Latin America and the War
The Pan-American Conference which is just opening at Rio de Janeiro will have a bearing of considerable importance on the attitude of the Latin American States to the war. The obvious desire of the United States delegation, which is headed by Mr. Sumner Welles, to secure a solid anti-Axis front is unlikely to be gratified. In the last war eleven Latin American States were definitely ranged as belligerents against Germany, but Argentina and Chile were not among them. The same two, the most important in South America except Brazil, are the most hesitant now, Chile because of the danger of raids on her long exposed coast-line and the Argentine for less obvious reasons, one of them the alleged pro-Italian inclination of her Foreign Minister. All Latin America is endangered by Japanese ambitions in the west and Hitler's ambitions in the east. One of the factors in America's entry into the Great War was the disclosure of German attempts to embroil Mexico in the offer of bribes of United States territory to Japan. Active belligerence on the part of Latin American States at the present moment is not expected, but the rupture of diplomatic relations with the Axis Powers would be valuable psychologically, and the rounding-up of Nazi agents, not necessarily German, remove not inconsider- able military dangers.
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