Evening star., 1946-07-28
Relations With Argentina
Depend Upon y. S. Policy
Peron, Bitterly Opposed by Washington Prior to
Election, Declares in Favor of Under.
standing, but Deals Shrewdly
Bv John H. Cline

South America and read that Admiral
William F. HalSey Is going to bypass
Argentina on his good will tour OF the
Latin American countries.
The published report was to the ef-
feet that Admiral Halsey wanted to go
to Argentina and that our Ambassadors
to both the Argentine and Brazil were
anxious to have him do so, but that
the visit was vetoed by the State De-
partment. The Washington version OF
the incident is different, the official
story being that no request for the visit
to Argentina had been received from
any of the three, although 1t was in
dicated that such request would have
been turned down. In any event the
admiral is not going to Buenos Aires,
thereby injecting sour note into the
good will tour for the sake OF gra-
tuitous and petty affront to Argentina.
1t so happens that Admiral Halsey
was in Rio de Janeiro last Sunday, when
a group of American correspondents
arrived in the Brazilian capital from
Buenos Aires. The correspondents, rep
resenting American newspapers, maya
zines and radio chains, were travelling
on the inaugural flight of the new Pan
American Airway5 service from New
York to BuenoS Aires-a 38-hour sched-
uled trip with stops at San Juan, Port
of Spain, Belem, Rio and Montevideo.
In one sense of the term the corre-
spondents were on a goodwill trip. OF
their own, but in Rio Admiral Halsey
was the big show. All the more pointed,
then, is the rebuff to Argentina and all
the more battling the Latin American
policy of the state Department.
Braden Stand Aided Peron.
The visiting correspondents spent two
and a half days in Buenos Aires-a
time obviously too short for fixed opin-
ions, but sufficient for the impressions
to be formed from numerous talks with
well-informed individuals on both sides
of the Argentine political fence.
Highlighting the stay in Buenos Aires
was reception and press conference
held by President Juan Domingo Peron,
who. If he wishes to do so, can right
fully claim the dubious distinction of
being the most controversial figure In
the Western Hemisphere. President
Peron Is not a man to be quickly for
gotten. Looking younger than his so
years, he has an attractive personality,
an alert mind, and there is about him
a definite air of the strong man" He
is in Office for six years-elected de-
spite the opposition of our State De-
partment, or, as a good many Argen-
tines firmly believe, because of that
opposition. Perons most aggressive pre-
election critic was the then American
Ambassador, Spruille Braden. And
Peron capitalized on the resentment
aroused by this interference, telling the
Argentine people that their choice was
a simple one, that they could vote for
Braden or vote for Peron." They voted
for Peron.
AS President of a people with highly
developed nationalistic sense, Peron
seems to be playing his cards skillfully.
He says that he desires good relations
with the United States and the proba-
bility is that he does, for Argentina
needs the financing, the machinery and
other equipment and the technical skill
which, for some time at least, can best
come from this country. He will not
be easy to ueal with, however, and he is
keeping other lines open. With Ger
many out of the picture, the British
are driving hard for Argentine busi-
ness, and there is today in Buenos Aires
a Soviet trade mission. No one accuses
Peron of Communist sympathies and
he may be using the Russians as a
bargaining instrument. But it would
not be surprising if some sort of an
agreement were entered into, for as long
as the attitude of the United States
remains hostile or unpredictable Peron
may be expected to do business wherever
he can.
Adds Democratic Touch.
2 While charting a careful course on
the international scene, Peron is not
neglecting his domestic political fences.
He has a fondness for proverbs and a
friend who supplies him with a new
one each day When the visitors from
the States were shown into his mahog-
any-paneled but simple Office they saw
on his desk card with the Spanish
maxim: Little by little the woman
weaves the thread" And bit by bit
Peron is weaving his own political
thread. There was a time when the
imposing Casa Rosata, the counterpart
of our own White House, was closed to
the common people. But Peron has
devised an ingenious way to open the
door to some of them. He has invited
all Argentine citizens with complaint
or grievance to write to him personally.
Of the hundreds of letters received
each week the names of as many of
the writers as can be accommodated
are drawn by lot and they are granted
personal and individual interviews by
Peron. That can be done in a small
country-Argentina has fewer than A.
100000 people-and it is good politics.
The things that he has done for the
workers, the forced wage increases and
the bonuses, are well known, and it is
natural that he should have their sup
port. But. Unexpectedly, there were
some men-men of responsible positions
and relatively we'll to do-who said they
had voted against Peron but had come
to the conclusion that they had made
mistake because they now thought
that he was going to do something"