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XsAs8s November 52. - page two = private initiative and investments are nulg the country, due to its nationalistie policy, has lost its great and matural foreign markets: England and the United States who had been the great buyers of Argentina's grain, meat, leather and other products. = Despite these striking losses, the country nevertheless disposes still of the most important economic assets: 1. From a financial angle, Argentina enjoye the rare privilege of having practically no public debt, meither foreign nor domestic; one explanation of this fact peing certainely the lacking confidence that discouraged capital investments. 2. In agriculture, the fundamental wealth, the rich land, still exists, What has happened is that production, due to present pressures, has been artifficially reduced. The Peron regime indeed has placed peasants and farm workers at the wame level as industrial labor; they were grovped in Unions and high salaries claimed, Landowners, unable to face the high charges requested, kill their cattle and leave their fields idle and thus can reduce the hire¢ labor. 3. In inüsstry and mining the picture is similar: installatior and buildings still exist; but, unable to pay for the expensive labor and the other charges, enterprises decrease artificially their output to a minimum. Thus they slowly carry on, until such time when a . change in regime would give them the freedom to develop again, Economie experts on South America agree that potentially Argentine's future outlook is excellent. They feel that, should Peron disappear, the country's economy could be fully restored in two years. Its finances being basically sound and its natural wealth still existing, there are more assets to work on than f.ex, in Brazil with its high public debts. For the speedy restoration of Argentina's economy, a sound policy however wovld be needed: the eutting down of public expenses and of wages3 the increase of essential prices that are now art és artificially lows; the restoration of foreign exchanges, especialy ith Enghadh and the United States, - Industrááláét go even as far as to say that anyone, interested in highly speculative investments, would have advantage in entering Argentina today; counting with the end of the Peron regime and the great business opportunities that will be opened at that moment. recime Politically speaking, the fate of the Peron/is tied to the success of its three basid elements: the Army, the Labor Unions and the victories in foreign policy. 1. The Army has been artificially developed by Peron as one of his power instruments. Extremely costly, it has become one of the reasons of economic difficulties and dissatisfactione Very unpopular, the. Army cannot last, unless supported by other forces of the regime. : 2e The Labor Unions have equally become oncof Peron's power instrumentse They group practically all working people and have been used | to rule out the middle-class, Argentina indeed had been the only .: °°‘ South American country, where 90% of the population had been consumers and buyers (in other countries these are only 10-20-30%). This "middle class", as well as the landowners and the business were oppesed to Peron policies, Their influence was counterbalanced by the power given to Labor Unions which, by their high claims, have paralyzed the country's economic life and led to unemployment and dissatisfaction. In the same way as the Army thus, Unions will not last, unless otherwise supported. 2G.
