Evening star., 1949-06-05

The violence at Caiaxt. where =
United States ctta8rns but paay
desecrate<s The wlfr Of oiae O. them
Was q direct blow al ore es t2ar
strategic industries IN the Western
World. certainly one ol Tire most
vitality important 10 this country
and one dominated by uu!ied
States capital.
The conditions which produced
alais social and political explosion
the worst IN South America stree
the holocaust in BagotA &a April
isAs. we're largely the handaSss,k
Of extreme Nationalist and other
suhYeTSlre forces, beth within and
from beyond the continent TIE
ringleaderS had been followers ol
the late Dictator 0aasbctto villa
goei Who came 10 power throug =
the eonnlSance and enUoyea the
backing Of pro AXIS and ani3"
United States elements dusins The
last war.
Easy TO Blame ! ankees
villaroel was overthyosn ard
hanged TO lamppoSt In popular
revolution In 1916 But his fol-
lowers have plotted continually for
three years 10 return 10 power
They have not only worked
through diSgruntled military and
civilian elements in La PaE and
other political centers. bai they
have kept a continual state Of
agitation among the tin miners.
unions, the largest and best organ
ixed groups in the Bolivian popula-
ton. More recently they have had
the active support OF fellow tfas-
elers and friends Of Moscow, Sig~
nificantly enough. under Villa
roel the Communists had been
allowed TO organize n small party
OF their own. although II disap-
peared with the fall OF the dc
tatorship.
Naturally. the demofaiixine eco
nomic slump. that has recently
oyertaken Bolivia and q number
OF the other Southern countries,
has played into extremist hands,
But the fact that United States
capital is heavily invested in the
nations tin properties and the
further fact that this country and
Great Britain are the principal
markets for the entire output, has
made u easy for the agitatofs TO
blame the foreigners. and particu-
larly the Yankees. for any hard
ships and misfortunes.
More important still. II all con-
stitutes q most favorable atnos-
phere In which for the Commu-
nists to plot their designs against
the United States. II Is more
than sisniiicant that this tragic
event should have occurred In The
area which possesses one-half the
worlds supply Of tin ore. the only
other source being Malaya and
the Dutch East Indies. already
menaced by Communist conflict
In Asia.
Strike Background
To understand the significance
and the unfortunate threat the
Bolivian situation still poses for
the United States and for the rest
of the Western world. IL Is neces-
sary TO review the conditions that
led UP to the horrible events of a
week ago. Bolivia probably pre-
sents the most one sided and TN
fortunate social picture Of any tla-
ton In the New World. Next 70
Brazil and Argentina IL is the
largest country In South America.
II has a population Of nearly s.
600 900 people. four -fifths Of them
full-blood descendants Of the orig
inal inhabitants. the ancient
Aymaras and other Incan races.
There are not more than 100 900
persons Of pure Spanisii or Euro
pean and foreign origin in the
entire nation.
Except for this small upper or
ruling class. the vast majority Of
the masses are iiiiterate. underfed
and barefooted. The tin miners
are the only large working groups
that received standardized wages
and are provided with relatively
adequate housing and living con.
ditions, No nation was ever such
q happy hunting ground for pro-
fessionai. anaIi-time. prositceYtnT
political bosses. Nor could there
be found anywhere q more inviting
situation for unscyupuious inter-
national agents bent on sowinw
distrust and deception In order 20
dominate the world.
In two great wars Bolivia vas
q center. IL not the main head
quarters. In South America of the
European and Asiatic enemies Of
the United States. In the first
world conflict the Kaiscr's secret
agents made the remote cities and
towns Of Bolivia focal poanss for
their operations throughout the
continent. Beginning tn 1918,
after the war, former German and
Italian flyers aud engineers as vel
rs japanese merchants and col
oraistD nocked 10 Bolivia. Tlas
Germans organized and launched
airlines which gradually spread
out 10 all the nearby countries.
Germans Gained Control
When Hitler came to power.
Man agents began orEantxsng
oslnds and secret societies arnung
their expatr3ats countrymen. A
uroup cf German cflscers beaded
sy famed Ernst Hoesam. thu Iatx
Fxsefrers marsyred friend. be-
came instructors In the Bolivian
Army. A. one time German bsnk-
ers and fnsncsers even galnexa
-ontxnl OF o large s1sc~ of she tin
industry ttseif. When World War
VII hasyxf Kgxsrsys Esssrsyss a4 xrss ssrxas