FIFTH COLUMN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24334, 26 June 1940, Page 8

FIFTH COLUMN

AMERICAN REPUBLICS PENETRATION BY NAZIS “ TOURISTS ” IN MEXICO NEW YORK, June 6. Coincident with disclosures of Nazi Fifth Column activities in the Latin American Republics, the United States cruiser Quincy, carrying two aeroplanes, has been ordered to Rio de Janiero (.Brazil) and Montevideo (Uruguay) . Ostensibly a “ goodwill mission,” the cruise is actually a direct result of uneasiness over the extent of German influence. ; ; Storm Troops and Gestapo A Uruguayan investigation into Fifth Column activities is disclosing an astonishing Nazi penetration of South America, says the Montevideo correspondent of the New York Times. The existence has been revealed of a Nazi organisation controlling the public and private lives of Germans throughout the country, and including Storm Troops and a Gestapo. From other reliable sources also come reports of the spread of potential Fifth Column forces throughout Latin America, particularly Mexico, the Argentine, Brazil, and Uruguay/ A great influx of Germans into Mexico, nominally as tourists and business men, has attracted attention recently. Now there are thousands of new German faces in scores of towns and villages, most of the new “tourists ” being under 30. Unquestionably Fifth Column activities are proceeding. ’ ' Italians In Argentina In Argentina the bulk of popular sympathy has been with the Allies, but Argentina also has its pro-Fascist sentiment, with the so-called Nationalist Youth Alliance causing some anxiety. Argentina’s Italian population, numbering 2,000,000 is also giving some worry. The members are mostly antiNazi, but admit that they would support Mussolini if he declared;war. In Brazil there is not only strong radio and press propaganda in favour of the Nazis, but in the German colonies in Santa Catharina, Parana, and Rio Grande do Sul communities have been found where. German is the common language." ■ .*■ ’