Nos. 54 Through 56

"This is a madman's country," sighed Alvaro Alsogaray, who until six months ago had the all but hopeless job of trying to impose austerity on the Argentine economy. So it seemed last week in the once-rich land of beef and wheat. In yet another political crisis, eight more Cabinet members lost their jobs, bringing to 53 the number of Cabinet casualties in the 13 months since President Arturo Frondizi was deposed by the military. In to replace them came Cabinet members Nos. 54 through 56, with five posts still vacant. As puppet President Jose Maria Guido ran through candidates, it was getting harder to fill the posts. A new Education Minister was found only an hour before the swearing-in ceremony; he had to race home to change his clothes, delaying things for 30 minutes.

This time the quarrel was between a portion of Argentina's factious military, who control the government, and the hapless civilians who serve them. In an angry, 2,500-word memo to his colleagues in the armed forces. General Enrique Rauch, who took over last month as Interior Minister, attacked the whole shaky structure of Argentina's government, from the ministries on down. In Rauch's view, the handling of economic policy was inept, numerous shysters from the Frondizi regime still infested top ranks of government, public opinion was misinformed, and scores of "economic criminals" were conspiring to bilk Argentina of its patrimony. To clean up the country, Rauch proposed a firmer military control--in other words, more military officers in the Cabinet--and suggested a ten-point program of decrees (from a light watch on the estates of public officials to stricter controls on business and financial institu tions), partial news censorship, and emergency measures to prosecute grafters and wrongdoers.

Whatever the truth of Rauch's charges, the effect would have been to postpone the promised July 7 elections, which are supposed to restore civilian control of the country. Rauch's proposal failed because of the opposition from the liberal wing of the army, led by General Juan Carlos Ongania, 48, commander in chief of the army. Ongania has no love for Frondizi and no wish to give power to the Peronistas, the 3,000,000 followers of exiled ex-Dictator Juan Peron, who are expected to do well in any election. But he has consistently fought for a quick return to constitutional government. Twice in the past eight months he has sent his troops into battle against rightist-led troops seeking to impose complete military rule. No shots were fired last week. But after hours of argument, a classic Argentine maneuver eased the crisis: in return for Rauch's resignation as Interior Minister, the Economy Minister, the Foreign Minister, the Labor Minister and the Education Minister agreed to quit too.

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