Argentina: Where the Action Is

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There was a full Cabinet meeting last week in Argentina. That would not be unusual in most countries, but it set a precedent for President Arturo Illia, a onetime country doctor, who has always received his ministers separately or in groups of two or three. Only once before in his 21 years in office had he called in the entire Cabinet, and that was to pay formal tribute to John F. Kennedy after his assassination. So what was the occasion last week?

As usual in Argentina, it was the possibility of a military coup. Dissatisfied with Illia's laissez-faire philosophy of government, and particularly alarmed at the prospect of a Peronist victory in the gubernatorial elections next March, the army had just handed Illia a warning to get a move on—or else. So into the Casa Rosada last week filed his eight ministers, ten ministerial-rank Secretaries of State and Vice President Carlos Humberto Perette. When they filed out again, they promised the army that action would be taken. From now on, the Cabinet decided, it would meet with the President every week.