REVOLUTION

Grey River Argus, 7 June 1943, Page 5

REVOLUTION

IN ARGENTINA

BY MILITARY JUNTA

To Get Armaments from U.S.A.

[Aust. & N.Z. Cable Assn.] LONDON, June 4. Tlie Argentine War Minister, General Pedro P. Ramirez, with several thousand troops, is reported to have risen against’ the Government of Argentina' because its foreign policy is out of line with that of the rest of the Latin American States. ■ The President, Senor Castillo, and his Cabinet-are reported from Montevideo to have arrived in Uruguay Some reports stated General Ramirez intends to set up a provisional government. Press 1 messages irom Buenos Aires said General Ramirez s men marched to the heart of the capital without fighting. A tew local clashes have been reported. Other messages said another prominent military leader has already set up a provisional government, and there is some obscurity about tne position of General Ramirez who is reported by one source to be under arrest A statement issued on behalf of General Ramirez declared a revolution directed against the present political and administrative life ot the Argentine. One of the first acts of General Ramirez was to arrest a prominent Axis supported in Buenos Aires. The President is reported to. have appointed a commander in chief oi the army to lead a punitive force against the revolutionaries. there is no report of disturbances outside Euenos Aires. The Argentine is the only Latin American country which has not broken off diplomatic relations with the Axis, and the uprising is directed towards forcing the President (Senor Ramon S'. Castillo) to hold a general election. LATER REPORTS. (Rec. 6.40) NEW YORK, June. 5. Latest reports from Argentina indicate that a revolutionary committee seized power in a lightning revolt, and that they now are firmly entrenched in Buenos Aires, it is stated crowds are surging the streets shouting death to fascists and stoning pro-Nazi newspaper offices .and German shops. The British United Press La Plata correspondent says that President Castillo has surrendered. The Argentine Navy has abandoned President Castillo and joined the revolutionaries. General Ramirez decreed martial law throughout Argentina. He has created a military Junta, ot which he is head. Ex-President Castillo and members of the Cabinet have arrived at Colonia in Uiuguay, aboard an Argentina warship. The New York “Herald Tribune s Washington correspondent says: It was not a popular uprising to force the Government to line up with the United Nations, although it is reported 90 per cent, of the people favoured a break with the Axis Powers This isssue was only an incidental matter. The principal reason for the coup d’etat was concern on the part of military leaders over a great lead of armaments which is being taken by Chile and Brazil as recipients to lend-lease aid from U.S.A. Another report stated: A revolutionary march to the capital was marked by only one small clash at the Naval Engineering School on the outskirts of the city, where two soldiers are reported to have been killed. However, reports from Monte Video estimate that casualties throughout the ‘ country have totalled one hundred killed and three hundred wounded. The Washington correspondent of the “New York Times” said: The Argentine revolt has produced strong hopes here that the country mav now align itself, with the Unit? ed Nations. Colonel Knox (U.S. Naval Secretary) speaking to a press conference, said: “It looks .as though the pro-Axis administration has been unhorsed.”

Reports, received in Washington indicate that military leaders conducted the revolt. Diolomatic circles are of opinion that • a revolt grew from concern on the part of Argentine militarists over the country’s isolation in the Western Hemisphere, and over the inability of Argentina to obtain from America any planes, military equipment, steel, and other essential supplies. Officials at Washington point out Argentina hitherto was used as a base for Nazi spies and fifth columnists, and was an important base of information for U-boats operating in the Atlantic, stating these activities will henceforth be stopped. (Rec. 9.0) LONDON, June 5.

President Castillo', who surrendered earlier to-day, has now resigned the Argentine Presidency, according to .a news agency message from Buenos Aires.

A Military Government

TO REMAIN NEUTRAL. (Rec. 11.10) NEW YORK, June f?. The victorious revolutionaries have formed a military government, with General Antonio Rawson as President. This was done a few hours after the resignation of President; Gastillo. I General Rawson (not Rarmerz as first published) is partly of British descent. He pledged his Cabinet to a policy, of “American solidarity, but cf continued neutrality for the present-” rs X , I Admiral Saba Sueyro actually led the revolt. He has been appointed Vice-President. Other members or the Cabinet include General Rawson’s close friend General Pedro Ramirez, as War Minister, Senor Domingo Martinez as Foreign Minister; Admiral Benito Sueyro as. Navy Minister; and Admiral Storna as Minister of the Interior. Ex President Castillo was released from custody after his resignation. He returned to the presidential residence to pack his private belongings. All of Senor Castillo’s Cabinet colleagues have now been released from arrest, except two. They will be tried before a regular court. It is not disclosed on what charges. Life in the capital has returned to normal. Shops have opened, and people have resumed work. A Government (order banned all celebrations. x . , . ~ The international significance oi: the revolt is still controversal. According to a United Press diplomatic correspondent, the military observers nave reacted cautiously. 'They discount the first view that the overthrow of Senor Castillo meant that Argentina will throw in its lot with the Allies. The Associated Press says: Uruguayan officials are- disappointed over the almost completely military character of the new Government. Several of the members are known to be extreme Rightists. This has exploded the earlier hopes that Argentina 1 would be ruled by a democratic i team.

An exiled leader of the Argentine

Socialist Party, Senor Nicholas Repetto told New York reporters that the revolt was a ’’palace revolution,” not an expression of popular will. The State Department at Washington is maintaining silence, pending a' clarification of the attitude of the new Government on foreign questions. However observers in Washington express optimism that General Rawson will line up the country with the rest 'of the hemisphere on war issues.

BRITISH AMBASSADOR’S REPORT (Rec. 10.0) RUGBY, June 6.

The British Government has received a number of reports from the British Ambassador at Buenos Aires, Sir David Kelly, concerning the Argentine revolt. These reports, in general, confirm the fact that President Castillo and certain members of his Cabinet left Buenos Aires yesterday in a river gunboat. By the afternoon it appeared that the capital was generally quiet. General' Rawson, who was in command of the troops which entered Buenos Aires, sent his naval aide yesterday afternoon to greet Sir D. Kelly, in the name of the Provisional Government, and the aide informed Sir D. Kelly that a new Government would be constituted within the framework of the Argentine Constitution in conformity with democratic principles. A later report stated Admiral Rawson had been made the new President of Argentina. A news agency message stated:— Senor Castillo surrendered to the General commanding the Second Division of the Argentine Army at La Plata to-day. Senor Castillo went ashore at the naval base from a warship aboard which he attempted to maintain his Government. U.S.A. ESTIMATE ' LONDON, June G. . Mr Elmer Davis. Director of the United States Office of War Information, broadcasting to-day, said: The chief importance of the quick and almost bloodless revolution in Argentina was that it showed that i even conservative and military classes in the Argentine realised that the Axis was going to lose the war. Argentina had remained neutral and was a base for Nazi and fascist agents. Because of the policy of President Castillo, • which, until recently, had the support of the conservative military elements, a majority did not like it, but repressive methods had succeeded in keeping discontent down. An upset came only when his own supporters realised that President Castillo was on the wrong horse, and that Argentina was losing ground, not only in the I esteem of the rest of the world, but ■in economic and political standing ; in South America, where Brazil was ’ enthusiastically on the side of the I Allies, and was assuming the leadership.