raw materials, such as nitrate, copper and other minerals. The shipping shortage has affected transport of these products just as 1t has de- prived Chile of badly needed fuel and raw materials for her own in- lustries. These problems are cer- tain to be discussed by the two presidents in Washington when they engage in an overall survey of relations between the two coun- tries and the Western Hemisphere situation in general.