GUATEMALA: Left-Wing Alliance

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From pinks to Reds, Guatemalan leftists have closed their ranks. First the left-wing Revolutionary Action Party (P.A.R.), the government's strongest political supporter, made an alliance with the Socialists. Then the two groups signed up two minor pro-government parties in a "Democratic Front." Avowed purpose of the front: "To defend the Guatemalan Revolution and unify the [government] forces in the struggle against anti-Communism." That, translated out of political doubletalk, meant that Guatemala's Communists are still influencing the government and wielding power far out of proportion to their actual numbers.

It also meant that although the rising tide of popular anti-Communist feeling in Guatemala has not yet produced an outstanding leader or a closely united organization, it has given the country's high-placed Reds and pro-Reds something to worry about. President Jacobo Arbenz' government considers the anti-Communist movement subversive, and has openly accepted the Reds as allies against it.

One predictable result of the leftist pact is that the "Democratic Front," having a clear majority in Congress, will be able to elect one of its own men president of Congress next month. That post has a special significance in Guatemala because its holder is also the President's legal successor. And the succession has an added importance in Guatemalan eyes these days because, despite official denials, rumors keep cropping up that President Arbenz is in poor health and may soon have to retire or take a leave of absence.