ARGENTINA: We Disapprove

Austere and rigorously decorous, a group of Argentine generals and admirals strode into Buenos Aires pink and peeling Government House. On the desk of horse-loving, horse-faced President Edelmiro Farrell they plunked down a memorandum. Its message: they approved Farrell’s promise to hold free elections; they opposed the efforts of Juan Domingo Perón (Vice President, War Minister and Labor Secretary) to get himself elected President (“We disapprove of proselytizing … by those holding public office”).

Elsewhere, Argentine politicians bitterly attacked the new political parties setup decreed by the Government last week. By its provisions, a Government-appointed electoral court would direct reorganization of Argentina’s political parties, dissolved two years ago. The politicos’ chief fear: that Perón, through his appointees, would rig the parties to suit his election plans.