Ext 6116/46(S) 'Secret Weekly Political Intelligence Summaries, nos 356-416, August 1946-November 1947' [‎28r] (55/978)

27
LATIN AMERICA
Brazil
The Brazilian note by which relations
with the U.S.S.R. were severed was pub-
Jjgjied with a statement from the Govern-
immt on the 21st October. While the offen
sive article about President Dutra in the
Moscow Literary Gazette is the main
motive for the step, reference is also made
to the treatment of Brazilian representa
tives in Moscow {cj. the case of a Brazilian
secretary mentioned in Summary No. 375),
and to an accusation in the Soviet Press
that Dr. Oswaldo Aranha, the President of
the United Nations Assembly, was in the
pay of the United States. According
to press reports, the Brazilian Foreign
Minister told a newspaper correspondent
that the question of how the severance of
Brazilian-Russian relations might affect
Dr. Aranha was a matter to be settled in
New York. When a State Department
spokesman was asked by representatives of
the Press whether the United States had
given any advice to Brazil in this matter,
he replied with an emphatic negative.
It seems probable that new measures
against Communists will be taken in
Brazil. The party was declared illegal in
May, and steps were taken to prevent its
reappearance under a different name. But
its deputies continued to sit, and indeed
formed the minority of six which voted
against the breach with Moscow in the
Chamber. Moreover, the Communists are
still the largest group in the Municipal
Council of Rio de Janeiro.
According to a Russian broadcast the
former Brazilian Ambassador in Moscow'
and his staff are to be detained until the
safe-conduct of members of the Soviet
Embassy in Rio de Janeiro has been
secured : the Russian Ambassador, M.
Sourits, left Brazil in May, just after the
Communist Party was declared illegal, and
has not returned to his post.
Chile
The Secretary-General of the Chilean
Government announced on the 21st October
that Chile had broken off relations with
Russia and Czechoslovakia on the grounds
that both Governments had interfered in
Chilean affairs by encouraging disorders.
The possibility that Argentina will take
the same attitude as her neighbours seems
to be ruled out by the announcement that
she will safeguard Chilean interests in
Russia and Czechoslovakia.
The Russian Ambassador in Santiago
will not be allowed to leave until the
Chileans have departed from Moscow.
The Chilean representative in Moscow has
so far not been allowed to bring out his
Russian daughter-in-law.
Meanwhile, troubles have continued in
the Chilean nitrate and coal-mining areas.
On the 21st October, 2,200 coalminers at
Schwager, led by Communists, rebelled
against the military authorities and were
subdued with tear-gas. By the 23rd, the
situation was again reported to be quieter,
though parts of the copper and nitrate dis
tricts were still regarded as in a state of
emergency, and a general railway strike
remained a possibility. Some 350 ring
leaders are held under arrest on a naval
vessel, and await trial by a military court.
Mexico
While the opening period of Lie.
Aleman’s presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. was more orderly and
less corrupt than that of his predecessor,
there have been signs tliat the internal
situation is tending to deteriorate. To
some extent the continued high cost of
living is to blame. Owing to the low level
of production of Mexican cereals, 300,000
tons of wheat have been bought in Chicago
at the current high prices; when these
prices were passed on to consumers, the
Mexico City Press fanned popular dissatis
faction to such purpose that a number of
bakers’ shops were raided or burnt down.
There are also reports of corrupt practices
among officials investigating cases of foot-
and-mouth disease; in one case in
Michoacan a whole squad of inspectors and
their guard were killed. An investigating
commission, under General Guzman
Cardenas, reported that disaffection was
widespread in Michoacan. Soon after, a
serious case of banditry occurred in Gue
rrero, where a train was held up and
pillaged. The Minister of Defence himself
went to the scene of the outrage with two
trainloads of fully armed troops, a measure
designed to emphasize that the Government
intends to deal firmly with outbreaks of
violence.
In order to increase the production of
food-stuff’s, President Aleman has an
nounced a three-year plan by which no
more productive land is to be distributed
to ejidatarios, and agricultural colonies are
to be established in deserted parts of
Sinaloa and Tamaulipas. A bill placed
before the Senate gives the President the
power to dismiss all officials who either fail
in their duty or violate their oath : this is.
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