Jittery Strongmen

The biggest news event in Latin America last year made jittery reading for the hemisphere's military strongmen. The crash of Argentina's Juan Peron showed with unnerving clarity how swiftly the most deeply entrenched tyrant can be destroyed by aroused public opinion and disenchanted military leaders. By last week strongman regimes in four other nations were showing signs of strain.

Peru (pop. 9.500,000). Well-intentioned President Manuel Odria long ago promised to run off a free election next June. At first sullenly doubtful, Peruvians finally decided that he meant what he said, began campaigning with such antigovernmental vigor that Odria's police were goaded unwisely into shooting up a political meeting in Arequipa last December. The result was a surprisingly loud outcry for a completely unfettered election. It was under this banner that Brigadier General Marcial Merino Pereyra rebelled last week in Iquitos (see below).

Venezuela (pop. 6,000,000). President Marcos Perez Jimenez, relying on his sixth sense for plots, has lately jailed, shifted or banished half a dozen ambitious officers. But last week, even as he was shaking up his Cabinet, students were demonstrating against him for the first time in years.

Colombia (pop. 12,650,000). President Gustavo Rojas Pinilla presides over a country that is politically in a state of siege and emotionally in a state of shock. Although he has built up the country (see below), he has let a quick temper lead him into harsh police-state methods (TIME, Feb. 20) and an unmatched record as a newspaper-killer. The betting is that, one way or another, he is on the way out.

Cuba (pop. 6,100,000). President Fulgencio Batista gives far more freedom than the other three strongmen. But Cubans are restive. University students, courting martyrdom, clash constantly with Batista's police, who often react hotheadedly. A fortnight ago a 22-year-old girl student was cruelly tortured, and the regime, rightly or wrongly, got the blame. To relieve the heat and pressure, Batista may have to make the concession that his opposition demands: free elections soon.

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