PERENNIAL CRISIS DUT NO REAL CHANGE IN SIGHT by Alberto Ciria
Reports from Buenos Aires inform us of possible measures %to = . taken by the Confederacion General de Traba io (C.GeTey General Con : = eration of Labour against the cruel risos in the cost of living, the freezing of workers' wages and the inflation that has afflicted the economy for 2 decade and now accolorates its tempos The Government fe) arturo Illia, the slightly left of centre Premier, 18 now faced with its most serious challenge so fare Illia and the ruling party (the Union Civica Radical del Pueblo) achicved power in elections in which they only received a minority vote and in which Communist and Peronist candidates were banned. Illia bases his Government on the support of the strongest section of the armed forces (centred on the army) » and also the support of certain industrial interests and the traditional cattlo-breeding and landowning strata. Those latter have beon strengt— honed by record crops of corcals, in contrast to most other producer countricse
The C.G.T. has threatoned strong action in the event of the Govern= ment refusing their demands. The Genorel Secretary has talkod of a gonoral strike to be accompanied by the occupation of factories. The Occupation of factories has not been uncommon in Argentina's recent history: for example, the workers took over the U.S. Kaiser plant for several days not long ago. The CeG.T. has also called for the support of the political parties and other groupings, in particular, the student unions, The militant words of the union leaders reflect pressures from the rank and file. Unfortunately the consciasness of the mass of the organised workers romaoins at tho purely industrial lovel, giving rise to hyper—militant activity which, because it does not go beyond syndicalism, is all too likely to end in domoralising failures. If the events of the past are ropeated the C.G.T leadership, which is mainly composed of "soft" Peronistas and some old-fashioned social-democrat leaders of the pre—Poron ora, will reach a compromise with the Government, The real demands of the working class will not be met because they will not have reccived adequate political expression.
The Peronista movement is still the backbone of the organised working class. This is so despite the senility of the movement's grand old man, Juan D. Peron, and despite the heterogenity of the move= ment itself. Fortunately some of the "new" Peronistas recognise that the return of the leader will not solve Argentina's problems, On the othcor hand, some Peronista union loaders have been as venal and carrupt as the equivalent politicians. As a real force the unions date from the regimo of Peron, under whom they made truly startling gains of an econ omic character. However the source of the power of the dominant classes was not abolished so that these gains have been largely liquidated in the post-Peron period of "white" torror. The masses are slowly but firmly beginning to understand the situation and will smrely acquire the leadership they desorve. Dut the process will take a long time if the left remains split into small “principist" groups which debate doctrinal issues among themselves instead of first joining forces in the facts with the Peronist workers, the true majority of the working class, and holping thom to confront successfully their masters.