ARGENTINA: Days before Lent

After the election came carnival. Posters blaring announcements of fiesta dances encroached on the tattered billboard images of Perón and Tamborini. Argentines who could afford it rushed off to the villas and casino of Mar del Plata. Yet Argentina, recovering slowly from the calmest election day—and bitterest campaign—in its history, was hardly in a carnival mood. It was still dazed. Juan Pueblo, the man on the Buenos Aires street corner, contemplating the strange, post-election calm, said "Parece raro—Seems funny."

The Army, which had policed the elections, stayed on the job. In the 14 provinces soldiers stood guard while Government employes...