Move Over

Colonel Juan Domingo Peron suddenly had a freer hand last week in Argentina. Washington waited with silent interest to see exactly what that hand might contain.

Out went the strong man of his opposition : Minister of the Interior Luis Cesar Perlinger, shrillest of the U.S.-haters, so nationalist that he could easily be taken for a Nazi. Stronger than ever was Colonel Peron, Minister of War and Secretary of Labor and Welfare, who now became Vice President as well. His new office was noteworthy because the Vice-Presidency had been General Edelmiro Farrell's last steppingstone to the Presidency.

Into extremist Perlinger's shoes stepped Rear Admiral Alberto Tessaire, a moderate nationalist. At an end was a five-month palace battle. Whether the war was over remained to be seen.

Peron's victory was no triumph of democracy over authoritarianism. But it was considerably more than a defeat of Tweedledum by Tweedledee. In his struggle with Perlinger, Peron had swung from extreme to relatively moderate nationalism. He was still for Argentina first and last, still convinced that the best rule was military rule. But he had striven to prove that neither hatred of the Yankees nor imitation of Fascism was indispensable to him.

He made some gestures toward the U.S.

He adjusted some of the details of his authoritarian rule to popular preferences. He was even willing to consider the necessities of hemispheric diplomacy. After the U.S. and Great Britain recalled their ambassadors last fortnight, Peron did not fly into a supernationalist rage. He cooed, and turned the U.S.-British pressure to good account in his feud with Perlinger.

The Argentine passion for independence and horror of any foreign domination had been exploited by Perlinger's ultranationalists, who professed to regard anything but positive antagonism toward another power as a sign of weakness. If Strong Juan Peron really intends to sweeten U.S. Argentine relations, he will have to contend with this attitude.

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