Evening star., 1949-10-23

C1lOll IlldG WAS UOullQ 10 IOllOW, GU
elaborate naval, Army and al
missions in nearly all of thes
countries, not only for the purpos
of instructing their forces in tn
use OF our planes, guns. equipmen
and methods, but to court favo
with and create good will anon
them. against the day when W
may need their assistance. What,
ask their spokesmen, "is the us
of all this, if we have no moder
guns. planes or equipment to use
Why go to all this effort If we ar
to remain mere toy soldiers?"
Their disappointment may we
have embarrassing results for VI
The Communists are alread
spreading the word that sewing u
the Latins in an ironclad defens
treaty and at the same time refus
ing to give them arms. was a clev
er Yankee design to render Lati
America helpless so that we coul
dominate its governments an
people. At the same time some @
the dictatorS and the strong-arr
men are charging us with givin
the Communists a free hand il
the Americas.
Trujillo, of the Dominican Re
public, has claimed the recent SO
called Communist plots" agains
his regime was a direct result O
our refusal to sell him NOR
planes and guns. In fact, he ha
made known his intention to &C
quire European equipment an,
materials to build an arms plan
OF his own. President Peron o
Argentina, unable after severa
attempts to procure war plane
and new guns in the Unite,
States. has been buying jet plane
and other equipment from Grea
Britain.
At least we are already caugh
in the middle. Even the NOR
democratic governments are anx
iously looking in our direction TO
arms. They point to the threa
OF communism in Chile, Cost;
Rica, Bolivia and others, and tn
necessity of arming for defens
against these and other subversiv
forces. Political unrest and civi
strife in Colombia has sent tn
Defense Minister Of that countr,
on a hurried trip to Washington
with the hope (although it
denied of obtaining more equip
ment for it's newly reorganize,
armed forces.
Pressure against us for NOR
arms comes from several sources
The Inter-American Defens
Board must of necessity give tn
Latins some visible and materia
evidence to justify its existenc
and the money the various gov
ernments spend to maintain larg
STATS Of officers in Washington
These Latin officers are unde
pressure from their home com
manders to get arms. At tn
same time they would like to pro
mote their own stock at home b,
showing their ability to acauir
equipment from the United States
Pressure on ENJOYS
The members of our variou
military missions in Chile, Brazil
Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Mex
leo, and the others, are unde
pressure from the governments t.
which they are accredited, an,
which incidentally pay part o
their expenses. to urge that Wash
ington come across with militar
supplies. Meanwhile, their in
f1uence with the host government
and officials diminishes in direc
ratio to their inability to ge
Washington to "divvy up."
Besides. most of our militar,
men in Latin America honestl,
believe that Communist and aliel
influences can be kept out o
these countries only by means O
well-trained and equipped armies
This, aside from the importanc
OF having modern military setup
IN the neighboring countries il
case OF another sneak attack OF
the Western Hemisphere.
At any rate, as they see it, W
can't standardize the arms of thi
hemisphere unless the. variou
countries get American arms. No
one OF the southern government
is going to give up the European
materials or the outmoded equip
ment it has until it is sure tha
it will get something from us t.
replace them. More importan
still, if they don't get new mill
tary supplies here, they will re
them somewhere else, if not il
Western European countries, per
haps from behind the iron cur
tain.
Several countries, including Ar
gentina. have already been dick
ering with Communist-dominate,
Czechoslovakia. What is more
the shortage Of dollars in nearl
every one of the nations next doc
makes it almost necessary 70
them to buy arms as well a
other goods in Europe, unles
some way is found by which W
can help to finance purchases Il
the United States,
Latin Arms Opposed
AT the same time, other ele
ments, both here and in tn
various countries themselves, ar
crying out against the. furthe
strengthening Of Latin America,
armies. Ultra-liberals in thi
country have opposed building u
the Latin military establishment
because strong armies In thes
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