ARGENTINA: Disciples Wanted

The word from Argentina’s presidential palace is that Juan Perón has lately been experiencing premonitions of violent death. He has taken to carrying a pistol on the seat beside him when he goes out in a car. When he journeyed to Cordoba last month, elaborate safety precautions were taken. The official announcement said he would go by plane. But the presidential train was made ready at Buenos Aires’ Retiro station, and word quickly leaked out that he was really going by rail. Then, with any would-be assassins doubly confused, he departed by yacht up the Paraná River, later completing the trip by car.

Last week Perón told a group of party high-ups: “When Christ saw Golgotha looming ahead, He no longer insisted on personal leadership but sent His disciples out to broadcast His work . . . Our movement was at the outset a personal movement, but as the builder of Peronismo, I know that I, too, am nearing Golgotha. I want to follow Christ’s example and leave not twelve but millions of disciples to spread my doctrine.”