Messersmith, G.S., Buenos Aires. To Arthur Hays Sulzberger, New York.
Date
1947-04-03
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Delaware Library, Museums and Press
Abstract
Description
Unfortunate that U.S. press should comment on lack of freedom of press in Argentina; realizes comments were made in good faith, based on inaccurate AP dispatch which gave impression Ministry of Labor had ordered La Prensa to meet demands of Unions, and fact that President Perón himself, in an impromptu speech, said way to handle opposition newspapers was not by violence but by refusing to buy them or advertise in them; actually Perón is aware of importance of freedom of press, and as both La Prensa and La Nacion, the other leading newspaper, will admit since Perón Government came in they have been free to print anything they wish; both Government and newspapers have made mistakes, but there is no doubt about the freedom of the press; tendency among some in U.S. to consider other American republics as secondary and underestimate importance of inter-American collaboration; this is great mistake; Soviet Russia understands importance of this collaboration and does her best to undermine it; no effective collaboration possible without Argentine; for first time in decades Argentina has Government that desires to be friendly to U.S. and U.S. keeps "kicking it in the back and calling it names"; Argentine Government is incompetent in many ways, but it is tackling problems that should have had attention years ago and is making progress; Argentina has complied with its obligations under Acts of Mexico City in matters of enemy institutions and enemy property more fully than any other American country except U.S. and Canada, and is making tremendous effort to round up the remaining enemy aliens; task in Argentina has been most difficult in 33 years of service, but in spite of difficulty and in spite of criticism, has carried on, realizing importance of resolving situation; talk about Argentina being military threat is nonsense; if Argentina had aggressive intentions against her neighbors she would not be interested in defense pact, for pact will provide for sanctions and actions against hemisphere aggressor as well as against extra-hemisphere aggressors; her wish for arms has been exaggerated out of all proportion; all she wants is materials which any army needs to maintain morale and effectiveness; all of her military equipment is outworn and outmoded; Argentina has been criticized for making commercial arrangements with her neighbors, when all she is doing is sharing burden with U.S., by supplying badly needed foodstuffs to countries with little foreign exchange and giving them credits to tide them over; holds no brief for Perón, but as far as his personal record is concerned, he compares favorably with other chiefs of state in other American republics.
Keywords
Messersmith, George S. (George Strausser), 1883-1960.