MOB RULE

Evening Star, Issue 25619, 20 October 1945, Page 7

MOB RULE

WILD DAYS IN ARGENTINA PERCH'S SENSATIONAL GOME-BACK NEW YORK, October 19. Buenos Aires lived through another day of mob rule as groups of irresponsible young rowdies, mostly from the industrial areas, marched through the streets from early morning shouting Colonel Peron's name, says the ' New York Times ' Buenos Aires correspondent. The police occupied the premises of the newspaper Critica' after a shooting affray lasting an hour which was started when the mob tried to enter the building. The police said the casualties included two dead and 24 wounded. Sixty members of ' Critica ' staff w»re taken to Villa Devoto prison. Vice-Adwiral Vernengo Lima, who, as Navy Minister, took over one half of the Cabinet after Peron's original dismissal, fled last night with three units of the, river squadron, but returned to Buenos Aires when threatened with bombing from the air. ViceAdmiral Lima was immediately arrested. General Avalos (Minister of War), who formed the other half of the Cabinet, resigned his commission. Peron's whereabouts is not known', but he is believed to be en route to Chubut territory for a fortnight'srest and recuperation. His sensational come-back must be attributed mainly to the fact that Argentina, to all intents and purposes, was without a Government for a week. It was the police, both in Buenos Aires and the provinces, who determined the courco of events by severely crushing all demonstrations against Colonel Peron and favouring his supporters. The Buenos Aires Police Department was one of Peron's great strongholds, and the arrest of three leading police officers connected with the shooting in the Plaza San Martin last week convinced many other officers that their only salvation lay in Peron's speedy return to power. WHERE DEMOCRATS ERRED.

Argentine Democrats erred in insisting that the Government be turned over to the Supreme Court following Peron's fall. If they had immediately organised their own Government they would then have been in a position to influence events- and gradually to dismantle the organisation which Perbn

Marshal of the R.A.F., Sir'Arthur Tedder, who has been appointed to succeed Marshal of the R.A.F., Lord Portal of Hungerford, who is relinquishing his post as Chief of the Air Staff and first and senior member of the Air Council, on his retirement on January 1, 1946.

created within the Government to further his plans. Instead, the Democrats refused, to have anything to do with the Government, thus helping to create the chaos from which Peron ultimately benefited.

Peron has more support among the working classes than was previously suspected, but he is far from having the greater part of Labour on his side. For example, all the independent unions and Socialist-Communist parties, which still havß a considerable Labour following, are his declared enemies, but it is evident that Peron has a thorough grip on the general Confederation of Labour. The Confederation of Labour controls the leading Labour organisations, and this fact will undoubtedly play animportant part in future developments in Argentina. The ' New York Times ' Washington correspondent says that the United States has asked the Lathi-American nations \for their views regarding the Argentine political situation, but joint action /probably will not be. taken against the Peron regime. The State Department expressed strong dissatisfaction but the general feeling was that the Administration will not do more within the Pan-American system than consult, and finally " regret developments.