Argentina Rebuffed

Argentina's ship of state, sailing its wayward course of "prudent neutrality" with President Ramon Castillo at the helm, ran smack into an unexpected obstacle last week. The shock came from a direction whence it was least expected--Britain. It left crew and helmsman surprised and angry. When he had weathered it, Captain Castillo was a grimmer and a wiser man.

A main prop of the Castillo policy of continued Axis recognition has been the contention that, while the U.S. might disapprove of Argentine neutrality, Britain favored it. This likewise was a theme for Axis propaganda. The official Information Bulletin of Argentina's Foreign Ministry recently reprinted excerpts from an article in a London periodical about Argentine neutrality. The gist of the article, in the Argentine version, was that everything was all right so far as Britain was concerned.

But this complacent dream was rudely shattered. From London came a strongly worded statement--long overdue--that Britain "deplores" President Castillo's course and was "astonished" that his government had attempted to convey a different impression. The London statement was quickly seconded by the U.S., which declared itself in full accord with Britain's views.

The immediate reaction of Argentina's government was typical. Police banned publication of the British protest in all Argentine newspapers. President Castillo and his Foreign Minister Enrique Ruiz Guinazu went into hurried conference. Next day they came up with a reply which the press was directed to print side by side with the London statement:

"The Argentine Government deplores the grave error . . . into which the British Foreign Office has fallen. . . . [It] is astonished that the Foreign Office, on the strength of mistaken information, should have expressed itself ... in terms that do not correspond to the friendly relations between the British and Argentine people."

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