Evening star., 1948-07-04


Rica. Bloodshed at Mines in Cl
Invasion.
Those who look at the inside
pages of the newspapers ind
menacing talk of still more Latin
American violence to come: Com
munists Angle for Deal in Brazil.
Three Factions Predict Paraguayan
Revolt. And so on.
Is Good Will Slipping?
This peppery diet of hemisphere
headlines agrees with some United
States readers and upsets others.
If you think of the New World as
centered on Wind Gap or Salmon
Falls, bounded on the north by
muskrat-trapping Canadians and
on the south by excitable Latins-
then you probably are not at all
surprised by anything these foreign
ers do. Besides, you've seen it in
the movies.
On the other hand, if you con-
slider yourself an amateur or pro-
fessional good ,neighbor and you
have been thinking along with the
United States State Department that
Latin America was sowing the seeds
of democracy-then you may be
puzzled by this recent harvest Of
street barricades and smashed print
ing presses. Is good will below the
Rio Grande slipping?
Our military planners, in liaison
with our civilian Foreign Service,
have the immediate job of deciding
whether the nter-American explo-
sions will hit us. Is communism
behind the unrest? Or are the polit-
Iical storms in Latin America juDt
local thundershoWers?
Dozens Of intelligence agents and
magazine correspondents have been
looking into The Red menace. In
general, they have concluded that
the New World is still safe for pri-
vate enterprise and for the Panama
Canal.
More Reds Homemade
Specifically. the observers have
this to say about communism down
unJer": During the war years COM
munism grew in Latin America,
even if less slowly than the henequen
and rubber which we planted there.
Now the advocates of the Soviet
variety of revolution are dwindling.
Several republics have driven Com
munists-in fact, all radicals-un-
derground. Others (notably Brazil
and Chile) have broken relations
with Russia. One United States Of
fiicial has estimated that there still
are seven times as many Com
munists in Latin America as in our
own country. That would make
them about one in every $50 people.
The largest slice of these Com
munists below our border is purely
Latin or homemade. These reds
are strongly in favor of land and
bread, bitterly against the local gov
ernment-and hazy about ties with
Russia. A much smaller group
among them has bigger ideas.
Finally, nearly every republic has a
handful of permanently resident or
visiting "Russia-trained organizers. "
Speaking of organizers. some Latin
Americans, once you gain their con-
fidence, will state that they observe
in the streets and restaurants of
their capitals five or more agents
trained in Washington" or trained
in London" for every one trained
in Moscow" Discounting the Red
Menace, some of these gentlemen
choose instead to mutter, and ever
write, about the "Yanqui Menace. "
j Beyond doubt. the "Yanquis" are
there. During the war, our Am
bassadors in Rio de Janeiro and
Mexico City both advised Washing
: ton to go slow on sending down any
more bureaucrats from any more
United States agencies.
u. S. Methods Open
AS the House Appropriations Com
mittee knows, we still are spending
millions in a frank effort to infiu-
ence, and at the same time aid, the
other American republics. The big
difference-as North Americans see
tits that our officials abroad stick
to economics, culture and publicity
They have strict orders to avoid local
politics. Their records Of nonpolit-
ical aid include host of deeds from
control of cattle disease and estab-
!, lishment of liberals to demonstra-
tions of crop rotation and advice on
dam-building. Meanwhile, some
Russian and other Eastern European
ENJOYS. according to intelligence re-
! ports, are tfinly-veiled political
advisers" They repeatedly have
free advice, and ready cash, for the
right people .
i Our propaganda" to Latin Amer
ica is open, through broadcasts and
movies. 1t is never carried on by
work in cells or parties. The differ
ence Is real. In the coming two
years Uncle Sam may feel called
upon to declare that difference
clearly and often. As our foreign
staffs expand between now and
1850, our goodwill efforts Will be-
come a bigger and bigger target
for certain Latins ard for propa-
gandists from Eastern Europe.
Most specialists on Latin America
now agree that, short OF armed
force, communism has no immediate
chance for q foothold below the Rio
Grande. First, because the structures
of the priests against goddess Rus
sia" are law to millions of Latins.
Second, because along with Q few
other good and bad traits, Spain
and Portugal bequeathed to their
Nav, vxyorld colonies an anti.c0nl.