Ex-Political Prisoner of Peron's Brands Argentinian Revolt 'Bluff'

Ex-Argentinian Walter N. Beveraggi-Allende 4G, onetime political prisoner under the Peron regime, yesterday called the Argentine Army revolt and the report of its suppression "a probable bluff."

"Peron is trying last desperate measures to make an impending revolt by 95 percent of the people and 35 percent of the army look impossible to the Argentines." Allende supports this statement on the basis of what he calls "good underground sources."

According to Clarence H. Haring '97, Bliss Professor of Latin American History and Economics, Allende is venturing a shrewd guess as a man who knows the Argentine situation from personal experience. But Haring added that it is difficult to know actually what is happening and that "any interpretation on my part would be a guess."

Allende gives the following history of his experience with Peron's regime: in July 1947 he joined the Labor Confederation which afterwards carried Peron into full power. He was elected vice-president of the party in January, 1948, although he opposed Peron and later worked in the anti-regime underground.

In September, 1948, he was imprisoned and tortured seven months for an alleged plot on Peron's life fostered by so-called U.S. imperialists. He escaped with the Chilean embassy's help.

The situation in Argentina is untenable for Peron. Allende said. "A real revolt will undoubtedly come soon, and then the unpopular Peron will have only his secret police and cronies to side with him." Asked whether the leaders of this impending revolt would set themselves up as Peron-fashion dictators, Allende replied, "definitely not."

Allende is working on his Ph.D. thesis in Economics here. He also captained the Harvard polo team in 1949-50. Upon his arrival in this country in 1949, he addressed a report to the United Nations complaining of violation of human rights under the Peron regime.

No action, he said, has come on the report because in the cold war with Russia the U.S. is afraid to antagonize Argentina. And yet, Allende maintains. Peron is more pro-Soviet than pro U.S.