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Blackout in the Capital. Because Argentina's capital is a seaport, lying on the broad, deep estuary called the Río de la Plata, a lot depended on what the navy did. The River Plate fleet, apparently on the rebel side from the start, gathered near the Uruguayan shore of the estuary. Admiral Isaac Rojas, commander of the rebel fleet, proclaimed a blockade of the capital. "The entire navy is heading for Buenos Aires," he said, contradicting repeated government assertions that the high-seas fleet was peaceably anchored at a port in southern Argentina. The rebels threatened to bombard the capital unless Perón gave up the office of President. That night, roving wardens enforced a panicky blackout in downtown Buenos Aires, cutting wires and ripping out connections where they found lights on. At daybreak, observers in Uruguay counted 21 rebel warships in the Plate, including two elderly battleships with 12-in. guns and two modern 6-in.-gun cruisers (formerly the U.S. Navy's Boise and Phoenix).
Rebels rejected a loyalist plea to consider Buenos Aires an open city. The government showed its shakiness by cutting off telephone communications between Buenos Aires and the outside world and restricting press dispatches to official statements. In that shadowy dimout, a government bulletin announced that General Lucero had invited rebel leaders to the Army Ministry in Buenos Aires to negotiate a ceasefire.