BOLIVIA-PARAGUAY: Unmentioned Truce

Unmentioned Truce

With a last ripple of rifle fire, a last salvo of cannon and a mighty mingling of Indian war whoops and LaL., cheers, the soldiers of Bolivia and Paraguay stopped fighting in the swampy jungles of the Gran Chaco last week. Suddenly the chatter of tropical birds again seemed loud. Just before the eleven-day “Christmas Truce” was arranged by League of Nations statesmen (see p. 11)—last year’s Chaco “Christmas Truce” was arranged by Pope Pius XI—battling Paraguay pressed her recent supreme offensive to capture Bolivia’s Fort Munoz. Whether Munoz. was captured just before or just after the truce’s zero hour was a question in hot dispute last week. It may well start Bolivia and Paraguay fighting again, as they have fought off & on for 50 years. Munoz proved to be a very comfortable fort. Females, who made it home for Bolivia’s heroes, numbered more than 150. There was even a cinema theatre and drinks were of the best. “Our soldiers are high-strung and enthusiastic over their victory,” dot-dashed a Paraguayan military telegrapher. “They scarcely mention the truce in their conversations.”