Russian Flop

The Moscow-sponsored drive to repatriate Argentine residents who were born behind the Iron Curtain--and their Argentine children as well--came to a sudden stop last week. The day before the French liner Bretagne was scheduled to sail from Buenos Aires with 80 repatriates, the Soviet embassy announced that all visas were canceled and no more would be issued. The embassy gave no reason. Argentines guessed that a wave of stay-where-you-are letters from disappointed earlier repatriates had soured Moscow on the idea of large-scale returns. Moreover, the campaign to persuade Argentines to return has frequently backfired. Latest mishap: a 17-year-old boy who ran away from his Russian-born parents, rather than return with them to their homeland, is still hiding out in Buenos Aires.

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