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    "label": "Correspondence Between President Harry S. Truman and Ambassador Stanton Griffis",
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    "title": "Correspondence Between President Harry S. Truman and Ambassador Stanton Griffis",
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{
    "seq": 4,
    "pageIndex": 0,
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    "ocrText": "DECLASSIFIED\nE. O. 11652, Sec. 3(E) and S(D) or\nARCHIVES s. NATIONAL RECORDS AND\nCONFIDENTIAL\nDept. of State letter, Aug. 9, 1973\nBy NLE. HC , NARS Date 9-7-66\nis\nSERVICE\n-2-\nFrom the point of view of external financial health,\nit is obvious that the situation is becoming daily worse,\nfor Argentina is in substantially the same jam with England\ndebtwise and sterlingwise as it is with the United States\nin dollars. However, while we have little to offer Argen-\ntina in the way of encouraging imports to us on account of\nthe competition of their agricultural products with ours,\nthe hoof-and-mouth disease embargo, et cetera, England\nis in a position of desperately requiring Argentine meat\nwhile Argentina is absolutely dependent on imports of\npetroleum of which sterling petroleum is of course easi-\nest to obtain by barter. We are of course rapidly losing\nthis market for our own exports on account of their dollar\nshortage, and most of the efforts of the Embassy are being\ndevoted to the solution of this problem. It is being com-\nplicated now for the future, however, by one of the worst\ndroughts in the history of the nation which has already\nresulted in substantially a complete loss of the corn crop\nand which, if it continues, will seriously cut down the\nexportable surplus of meat.\nHere, too, is a country of two Presidents: one the\nduly elected President, General Perón, and the other his\n\"esposa\", Señora de Perón, whose voice, influence and\nfinger are apparently in everything affecting labor and\nsocial welfare. So far this two-cylindered machine has\nfunctioned smoothly, but it would be an unconscionable\nsituation if these two began to fail to function in\nharmony.\nI am constantly asked by American travelers and\nothers my opinion of the political situation in Argentina.\nAs I see it, there is no political situation here. The\nPeróns are firmly in control. A free vote tomorrow would,\nI think, give them a large majority of the votes of the\nnation. They will continue in firm control of the nation\njust so long as the price of bread and meat and the ele-\nmental necessities of life can be held down to a price\nwhich makes them available to the working man within his\ntrue income. They are held down at the moment by every\nconceivable form of direct and indirect subsidy, but\nunless the productivity of the country can be greatly\nimproved, this cannot last forever, and the spiral of\nincreasing circulation, rising labor costs, and lowered\nproductivity can already be clearly charted.\nThe\nCONPIDENTIAL"
}