The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-08-07
BY BOYD LEWIS

Rio De Janeiro, Aug. 7-(NEA- Two dozen American newspaper, radio and magazine writers have just had first-hand opportunity to watch an important United States business enterprise operating in Lat in America get punched in the nose, knocked down and jumped on.
 Because the circumstances seem fairly representative of the obstacles to be encountered by North Amer ican capital in the southern contin- ent, the story will bear re-examin- ation
 The outfit that took this pasting was Pan American World Air ways. Pan American has operated in Latin America for Is years. It has pioneered routes which have bound the hemisphere in new, swift lines of passenger and cargo trans portation. It has erected airports, weather stations, passenger term inals, radio stations, aerial naviga- ton and safety equipment. It has established a record is one of the biggest and safest transport lines in the world.
 Joined Via Air
 Early this year Pan American charted a new service connecting New York and Buenos Aires with 54-passenger Douglas DC-4 sky lin- CTS. Planes were to fly from New York to San Juan Puerto Rico, by passing Miami. Thence they were to hop across the Caribbean to Trini- dad, down the northern skirt of South America to Belem, cut straight across the jungle to Rio de Janeiro and then on to Buenos Aires, with only an intermediate stop at Mon tevideo.
 This service was to take 38 hours, contrasting with Il hours previously required to make the trip in twin engine DC-3s making more stops. Pan Am ballyhooed 1t as the open- ing of battle by the U. S. for five billion dollars annual trade in the only open market in the world to- day -. Latin America
 There was also a little supple mentary balIyhoo which started off:
 That fabulous Weekend in Rio long favorite theme of movie makers and song Writers-becomes a practical reality for holdaying North Americans this month ;" Etc, etc. Vaeationists with limited travel time" were exhorted to hop aboard plane in New York on Thursday, spend three exciting days and nights" in Rio, and be back at their jobs the following Tuesday.
 You might look around some morning for the letter you'd been expecting from that Brazilian cof- fee planter and discover he was waiting in your office. It was all very swift, bright and wonderful. The inaugural Clipper would soon be followed by 240 new Clippers, increasing service 800 percent in the next year BELEM BOTTLENECK
 So Pan Am invited the correS- pondents to cover the inauguration of this service. Twenty-four hours out of New York we were embroiled in international trade rivalries, na- tionalstic airline plans, business bungling, bureaucratic Stubbornness, rivalry between military and civil air control, ambassadorial pique, presidential pride and numerous lesser situations, motives and emo- tions.
 All went well at San Juan and Trinidad but we hit bottleneek at Belem. Brazilian officials insisted we had no permit to land in Brazil. Be fore this could be ironed out in frenzied exchanges of telegrams it was too late to fly to Rio and land | before sundoWn-a requirement of the U. s. Civil AeronauticS Board for this mountain-rimmed port.
 Nobody has 1t quite straight yet who was to blame for this delay Pan Am says the Brazilians gave l permission for this flight, once in writing and again verbally. But Am bassador William D. PaWley said Pan Am failed to comply with the regulations. What seems most likely is that Pan Am went ahead on the rather informal basis which had been acceptable in the past, and then ran into new, Stiff-necked attitude on the part of the Brazil ian government.
 At any rate, we got into Rio one day behind schedule and took off for Montevideo and Buenos Aires with no assurance we'd be able to con- tinue beyond the Uruguayan capital. The Argentines, it seemed, would not authorize our landing as a spec | ial flight and Pan Am had been compelled to declare this a special flight in order to get a landing per init for Rio.
 More Red Tape
 While We enjoyed the hospitality | of Uruguay, which waived all reg ulationS for us, Pan Am obtained | authorization for us to land at Buenos Aires. Loaded aboard the | plane, we were about to depart when | someone inquired if that included | permit to leave Buenos Aires on the | return trip northWard. Buenos Aires | said that would require another ap- plication.
 Pan Am, conscious of the demands |
  Brazil and eager to avoid offense to the BrazilianS, then ordered the DC 4 to be gassed for return northWard without us-abandoning the first direct service" to Buenos Aires. No sooner had the plane been gassed than word came from Buenos Aires that President Peron himself had authorized the plane to land and take off and had two personal rep resentatiyes waiting at the airfield to greet the North American press.
 The pilot then refused to land on Buenos Aires dirt runway at night with full load of gas and Pan Am had to abandon the flight for want Of any way to unload the gasoline safely at Montevideo. Peron's mili-