Latin American Trends

...Greeted as liberators when they arrived, th* Russians are now generally feared, and ths slogan, "Liber at* us from our liberators," has beeom* popular...

...Latin American Trends The Significance of Recent Events in Venezuela By Mario Antonio THE revolutionary movement which hear become the government, of Venezuela assumes great importance, |«th to Venezuela and to all countries of Latin America...

...Among the decrees promulgated by the provisional Government is the freezing of the funds of public officials, who may not sell their properties...

...The independent reports coming from various countries are amazingly similar...

...It is significant that the task of rounding up thes* rebellious bands is not assigned to loyal units of the Red Army but to th* special troops of ths NKVD...

...Their homes were sacked by revolutionists, and s brother of Juan Vicente Gomez, who intended to succeed him in the dictatorship, was killed by a group which included a number of his followers...

...The NKVD (Commissariat of the Interior, formerly OGPU) has tried to round up these bauds, which operate mainly in the mountainous districts...

...This may be th* reason that in ths recent elections In th* trad* union councils In Vienna th* Social Democrat* won an overwhelming majority and th* Communists received a negligible vot...

...He was th* Republic's delegate to th* ILO, and for a time represented Spain in th* League of Nations Assembly...

...Similarly unanimous ar* reports received regarding the reaction of tha people of th* occupied regions to Red Army atrocities...

...Among the objectives of the provisional government are also the adjustment of wages and salaries, separation of the armed ibices from politics, secret and universal suffrage, selected immigration, diversification of agriculture, close friendly relations with the United States, the other Latin American republics, and the United Nations, improvement of labor legislation and of social security, and the promotion of general education...

...Crisis in the Red Army SoVIKT civilian anil military authorities are facing a crisis in the Red Army...

...Grau San Martin, was championed and extolled for his austerity and honesty in a series of articles written by the present Minister Valmore Rodriguez and published iu the El I'uia of Caracas...

...they are finding it difficult to reestablish strict discipline among the Red Army soldiers occupying various regions of Central and Eastern Europe, according to reliable information from those areas...

...is The new government has been accepted with sympathy by the general public, and there is particular satisfaction over the fact that no army man is at the head of the government, and that the aims of the new regime are in the interests of the civilian population...

...Of the eleven members of the cabinet only two are army loan, fls* the other nine, three are independent The other six members of the eabinet are of the Democratic Action Party of socialist leanings...

...Evidently the recorded cases are not...

...In the great confusion reigning in Caracas during these days, one of the former collaborators of the dictator, General Eleazar I .ope...

...At the same time, however, he saw to it that the former collaborators of the dead dictator should not be molested, and that the economic structure of the country, particularly the exploitation of the oil resources, should remain unchanged...

...According to declarations of Valmore Rodriguez, "th* governments of Lopez Contreras and Medina Angarita forced ths American petroleum companies to pay enormous commissions when negotiating million dollar contracts, and latsr they diverted the money illegally for themselves...

...Th* loss of prestige and popularity by the Russians is reflected in tha declining influence of ths Communist Parties of Central and Eastern Europw...

...soldier* have sworn at their officers, and many havs deserted" Our correspondent writes that th* conduct of •nine of the Red Army officers Is not much better, however...

...There is much insubordination...

...Cunt rents, had the ingenuity to make himself spokesman of the people and to establish a government of democratic appearance...

...We have received almost identical reports from the Russian zone in Germany, from impeccably reliable source...

...Though not an-"•uneed officially, Romulo Gallegos will eertalnly be the presidential candidate ef ths Democratic Action Party...

...bodyguard, and battered down any incipient revolt against him by exile, prison or murder...

...These friends, as members of Parliament, were to elect, in 1946, the successor to Medina Angarita...

...One correspondent reports a convsrsa-iion with a high-ranking Russian officer, who admitted frankly th* seriousness of the problem...

...T 1 HE most prominent leaders of the Democratic Action Party are Romulo Betancourt, President of the revolutionary Junta which led the victorious ¦wvement, and Romulo Gallegos, s •"iter, well-known throughout Latin-American countries...

...When, in 1936, the tyrant died, an uprising took place in the capital against his relatives and favorites...

...For twenty-seven successive years Veaciosly suffered under one of ths pest ferocious dictatorships known on this continent After seizing power, General Juan Vicente Gomes aurrounded himself by proteges and a powerful persona...

...When he wss obliged to flee from his nstive country at the time of the victory by Franco, of whom he had been an outstanding opponent, h« took refuge in Columbia...

...This trend towards civilian rule has appealed recently in a very pronounced form in various Latin-American countries...

...Permits signed by General Zhukov himself were torn up contemptuously...

