Show friendly neighbors to the south of US south america led by republic of brazil now closely united with U S after rio conference Con ferenc e by CHARLES A released Rele aeed by western newspaper union consider briefly the great continent to the south of us and see what bearing it may have upon uncle sams all out victory effort time was in the early days of the war when south america was very much like benito mussolini remember that stocky orator poised on the fence of power politics eagerly watching each move in the great struggle to see which way the balance of power was shifting and then satisfied that he had made the right decision jump into the fray with his italian legions south americas attitude was much on this order for or a long time it if germany were to win in europe south america stood ready to move in a totalitarian direction it if germany lost she would be content with what pan americanism might have to offer her the united states was regarded as the tha colossus of the north and viewed with both suspicion and concern the latin americans resented uncle sam they distrusted him they thought he was meddling shirt organizations cut to the measure of adolf hillers Hit lers military tailors who were cutting up europe on a pattern ot of their own were flourishing everywhere throughout south america here was a picture that needed changing a pattern which could only spell trouble and plenty of it confronted with this picture ure uncle sam evolved his good neighbor policy which already has gone a long way towards banishing distrust and bringing about that hemisphere solidarity so urgently needed to present a solid front against the axis powers no attempt will be made in this united limited space to cover all the potentials lenti als in natural resources or in men m munitions unit ions and ships which south america represents to the united nations and it Is well aeu that we bear in mind that we are bound to south america by much more than a thin neck of land through which the panama canal has cut its way spirit of freedom kin we are bound to south america by cultural traditional and economic ties we are kin to it by the spirit of freedom for the very same love of freedom which caused the pilgrim fathers to break away from Eu ropes feudal ties caused brazil to break away from gal cal rio do de janeiro with its magnificent ent backdrop of mountain peaks a mountain peak tor for every day in the year was founded 55 years before the pilgrims landed at plymouth rock the conference in rio de janeiro was charged with significance and the outcome of that conference while it was not a total success was so full of good import that every citizen of the united states can take heart from the results achieved after the conference in rio in which under secretary sunnier sumner welles and foreign minister oswaldo aranha of brazil former ambassador to washington were the principal figures brazil moved into top position among the ten south american republics a position which argentina had enjoyed over a long period of years and the western hemisphere began to turn hopeful eyes to the great republic of brazil tor for new leadership in the solidifying of south america against the wiles and tricks of axis propagandists at least three countries which had been satellites of argentina paraguay bolivia and uruguay switched allegiances and began looking hopefully to brazil tor for guidance As for chile she demonstrated at her last election how bow she felt about 7 I 1 A A r 41 here her are r just a few of 1 I the th brazilian good gd neighbor Nelch bor antiaircraft anti aircraft guns m and their crews crew in addition to many more pin gum such inch as s these not ot only la in brazil but other her south american nations Mat loni brazils brazil good nelch her or air defense program calls for r a largely increased fleet beet of t planes and pilots blots to fly them this south american nation working with the united states against the axis has received many mass deliveries of bombers from the U S the hitler hirohito mussolini combination of international brigands brigande bri gands for at that time juan A rios candidate for the presidency was elected by a landslide vote and while these two boua tries have not gone all the way the steps they have taken indicate a definite trend away from the axis which Is reassuring to say the least they have pledged to cut business relations with the axis to bar war materials from going to the enemies of the democracies and to combat totalitarian influences within their borders argentinas Argen tinas and chiles failure to give full operation cooperation co at the rio conference however has not been without its price that price is the cutting off 0 special economic military and na 77 r 4 at rio de janeiro brazil sumner welles under secretary of state and head bead of the V U S delegation to the rio conference of american republics Is pictured with a brazilla brazilian naval man during daring a visit to th the navy yard at rio A brazilian warship Is pictured in the background val aid under lend lease the theory being that the countries that have either severed relations or declared war have exposed themselves to axis attack and possible invasion n lend lease commitments will therefore e preferentially be extended to those nations which have already made the breach chile however because of her long coastline and her small navy will get modified treatment in regard to military and naval supplies the smallest of the south american republics is uruguay with square miles brazil the largest has square miles within its borders an area larger than the united states proper into these great spaces of mountain and valley jungle and plain the whole of 0 europe omitting russia could easily be enclosed while brazil with its inhabitants and boundless natural resources represents avast avast potential of power it also represents a military liability because of that dangerous land bulge towards vichy controlled dakar on the bulge of africa it will be recalled that the british and free french forces battled to wrest dakar from vichy early in the war but found the job too big and too costly dakar Is 1600 air miles from natal brazil world war I 1 ally america has not forgotten that in world war I 1 brazil went to battle on nn the side of the allies with its big coastline and its big reserve of vital war materials such as rubber and manga manganese nese and its ae leadership a er in the pan american amov movement ement against the axis it Is quite natural that brazil should come in tor for the most aid from the united states brazil has an army ol of men the largest army in south america and most mast of these men under arms are in the zone where her coastline bulges to within attacking range of the base of dakar africa the republic has about re serves and an untrained manpower of brazil not only controls the shortest invasion a on route across the ocean but guards the southern shores of the caribbean gateway in northern brazil air defense drills are held almost every day the wild and uninhabited coastline offers many an ideal site for enemy submarine refueling operations within but a few hours flying time from the panama canal in realization of this threat air forces patrol the coastline brazil has two battleships seven destroyers two cruisers and tour four submarines its air force consists of a sizeable armada of U S built planes happily for all concerned it is rapidly expanding as army navy and air force happily also Is the fact that gerullo vargas president of brazil is a great aviation enthusiast who has a plane and a pilot of his own and who bo knows what its all about another item on the happy side of the ledger brazil has a sizeable merchant fleet beet the second largest in the hemisphere hemia a warplanes War planes and munitions are being made in brazils Bri factories on a large scale iron Is being mined from the hills and rubber is being tapped am from her rubber trees americas desperate rubber situation may find at least a partial answer in brazil importance of colombia among other vital raw materials which come from brazil are bauxite which is vital to the manufacture of war nar planes quartz graphite and mica also castor oll oil which Is used in the lubrication of high speed engines colombians Colom bias position on the map m makes akes her full operation cooperation co with the U S a matter of vital importance colombia was artong among the first of the latin american nations nation sto to declare war on the axis she has some men under arms and more than trained desei reserves ves guarding areas close to the panama canal colombians Colom bias principal exports are coffee oil and gold bolivia Boli viar shivering on her cold and barren mountain plateau Is more important in our war effort than most of us imagine since the fall of malaya into the hostile hands of the japs the tin center of the world at least for the U S has become bolivia tin furnishes 70 per cent of her exports venezuelan Venez uelas vast oll oil fields are of at strategic trat egic importance in the all out war effort of the united nations the great bulk of this crude oil is refined at the huge plants on the dutch islands of curacao and aruba |