THE ARGENTINE

Grey River Argus, 27 June 1945, Page 5

THE ARGENTINE

SEIZURE OF COMPANIES U.S.A. CAMPAIGN \ ■ ALLIES TO TAKE GERMAN PATENTS WASHINGTON, June 25 Mr. Wm. Clayton (Assistant Secretary of State) told a military subcommittee of the U.S. Senate triat the U.S. State Department was conducting a campaign to stamp out Axis spearheads in Latin America oy supplanting enemy control of business enterprises with friendly ownership. He anticipated that tne Allies would claim German investments even in the neutral countries. The Allies would seize all German-owned patents on the inventions developed before and during the war, thereby removing the miain inducements ror other nations to make cartel arrangements with the Germans. Britain and America had sent industrial experts to Germany to acquire all technological information available for use in the war against Japan. He said there were 104 “spearheads” in Argentina against which no action had been taken.so far. Four others were in process of elimination, but none was eliminated completely. The spearheads were companies that were known centres of espoinage or other aggressive activity. Elimination means that the company would be liquidated or seized and operated by the local South American Government or sold to non-Nazi interests. He added Brazil eliminated 48 spearheads, is eliminating 70 and has none against which no action has been taken. Haiti has eliminated 25, Chile 22, and Ecuador 19. German economic and political penetration in this hemisphere had mostly been dealt a blow which would probably be fatal, and the prospects were reasonably bright for a substantial elimination of the remainder.

Mr. Clayton said: “What we worry about are persons hiding Nazi flight capital or loot, including art treasures, which are easily convertible into cash and used for espionage, propaganda armament research and development. The Germans also exported scientific managerial personnel ini order to save their potential strength for another war ” ILL TREATMENT OF POLITICAL PRISONERS. (Rec. 8.55) NEW YORK, June 26. A “New York Times” correspondent at Buenos Aires stated: Over 60 political prisoners are held at Chaco, Northern Argentina. They claim they have been brutally beaten and kicked by local police. They also claim they w ere compelled to sleep naked on bare floors, forced repeatedly to crawl over broken bricks and hot ashes, and at other times forced' to crawl naked on all fours barkinp- like dogs for the amusement of guards, and forced to perform ludicrous dances in the nude. They were also made, to run while fierce police dogs hunted them. Several claim they were tortured by an electric goad and given shocks until they fainted. The prisoners are mainly Ukrainians, Czechs, Poles and Bulgarians, but include some Argentinians arrested and charged' with illicit Communist activities. Accounts of their treatment were so graphic that the College of Lawyers at Resestencia, capital of Chaco, decided to assume their defence in a body, and also telegraphed the Minister of the Interior, demanding an investigation and sent a delegation to Buenos Aires to interview central authorities.