Evening star., 1951-04-01

Pulitzer Publishing Coz
policemen themselves unwittingly
directed the writer to an important
La Prensa official.
This writer arrived at the es-
tancia late Wednesday night, hav-
ing eluded the Argentine police
who prevented him from going
directly to Colonia-by taking a
plane to Montevideo, under some
what narrowing circumstances,
then hiring a car and driver for a
four-hour ride to Barra De San
Juan. Thursday morning, as the
sun shone on the water separating
Colonia from Buenos Aires, Mr..
Gainza Paz described the events
leading to the closing of La Prensa.
Perhaps we may begin the story
with the state of siege which
already was in force at the time
of the revolution of 1943," he said.
Under the state of siege, news
papers were warned against in
flaming the public. Later, by de-
cree. q system of fines and punish
ments were set up.
Continued to Print News
This was not all. Of course. We
were sent editorials. and told to
print them. We never did. La
Prensa continued to print the
news. In our editorials we never
made any personal criticism of
Peron. We have commented on
government actions and reports,
mostly by contrasting certain Of
fetal statements with known facts.
"The state Of siege was lifted
after the election of 1946, but a
law forbidding disrespect was en-
acted. 1t is not easy to know what
is and what is not disrespect. It
is certain that under the Argen-
tine law the truth of statement
is no defense, and may even be
more disrespectful than an un-
truth"
It was for "disrespect" in chal-
longing the powers of the con-
gressional commission which took
possession of La PrenSa that Mr..
Gainza Paz was sentenced to Is
days in prison, with little or no
assurance that another occasion
would not be found for prolonging
that sentence indefinitely. This
writer can only conclude. after
discussion of the present state of
laws and DEGREES governing press
in Argentina with some
Of the best lawyers in Buenos
Aires, that Argentina today has
no coherent legal system. AS one
noted lawyer said, There is no
law In Argentina"
Facts Never Perverted
This essentially lawless situa-
ton applies to the publishing OPP
erationS Of La Prensa as well as
to its content. In content La
Prensa, never as far as this writer
can discover, either perverted a
fact or expressed an opinion that
was not its own. Sometimes, how
ever. it was forced to suppress
news, at least until a suitable oc-
casion arose for publishing it, as
in the case of a. deputy's state
ment of Mr.. Peron's riches.
In its publishing operations. La
Prensa has no choice but to sub
NIT to limitations imposed by the
government. These limitations al
ways were aimed simply at La
Prensa, although to a somewhat
lesser extent at La Nacion, the
only even relatively free news
paper left in Buenos Aires. And
considerably less vigorous than La
Prensa. Other Buenos Aires news
papers either bow down to Mr..
Peron, or are owned by Mr.. Peron,
his wife, or their henchmen.
No one knows how long even an
emasculated La Nacion may be
allowed to publish. La Prensa
would not bow down and it would
not sell out. Peron- -incited mobs
attacked. La Prensa more times
than anyone can remember. Steel
doors were installed for emergency
use. The government radio at
tackled La Prensa daily for an
entire month. La Prensa'S cir
culation continued. Peronista
posters urging Don't buy La
Prensa: don't advertise in La
Prensa' affected neither circula-
ton nor advertising. It was the
Peronista Prensa, the controlled
press, which suffered. indeed.
Like Old Phonograph Record
To read a Peronista newspaper
is like listening to an old phono-
graph record and even party
members may become bored.
Controlling newsprint supplies
has, therefore, become a favorite
method of hurting La Prensa and
favoring its Peronista competitors.
The way it was done was as in
teresting as what was done.
"The publishers would be called
to a meeting with the appropriate
officials" said Mr.. Gainza PaZ.
There we were told what was go
ing to be done. Then the gov
ernment would announce: The
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