INTIMIDATION AT LIMA

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 19827, 3 January 1939, Page 5

INTIMIDATION AT LIMA

CONGRESS REVELATIONS OFFICIALS' ATTITUDE PERUVIAN PRESSURE (Rec. Jan. 3, 9 a.m.) NEW YORK, Jan. 1. Cabling from Chile, the New York Times' special correspondents who covered the Pan-American Conferin Lima declare that the conference functioned under an amazing dictatorial regime of censorship, intimidation, and spying. The Peruvian Government not only tried to control newspaper correspondents but it censored and spied on me delegates.

Secret service agents were found one night searcnina the American delegates' offices while delegates were attending a banquet in their honor. Perucian pressure reached its climax when the Government falsely issued an '•official statement' 'to the press that the delegates had unanimously agreed to sign Argentina's modified solidarity agreement. The delegates refused to be. stampeded and the statement was contradicted.

The correspondent.", then go on to describe the censorship, spying and pressure to which Ibey themselves were subjected. At Lima on the opening day it was like a scene from a Nayi rally. Thousands of swastika flags were flown and there were more Italian and Japanese flags than ♦'vose of the American Republics.

Throughout Uie conference the Gov-ernment-controlled press gave prominence to attacks from the totalitarian States.