CHILE: Hail to the Chief

For President Gabriel González Videla's return from his U.S. good-will tour, two different groups of Chileans planned welcomes. Santiago officials ordered an arch of triumph, flowers, banners, and a day off for everybody. Communists, proclaiming that "González is handing over Chile to the Yankees," plotted strikes and street demonstrations.

Neither show came off. Before boarding his U.S. Army Air Force plane at New Orleans, González canceled the civic welcome because he thought it an extravagance. When the time came, the Communists did little more than scatter a few leaflets in the streets. Otherwise, they were lost in the crowds whose...

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