...According to one story in the Mrm York Timet of September 21 "One of ths worst features of the situation (in Czechoslovakia...

...Until now he has been the •*»» and publisher of the daily El r*J...

...He hss published aeversl works on rooperstives snd last year made a tour of the United States investigating the cooperative movement, which he has done so much to foster in South America...

...it is said that the inability of the High Command to master their troops must result in a weakening not only of Russian prestige but of military strength...

...General Isaias Medina An-gtrita, who not only continued the policy of his predecessor, but tried to strengthen bis power by ths creation of a camarilla whose members took over all the best paid government posts, and managed all •lections so that only friends and accomplices of the dictator were elected...

...These two trends were strongly asserted in the last elections in Cuba, whose victorious candidate, Dr...

...These observers state that the unruly behavior of the Russian soldier constitutes a serious political problem liecause they have provoked anti-Soviet reactions on the part of the inhabitants whom they have mistreated...

...Busta-maute—a man of great probity and unquestionable demon at ic ideas—won by an overwhelming majority over General llreta, an old-style military man and believer in so-called "strong government...

...The ex-presidents Lopez Contreras and Medina Angarita are imprisoned and will be tried, together with other public officials, for graft and misappropriation of public funds...

...Red Army bandits have become a plague in the countryside, looting and raping...

...Besides teaching ia the University of Madrid, he was a recognised expert in the formulation and administration of the unique Joint arbitration boards which, under the Republic helped to promote the welfare of Spanish workers snd the growth *f the free trads unions...

...And it is the firm intention of ths people to elevate the moral level of political customs and to punish those who used public funds for personal gain...

...It must be added that Lopez Contreras as well as Medina Angarita were generally accused of not only planning to monop 'ize all political •ewer with the help of the camarilla, but also of scandalous enrichment of t lie siost prominent members of the regime...

...There are those who only see »hat is happening In Argentina or in th* past in almost all Latin-American countries...

...Without belittling the importance of the Argentine events, one should not lone night of the new trend towards democracy, civilian rale, and administrative honestly, appearing successively In various important conn triea of Smith and Central America...

...Even railroad trains, guarded by armed soldiers, have been attacked successfully by these roving bands...

...All men and women of 18 years of age will have the vote...

...exceptional, nor confined to ¦ few areas...

...the organ of the Democratic Action Party...

...his first statement made to the press, he declared that the government will resign at the beginning of the next year, and that the Constituent Assembly will announce the date of the presidential elections, which will probably take place in April, 1946...

...The government's intention to investigate not only the fortunes of the last two presidents, but also ol the offiuials of the Gomez dictatorship and those who followed them, has also been very well received by the general public...

...In view of this situation, members of the more educated classes, assisted by the younger element* of the army, who looked with suspicion on the activities of the old-school generals, prepared an ¦prising which took place on October 18, and resulted in the establishment of a provisional government...

...Since ths war is over," h* ssid, "our soldiers no longer obey orders so readily...

...The Minister of Interior, Luis Valmore "^riguet, has after President Betnn-*°»rt, the most important job in the regime as he is in fsct the Prime ¦""later of the new "cabinet...

...He sdded that "Medina Angarita has a private fortune of about $17,000,000, whose origin lie will have to explain during the trial...

...His age is ** end he was once a sergeant in lh« Army...

...From KufiOH Affmire • Professor Mario Antonio Fabra Ribas waa Under-Secretary of Labor in th* flret Spanish Republican cabinet of 1831...

...Ths Russian Military Command placed requisitioned cars at ths disposal of reorganized trade unions and political parties...

...The same can be said about the elections in Peru, where Dr...

...l^opez Contreras had no difficulty in having himself elected president of the new regime, and, during the Ave years of his government he introduced some popular reforms, particularly by establishing a fairly large number of schools, which had' been woefully lacking in the whole country, and promoting the building of homes and the tilling of unused land...

...There for the past six years he has been a professor st the University of the Csucs st Popaysn, and has speeislized in the theory snd development of the cooperative movement...

...Something very similar has happened in Ecuador, Guatemala, and Panama...

...For this latter item more was allowed than for military expenses—something which never before happened in Venezuela's history...

...In several places these csrs wer* attacked by Red Army bandits as soon ss they arrived at the outskirts of- ths city and both ths goods and the vehicles ware seized...

...When Lopez Contraras' term expired in IM2, he was succeeded by his right-hand man...

...is that groups of Russian soldiers have split off from the Red Army's main body and are roving alwiut the country as bands of frane-tireult...

...There hsve been a number of clashes and one of the moat serious ixciire.il at Bratislava, where there were some forty casualties...