Dirty Work

Juan Peron, who was swept into power by the votes of Argentina's working-class descamisados, has endlessly proclaimed his devotion to organized labor. Less frequently, but no less earnestly, he has pledged himself to uphold the freedom of the press. Last week Juan Peron demonstrated just how much such promises are worth. For the first time in Argentine history, he used military law to crush a disobedient union. And he allowed two government-backed unions to shut down the country's biggest and most respected newspaper, Buenos Aires' independent, conservative daily, La Prensa.

"Wartime" Law. The rebellious union was composed of railroad workers on Buenos Aires' suburban lines. Three times since November they have struck, demanding higher pay and freedom from meddling by Eva Peron's all-powerful central trade union, the C.G.T.; twice before, Peron and Evita managed to get them back on the job with soothing promises (TIME, Dec. 25). When the rail workers struck for the third time last week, the Perons at first tried the old oil again. Evita herself made a dramatic tour of railroad stations, giving speeches. But an estimated 80,000 remained out.

Though the strike was no tougher on the public than others that had been officially tolerated or encouraged, there was one big difference: this was against the government, which now owns all the railroads. Accusing the strikers of being "Communists, anarchists, radicals and socialists," Peron invoked the stiff 1948 "Law for Organization of the Nation in Wartime." Three hundred union members were arrested for "violating the security of the state," and almost 2,000 more were fired. The rest were mobilized under the Ministry of Transport and ordered back to their posts under pain of court-martial.

"Tendentious" Coverage. La Prensa, along with La Nacion, Buenos Aires' other great independent paper, reported the strike accurately and completely. The Peronista press reacted with violent criticism of the two papers' "tendentious" coverage of the dispute. That day the news-vendors' union, an affiliate of Evita's C.G.T., refused to handle La Prensa unless the paper met a list of fantastic demands. The union insisted that La Prensa 1) close its branch circulation offices, 2) give up its subscription lists and let the dealers control its entire circulation, and 3) turn over 20% of the revenue from classified ads, the paper's main source of income, for the union's "social-assistance program."

Although the demands were probably intended to be unacceptable, La Prensa said it was willing to take the matter to arbitration, and meanwhile printed a token edition. Next day the printers' union, another C.G.T. affiliate, ordered its men out. La Prensa was silenced.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.