How Safe is Peron?
Apart from the President, General Peron, and his wife, Sabra Eva Peron, the two major forces in the politics of Argentina are the General Confederation of Labour and the Army. The under- standing between the President, his wife and the Confederation is very close. The understanding between these three forces and the Army is not quite so close. So that when the Army so far asserts itself as to prevent Seliora Peron from standing for the Vice-Presidency in the November Elections—as it did last week —then the Peron family and organised labour are driven to a new review of their joint strength. And when organised labour faces a period of rising prices and sluggish production, the tri- partite review cannot be very encouraging. It is much too soon to say that a rot has set in for the Peronista regime in Argentina. The hoardings in Buenos Aires will still scream, " Eva Peron— We Love You," and the lady no doubt redouble her efforts to deserve such affection. A cast-iron electoral law, which he invented himself, prevents any combination of parties against General Peron, and so makes his re-election to the Presidency in November a virtual certainty. There is no evidence that the Army has any immediate desire to replace him. And even if it had, it would no doubt fwd. the. General Confederation of Labour, carefully nurtured under five years of Peronista rule, A tough nut to crack. But the fact remains that in the past few weeks the Army has revealed that it retains a strong hand as well as a gun under the table. General Pen% may remain President of Argentina for many more years, but he will have to be a little more careful about seconding the political ambitions of his wife and a little less free with his boast that he owes more • to the workers than to the Army.
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