takeover ‘of Argentina - By CARLOS VARA Special to the Tribune HAVANA T WAS the shameful support -of Peronist leaders for “goril- la” General Juan Ongania that was the deciding factor in the success of the military coup in Argentina this summer. Without this direct support the fascist general would not have had a chance of taking power despite the backing he re- ceived from the United States Central Intelligence Agency. Common action by the Peronists and Communists could have pre- vented the coup. F The new situation in Argen- tina has laid great responsibility on the Communists and a hard and bitter struggle is ahead for the people. Deposed President Arturo Illia, who came to power through elections in 1963, was a classic example of a Latin American president. He did not solve any economic problems and tried as long as possible to still the de- mands of the masses. Despite this the reactionaries were not satisfied. They were dissatisfied because he did not take more decisive action against the Communist Party. Illia was criticized for main- taining relations with the social- ist countries and especially be- cause, under pressure of the masses, he sent troops neither to Santo Domingo nor to Viet- nam. Last year the government passed a law providing that wages could not be raised more than 22 percent. But the work- ers were able to win increases of 34-40 percent. A law passed in the spring stipulated increases of no more than 15 percent; but the workers were able to win increases of 30 to 50 percent. (These relatively large wage increases must be seen in rela- _ tion to the average wage, about . 20,000 pesos, compared to the official figure of a minimum liv- ing wage of 35,000 pesos, equi- valent to about $190.) What worried the reactionaries most, however, was the unity Military by a forged between the Communists, Peronists and other groups, especially in the trade unions. In the May 19 executive elec- tions of the Confederacion Gene- ral del Trabajo (CGT), which has a membership of about 6,000,000 factory and farm work- ers, for the first time in 20 years the Communists won-one of the leading positions. The influence of Communists was especially strengthened in the rank-and- file trade union organizations. On June 6 a general strike was Called against a very un- popular law dealing with what was termed “work stability.” The strike, in which more than 5,000,000 blue and white collar and farm workers participated, had a clearly political character. It was a hard blow which great- ly worried the oligarchy and the Yankee imperialists. Soon it became clear that re- action was preparing counter action. On June 18 the Com- munists were already warning of the danger of a military coup and made an appeal for unity. But in a number of influential newspapers the Peronists played down this danger and began in- stead to attack the Communists. It was Marxism, they said, and not the army, which represented the danger. They turned down the appeal of the Communists for a general strike. The inter- play between the Peronists and those planning the coup became clearer and clearer. On June 30 the newspaper Primera Plana came out with a picture of Ongania and a three- hour interview with Juan Peron (the interview took place June 26 in Madrid). The Peronist leader praised the fascist gen- eral and appealed to the Peron- ists to support him. The position of Illia was be- coming critical. Reaction was playing off the president against the masses in order to isolate Here is how one Latin American cartoonist sees the Alliance for Progress, which is sponsored by Yankee imper- ialism. The rider says: ““Giddap, you moth-eaten nag”. orilla him, and at the same time was conspiring with his ministers. The situation could still have been saved had Illia appealed to the masses. The appeal never came. The coup took place as a bloodless palace revolution. There was only a handful of demonstrators in the streets as Illia, resigned to his fate, left the Presidential Palace. On July 5 the weekly paper De Pie came out with banner headlines greeting the “revolu- tion in Argentina” as a new epoch for the country. The circle around fascist General Ongania included trade union leaders such as the Peronist Vandor who had earlier negotiated for unity and common action with the Communists in the interests of the working masses. After the coup, Madame Peron ‘returned to her husband in Madrid. Her six-month stay in Buenos Aires. was directly con- nected to preparations/ for the coup. Ongania’s program is well- known. It has more than a little in common with that of the Ger- man Nazis and has apparently awakened certain aspirations in former Gestapo agent Juan Peron. But it is doubtful that Ongania has any intention of letting Peron, the political ghost in Madrid, return to Argentina. Ongania’s cooperation with the Peronists was obviously for tac- tical reasons, shown by the first cards he has dealt out: a two- year “labor peace” and his plan to reorganize the trade unions in support of the government. His first steps included dis- solution of all political parties, _ the government, Parliament, the supreme court and suspension of all classes at the universities. His ten-year plan of social and economic meéasures means the end of all steps to nationalize oil and gas resources, which has _ been welcomed with great pleas-- ure by ultra-reactionary clerical circles. An elastic law against insur- rection provides sentences of from 10 years’ imprisonment to execution for subversive activi- ties. _ OCTOBER 7, 1966—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page In foreign policy Ongania is” toying with the idea of an Argentine-Brazil military axiS cooperating closely with Yankee — imperialism, the invasion Ot Cuba with multi-lateral forces. — His banner is anti-Communism. The Pentagon has special .confi- dence in Ongania. ; va The coup in Argentina has — created a new situation differing radically from the time whet Peron came to powerin-1946. Ongania’s policy of putting — the whole economic burden 0% — the working masses, already shown in the rising cost of liv- | ing, is decreasing the value of * the tactical feint made to create the impression that the trad@ - unions will be exempted from — repression. Rise | “Police action against the unl — versities has given rise 1? clashes between them and thé — students. The 200,000-member student union has issued a call for counter action to defend university autonomy. The Communists have a spe cial responsibility to create 4 — broad united front of coopera — tion between all progressiv® — forces for a democratic goveri- ment: and a new constitution based on the interests of the — working masses. te With- over 4,000,000 factory workers in the vicinity 9 Buenos Aires alone, it is evide' that the Argentine working cla is a powerful force the fascist regime must take into account. The Communist Party, wiih about 100,000 members, is th? main factor for united action 9 all progressive forces against the dictatorship. There is op timism among the Communists: Their slogan is: “With thé masses, everything: without thé masses,- nothing.”’ : “Gorilla” is a term used bf many Latin Americans, fighting for national independence, describe military dictatorship’ collaborating with and support by the U.S. Pentagon.