Evening star., 1942-10-02
Arqentinu Stands Pat

The adjournment of the Argentine
Congress apparently postpones any
immediate prospect that this South
American nation will reconsider its
isolationist neutrality and get in step
with the great majority of our south
ern neighbors who are cooperating
with us on program of Pan-Amer-
lean solidarity against the Axis.
In it's final sessions, the Lower
House, known as the Chamber of
Deputies, passed two resolutions
which reflect the anti-Axis spirit of
that legislative body. The first of
these was recommendation to
President Castillo that he break dip
lomatic relations with the Axis coun-
tries, as most of the other Latin
American countries have already
done. The vote was passed by
coalition of the Radical and Socialist
parties, who are opposed to the for
eign policy of the Castillo admins
tration. They have narrow margin
over the Conservative deputies who
support Castillo, the ballots being
67 to 81. On this issue, the Con-
servative deputies voted solidly
against the measure, thus indicating
their support of what President Cas-
tillo terms his policy Of prudence"
The second resolution demanded
an immediate lifting Of the "state of
siege" proclaimed by the Castillo
government last year and main
tanned ever since. Under that ex-
ecutive order, no public criticism or
even discussion of Argentina's for
eign policy is allowed outside the
halls Of Congress. This drastic &C
ton obviously displeased some Con-
servative deputies, because the vote
in favor of the resolution stood IT
to Sc. This is a good indication OF
how unpopular Castillo's repressive
tactics are to a large section of Ar
gentine public opinion.
Nevertheless, both resolutions ran
up against stone-wall opposition
in the Senate. The Argentine Upper
House, elected by provinces as our
Senate Is by States, gives the rural
sections of the country much larger
representation than the densely pop
ulated urban districts in and about
Buenos Aires, Argentina's capital and
metropolis. The Senate is a Con-
servative stronghold, and is one of
the bases of Castillo's power. In the
last congressional elections, the Con-
servatives gained heavily in both
Houses throughout the provinces,
more than offsetting Radical and
Socialist gains in the metropolis, and
the President recently returned from
trip through the hinterland con-
vinced that rural Argentina con-
tinueS to stand behind him on neu-
trality.
Nevertheless, the Argentine people
are devoted to their parliamentary
system. This was dramatically shown
in the recent hare-up over a purely
constitutional episode. Some weeks
ago, Radical deputy was insulted
by two policemen at public meet
ing held to express Argentine popu-
lar solidarity with Brazil in it's war
against the Axis powers. The Cham
ber of Deputies, feeling that its i'm
munities had been attacked, ordered
the arrest of the offending officers
and held them in custody in defiance
of a court order for their release.
On this issue, the Senate stood with
the Chamber, regardless of party
lines. That shows that neither the
Argentine Congress nor the people
are in a mood to allow their con-
stitutional rights to be trifled with.
AS long as this spirit prevails, Ar
gentina appears safe from totali-
tarianism within, even though it's
government refuses to oppose the
same evil abroad.