Evening star., 1946-02-20
Blue Book May Aid
Peron, Says Writer
State Department Pursued Right
Policy in Wrong Way, He Holds
BY David Laurence

BY Dapid Laurence
A tendency exists to gloss over acts Of
| the State Department because the ulti-
mate objective sought Is desirable. Lit
tile attention is given to the seeds Of
friction and Ill will which are engen-
dered sometimes by the right policy
pursued in the wrong way.
A case in point is the now widely
publicized Blue Book about Argentina.
Unquestionably the accusations made
therein should have been disseminated,
because the whole world should be told
repeatedly about the way the Nazis
have begun to Use Argentina as q base
Peron regime is important because he
Is the Little Hitler of the South Ameri-
can Continent and Is bound to cause
serious friction with other governments
and peoples of this hemisphere If he Is
elected.
But the publication of Blue Book
by the State Department constitutes a
direct Intervention in the political af-
fairs OF Argentina by one government.
The need for policy Of intervention
where Fascist state is in process of
being built is self-evident. The pro-
posal by Uruguay that matters of inter-
| nal concern shall be regarded as Of in
ternational concern when they can lead
| to friction between friendly states is as
| statesmanlike proposition as has ever
been advanced in the whole history of
pah-American diplomacy. But 1t will
be noted that the Uruguayan idea con-
templated joint action.
May Help Peron Candidacy.
The Blue Book should have been
issued either by all the pan-American
states or by group of them. 1t never
should have been published as a docu-
ment on the responsibility of the United
States alone.
1t will be argued that there wasn't
time in which to do so, but this will
appear more as an excuse than a rea-
son. The consent of several countries
for the joint issuance of the document
could readily have been obtained and a
simultaneous release in all capitals could
have been arranged.
AS it is, dispatches from Argentina
indicate possibility that publication
of the Blue Book will actually help
the candidacy of Peron, the Fascist.
There are always patriotic per5ons in
every country who resent anything
which they think is an attempt from
the outside to dictate who shall be
chosen President. In the last election
in this country newspapers abroad were
warned by their governments to avoid
the slightest expression OF prejudice in
favor Of the Roosevelt administration
lest 1t produce boomerang here and
hurt the very man the foreign peoples
wanted to see elected.
Dollar Diplomacy of Past.
1t Is not difficult to stir UP feeling
In Latin America against so powerful
country as the United States. Un-
fortunately, the record shows that the
State Department, under some of our
Republican administrations, did inter-
fere in the internal affairs of Latin
American countries and it has been the
objective of the good neighbor" policy
to live down that discreditable record
of Intervention. Especially when it was
closely related to dollar diplomacy il
past decades.
If Peron is elected, it will be to some
extent because Argentinians dislike out
side interference. If he is defeated, the
successful regime will bear from the
outset the stamp of United States aid
This would not happen If the entire parp-
American family acted together or If
any substantial number of governments
took the position that the presence of
Fascist regime was so harmful to
solidarity in this hemisphere that the
people of Argentina should be warned
Of the consequences Of their act
A warning by a number of govern
| ments, especially those which have Just
completed a war against fascism in
Europe, would have been less vulnerable
on the Argentine stump and, in fact,
would have been much more impressive
than the words of the Blue Book
Even a direct notice to the Argentine
people by joint statement of the pan
American governments that Peron's
continuance in power would not be con-
ducive to the retention of Argentina
in the United Nations Organization
would have been more effective than
a Blue Book sponsored by the United
States alone, Many of our own citizens
may not be familiar with Latin Ameri-
can psychology but that Is the fact.
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