ARGENTINA: Shifting Winds

Is Juan Perón in trouble?

Last week his opponent in the presidential election (just seven weeks off) shouted to 50,000 people on a Buenos Aires street corner: “The Argentine man is no longer intimidated. Perón is no longer dictator.” A few weeks ago an Argentine would have been arrested for saying that kind of thing in public. In fact, Ricardo Balbin, the man who said it last week, already faced arrest on 19 different charges of disrespect for the President.

But the political winds that blow across the Argentine pampas have veered somewhat. Balbin’s audience last week was the best Radical turnout in years. Considering the obstacles put in the way, the crowd of 50,000 was rather more impressive than the estimated 250,000 who were quite literally hauled in for last month’s widely touted rally to launch a Perón & Perón ticket. The Radicals’ meeting received not a word of advance notice from press or radio. Police banished the rally to the outlying Constitution Plaza. Two nearby subway stations were shut down to make it harder for people to get there.

The Radicals indulged in no idle bragging about an election victory. They were fully aware that the entire resources of the government were stacked against them. But they were encouraged that the Peron regime was showing signs of internal strain. The tip-off had been Evita’s sudden withdrawal from the vice-presidential race after the disclosure that the army disapproved of her candidacy. Certainly part of the Radicals’ new defiance rose from the belief that the army no longer fully backed Perón. But they were not pinning their hopes on a barrackroom revolt. Another Radical orator called upon the army last week to stay neutral and insist upon an honest election.