14 JUNE 1946, Page 2

Buenos Aires and Moscow

The fact that last week's inauguration of General Peron as Presi- dent of the Argentine Republic for the next six years was followed within two days by an announcement of the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between Argentina and Soviet Russia has a significance which deserves examination. Relations between the two countries were broken off at the time of the Soviet revolution in 1917, and a very few weeks ago nothing would have seemed more improbable than that General Peron, with his reputation for Fascist, if not Nazi, sympathies, should develop a sudden cordiality towards Moscow. There are some obvious explanations of the change. The chief, no doubt, is the hostility of both countries to the United States, though it should be noted that the American Embassy at Buenos Aires, vacant since the recall of Mr. Spruille Braden last August, has now been filled by the arrival of Mr. George Messersmith. The Russo-Argentine rapprochement is therefore not quite as con- spicuously a fresh move in the general alignment in the world as might appear, but that aspect of it can certainly not be ignored. A Soviet commercial mission has been in Buenos Aires since April, and immediately the renewal of diplomatic relations was announced a nucleus of five members of the new Soviet Embassy staff arrived hot-foot from New York. Trade between Argentina and Russia is developing, and 7,000 tons of linseed oil—which the Argentine Government had undertaken to sell to no one except the Combined Food Board—is now on its way to Russian ports. The strong support given to President Per6n by organised labour makes a rapprochement between the two proletariats intelligible, but the im- portance of the Catholic vote will prevent General Peron from going too far in a Communist direction. The danger that the extensive British commercial interests in Argentina may suffer is manifest.