Zubizarreta Rampant

The neat arrangement by which Paraguayans were to have been offered next September a chance to vote for just one presidential candidate, Liberal Dr. Geronimo Zubizarreta, spectacularly blew sky high last week. The military clique which largely runs Paraguay from behind the scenes, but finds it advisable to have a civilian President for front man, recently picked Dr. Zubizarreta to be sole candidate. By way of popular buildup, it sent him to the Chaco Peace Conference in Buenos Aires as chief Paraguayan delegate. Last week Dr. Zubizarreta quarreled with his delegation, left the Conference flat and went storming upriver to Asuncion, vowing that he would never yield the concessions to Bolivia which even Paraguay's militarists now consider necessary to seal peace in the Chaco.

Since it has been evident for several weeks that Dr. Zubizarreta was getting out of hand, the Paraguayan Minister at Washington, Chaco-war-hero General Jose Felix Estigarribia, dashed by airplane to Buenos Aires, took over the Paraguayan Delegation. From Asuncion to Buenos Aires flew Police Chief and Army Strong Man Lieut. Colonel Arturo Bray, assured General Estigarribia of the army's "undivided support" in putting through the Chaco Peace Pact, now virtually ready for signatures.

General Estigarribia last week anxiously flew upriver after rampant Dr. Zubizarreta. Apparently Zubizarreta figured that he and his Liberal Party, by posing as unwilling to concede anything at Buenos Aires, can make themselves out greater Paraguayan patriots than the army leaders, thus secure such rousing popular support that as President he would be nobody's stooge. Political wiseacres at Asuncion said it was too early to guess whether the army will put up a candidate against Dr. Zubizarreta in September or make a fresh deal with him before then.

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