27 FEBRUARY 1953, Page 10

Andes and Antarctica

By GEORGE BRINSMEAD THE trans-Andine journey undertaken by General Peron on his visit to General Ibanez in Chile 'revives many memories. The route by which the Argentine President travelled in his (formerly British) railway coach through the lunar altitudes of the Cordillera follows approximately the sequence of high valleys and passes which, in the time of the Spanish conquistadores, formed the Camino de los Andes, a well-worn mule-track connecting the mineral resources of the Pacific coast with the Plata river-system and the Atlantic sea- board. It was hereabouts, moreover, that in 1817 the Argentine national hero, General San Martin, accompanied by the Chilean General O'Higgins, led the immortal Army of the Andes across the mountains to liberate Chile from Spanish domination and then, with the powerful aid of Lord Cochrane's improvised navy, to attack the Spaniards in the more northerly region that is now Peru. Here, too, at the summit of the Andean passage, 12,600 feet above sea-level, in 1825 a future Governor of Canada, Francis Bond Head, conducting a company of Cornish miners on a fruitless mission to the West, looked down from his mule's back towards the Pacific Ocean, subsequently recording: " ' What a magnificent view ! ' said I to one of my Cornish companions, whose heart and thoughts were always faithful to Old England. ' What thing can be more beautiful ? ' I added. After smiling for some seconds he replied : ' Them things, sir, that do wear caps and aprons.' " Near this point on the frontier between Argentina and Chile a great statue of Christ now bears the inscription : " Sooner shall these mountains crumble into dust than the peoples of Argentina and Chile break the peace which at the feet of Christ the Redeemer they have sworn to maintain."

General Peron's journey to Santiago this month has also revived apprehensions. It is true that frontier disputes between Argentina and Chile were settled—as far, at least, as the main- land is concerned—by King Edward VII's arbitration at the beginning of the present century; but although the Chileans feel politically secure today, they are conscious of the danger of Argentine economic hegemony—which, if established in the southern continent, would of course have political con- sequences. This fear of the power of the Colossus of the South is aggravated by a temperamental incompatibility. Argentines often seem to have a rather superior and aggressive manner, which the Chileans (like many other Latin American people) resent. Even the Argentine manner of speaking the Spanish language is, by Chilean standards, hard and ugly. The liquid Chilean sounding of words such as caballo (horse) and calle (street) sounds " Old World " and genteel beside the crude Argentine pronunciation of cabajo and cafe. To a great extent Chileans still use the vocabulary of metropolitan Spain : for example, butter in Chile is usually mantequilla, whereas in Argentina it is manteca.

Territorial disputes on the mainland are extinct; but frontiers are still undefined in Antarctica, where Argentine and Chilean claims overlap. It is now generally accepted that the Antarctic islands are an integral, though partially submerged, part of the Andean mountain-system. That fact constitutes the geographical basis of the Argentine and Chilean argument that the Falkland Island Dependencies are South American property. But it is notable that both Argentina and Chile had erected huts on Deception Island. Chile's claim to Antarctica is stronger, indeed, than Argentina's; Chile is geographically nearer Antarctica (Cape Horn is Chilean territory) and in 1539 the King of Spain generously granted everything south of the Straits of Magellan to a resident of Chile.

Presidents Peron and Ibanez can agree, however, that Britain has no right to occupy South American territory; and they have other interests in common also : they are both military officers with a preference for authoritarian methods of government and they disapprove of the manner in which the U.S.A. treats their respective countries. General Carlos Ibanez ruled Chile dictatorially from 1927 to 1931. He returned to power last year after an electoral campaign during which he promised to improve conditions for the poorer classes, abolish corruption in public affairs, and oppose " yanqui imperialism." The candidature of Ibaiiez was openly supported by Peron. A few weeks before the elections last year the then Chilean Govern- ment had to refuse recognition to the newly-appointed Argentine consul in Antofagasta because on arrival in that city he had immediately begun-to distribute pro-Ibariez propaganda, and almost simultaneously Chilean customs officials found that a package addressed to the Argentine consul at Los Andes contained " Iballez for President " pamphlets. Immediately after Ibatiez' assumption of office, General Peron broadcast a message which was received without enthusiasm by the Chilean public. On that occasion the Argentine President said that he could now express the hope that " these two fatherlands may turn into one, having as its flag the solitary star of the Pacific and the fraternity of the Argentine sun." During his visit to Santiago, however, General Peron has been careful to explain that, he has no desire to " annexe " Chile; he only seeks the affection of the marvellous Chilean people."

The two Presidents are on safe ground when they criticise the U.S.A. Nowadays fifty per cent. of Chile's foreign currency is derived from the sale of copper, and virtually one hundred per cent. of the country's copper exports goes to the U.S.A. at the profitable price of 351 cents U.S. per pound; but American ownership of the mines is resented, and annoy- ance is caused by the threat that the U.S.A. may reimpose the two per cent. import duty on Chilean copper which was suspended during the war and has continued in abeyance until now. During the electoral campaign some supporters of General Ibiliez let it be understood that he was in favour of nationalising the mines and of cancelling Chile's mutual-aid pact with the U.S.A. Since taking office he has remained silent on those two very popular projects, and although General Peron will certainly have encouraged him to proceed with them Ibiliez in his old age (he is seventy-five) will be too cautious at least to take responsibility for the former of the two. In Chile, as in Argentina, criticism of the U.S.A. is always greeted With enthusiasm, and the Chileans now complain that Washington has not granted them the financial assistance that they need and deserve. A few weeks ago the Chilean Foreign Minister, Seflor Arturo Olavarria, explained that " the niggardli- ness of U.S. economic aid " was driving Chile into collaboration with Argentina.

The economic agreement signed by Ibanez and Peron at Santiago last Saturday forecast that commerce between Chile and Argentina would increase and that customs duties on that trade would be " gradually eliminated." To some extent the economies of the two countries are complementary: Argentina needs copper and nitrate; Chile requires sugar and some grain, and annually imports large numbers of cattle and sheep from the other side of the Andes. Nevertheless, many South Americans believe that General Peron's motives in wooing Chile are political rather than economic. Throughout his career he has always been remarkably consistent in his ideas and tenacious in putting them into practice. It is remembered that, when he was military attaché to Chile in 1938, Per6n remarked: " Chile should join with Argentina to form a single country. An Anschluss would couple Chile's mining economy to the industrial, agrarian economy of Argentina, thus foiming a perfect whole." No one doubts which of the two partners in that ideal union- would dominate it.