Argentina: Ghost from the Past

Friday, Mar. 30, 1962

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(9 of 9)

Philip: Another thing. Have you been in a war?

Fraga (gloweringly) : No, we haven't had wars recently in Argentina.

Philip (wagging his finger and grinning) : Well, don't go and start one now.

The military seemed in no hurry to; nor did the populace. As the Per&243;nista 24-hour "general strike" went on without incident or bloodshed, about 75% of all workers showed up at the factory and nearly all at their offices. Argentines seem to share a common letdown feeling that a promising convalescence from dictator ship had been harshly interrupted. But there was also a feeling, among contentious and proud rivals, that a nation's continuity must be preserved, and that this took precedence over individual ambitions and disagreements. The situation in Argentina could still get out of hand, though at week's end, many were resolved that it must not. Almost everyone seemed to understand that the operation they were trying to perform was very close to the heart.

^{*Justifying emergency rule when subversion threatens to
overthrow a regime. A similar clause was used by Jawaharlal Nehru to
impose President's Rule from Delhi on the state of Kerala after it
voted Communist in 1957. — And her body, well embalmed, was kept in a
hushed room in the C.G.T. Building. After Per&243;n fell, it disappeared.
*First stop on a long trail leading to Madrid.
Other stops: Paraguay, Panama, followed by residences in lands then
ruled by fellow dictators —Perez Jimenez' Venezuela, Trujillo's
Dominican Republic, Franco's Spain.}