Mocking the Turtle

"Don't dust off that statue!" went the cartoon in an Argentine magazine. "That's the President himself!" Bitter jokes are beginning to revolve around President Arturo Illia, 63, the gentle country doctor who took office nine months ago. Illia's prescription was to sit back and hope that the rich land of wheat and beef would heal itself after 1 8 months of frenetic military rule. In the beginning most Argentines heartily agreed. Now, it seems, nothing is not enough.

Business for Cambos. Government statistics are months behind, and are politically doctored to boot. Respected private economists, from whom Argentines often get their information, are alarmed at the way much of the economy is being allowed to deteriorate. Inflation is zooming in the country; the cost of living is up 25.6% in 1964, 5.1% last month. Unchecked bureaucratic featherbedding and other government spending is expected to leave the treasury with a gargantuan $800 million debt by the end of the year, highest in Argentine history. The official peso rate is still 138 to the dollar, but only because of heavy government support; Buenos Aires black market cambios are doing a thriving business at 175 to the dollar.

Oil is ill, too. Shortly after his election, Illia annulled the contracts of 13 private companies (mostly U.S.), and since then the companies have cut back production while lawyers argue the case in court. Oil supplies have been maintained by uncapping state-owned reserve wells, and some experts predict that Argentina will be forced to import oil before December. The beef industry is worse off. With herds decimated by two years of drought, cattlemen are holding back stock, hoping to rebuild. Monday and Tuesday have been declared meatless days, and Argentines have been faced with the ignominy of importing beef from neighboring Uruguay for the first time ever.

Looking for Leadership. In answer to all this, Illia remains placidly in his Casa Rosada office, seeing all who come to call, but issuing few orders. As head of a government that includes everyone from right to left, he remains the one possible unifying figure, but he does little to fulfill the role. His opposition is beginning to score by labeling his regime the government of the turtle; one group recently released 200 tortoises in downtown Buenos Aires with the slogan LONG LIVE THE GOVERNMENT On their backs. Illia's response to that was: "Turtle? Fine. Slow but sure." He did not say whether he remembered that turtles have a way of ending up in the soup.

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