New Government

This week, just 50 days after General Eduardo Lonardi took over the Argentine presidency from Juan Peron, the anti-Peron revolutionary movement split like an overripe melon--and moderate Eduardo Lonardi was in the wrong half. Without waiting for the guns to be drawn ug, he quietly stepped down. Into office went another, tougher revolutionary, Major General Pedro Eugenio Aramburu, 52.

The decisive split developed over an emotionally charged issue: should the vanquished followers of Peron be treated to stern vengeance or lenient tolerance? Some of Lonardi's backers demanded a hard-handed crackdown, picturing the old

Peronistas as virtual war criminals who would nullify the revolution if given half a chance. Go easy, advised other Lonardi backers, arguing that most Peronistas had served the dictator unwillingly. "Neither victors nor vanquished," ruled Lonardi --satisfying nobody.

Libervals Y. Nationalists. The quarrel, formless at first, sharpened in recent weeks, forcing most Argentines to choose sides. By early last week the lineups were fairly well defined.

Those in favor of a crackdown included a secret society of self-styled "democratic, liberal" navy officers and other military men; a group of vengeful firebrands, jailed or exiled under Peron; the Radical Party and other minority parties that opposed Peron in years past and now together held 18 seats on the 20-member Consultative Council that Lonardi recently set up to advise him. Their Cabinet spokesman: Minister of Interior and Justice Eduardo Busso. Their real leader:

Vice Admiral Isaac Rojas, Lonardi's Vice President, who wants to try 273 former Peronista Congressmen for treason.

Against the crackdown were the rightists and neo-Nazis generally referred to in Argentina as nationalists: a group of unreconstructed Peronistas who hoped to ride back to influence with the nationalists; new right-wing or centrist parties, some under Roman Catholic auspices. Any of these might gain strength by attracting old Peronistas, whose party is now leaderless. Their spokesmen: Presidential Press Secretary Carlos Goyeneche and Army Minister Leon Bengoa.

The inevitable clash broke out at midweek with a demand from the liberal faction that Lonardi oust the "clerical Fascists" in his Cabinet. Giving in, he fired Bengoa and Goyeneche. But the liberals' pleasure quickly faded when Lonardi wrote out a manifesto to the nation. Said he: "The government prefers that some guilty persons escape rather than permit some innocent persons to suffer" --a plain slap at Vice President Rojas' plan for mass trials. Further inflaming the crackdown group, Lonardi fired Minister Busso.

"Democracy, Yes!" Hastily the Consultative Council met in the Congress building, and while a crowd outside bellowed "Democracy, yes! Nazis, no!" 18 liberal members turned in their resignations in protest against Lonardi's actions. That in effect ended the young government. Through most of Sunday, Lonardi talked to a stream of visiting generals and politicos. Their joint decision was that Lonardi must give way to a leader with a firmer attitude toward the dis credited Peronistas. Exhausted and sick (reportedly from ulcers), he gave up.

Aramburu, a general so distrusted by Peron that the strong man never even gave him a minor garrison command, is a crackdowner. He promptly renamed Admiral Rojas to the vice-presidency. Peronistas can now expect tough treatment.

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