Test Cases

Two little Central American countries, El Salvador and Guatemala, struggled in freedom's toils last week. Both had recently overthrown tyrants. Both had discovered that the seeds of tyranny did not vanish with the tyrants.

Loyal Soldier. General Andres Ignacio Menendez, Provisional President of El Salvador, was doing pretty well. Appointed by the tottering Dictator, Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez, Menendez might have made himself Dictator too. Instead he announced that he would hold the Government in trust for an elected president.

The Army sulked. Its 26 colonels and generals, accustomed to power, feared that a civilian government would reduce their privileges. When they threatened a military coup Menendez called them to the palace, cowed them with some tough talk.

The people of San Salvador paraded, hailed Menendez as their "loyal soldier." This crisis surmounted, El Salvador's prospects improved. The old Dictator's reign of terror had vanished. The press was free and vigorous But El Salvador's democrats still had a hard job ahead, in a country where most of the people are unused to governing themselves.

So that the people might have a little time to learn, the presidential elections were scheduled for next January. Leading candidate for the presidency: Dr. Arturo Romero, gravely wounded hero of the revolution, who has been in New York for medical treatment. Tall, good-looking, 33-year-old Dr. Romero is a gentle idealist who nevertheless makes sense. If he wins the presidency, he can thank General Menendez, the "loyal soldier."

Unsmiling General. When Guatemala's hated Dictator Jorge Ubico resigned the presidency, he delegated power to a junta of three generals. The leader, hard and unsmiling Federico Ponce, promptly convoked Ubico's hand-picked Congress, over awed it by stationing troops at the doors. Obediently, the deputies elected him Provisional President. Five young lawyers who protested were slapped into jail. Ponce's government won astonishingly prompt U.S. approval.

Ponce acted as though he were keeping the government in trust for Ubico and fired very few of his men. According to one story, Ubico himself did not flee to Mexico, as first reported, but simply retired to a private house on the capital's Fourteenth St.

All the same, Guatemala tingled with excitement. The fear-struck silence was gone. The press was free. Independent political parties were springing up. The people had not lost hope.

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