ARGENTINA: Fourth Estate

ARGENTINA

The man who, above all others, has made life all but impossible for independent Argentine newspapers and newsmen was made honorary president of the Argentine Press Syndicate last week. President Juan Domingo Perón accepted the honor with bland grace—and no wonder. Like their new head, members of the Peronista-minded syndicate believe that the press should be the tool of government, not an instrument of freedom.

The ostensible excuse for Perón’s elevation to the fourth estate was his authorship of a series of newspaper articles setting forth his philosophy in confused prose. (Designed mainly for U.S. readers, the pieces impressed only a handful of U.S. editors.) Those who knew how Perón’s rule works found a more convincing explanation. Last week the long established Argentine Federation of Newspapermen, which has refused to knuckle under to Perón, was meeting at Córdoba. By accepting membership in the rival syndicate, President Perón delivered a well understood and pointed rebuke to such independence.

When he appeared before the Inter-American Association of Broadcasters last week, Perón surprised listeners by coming out for freedom of the air. In the Argentine Congress, opposition deputies, who are never able to get radio time, dared Perón to practice what he preached.