Viva La Prensa

"No obstacle shall deviate the men of La Prensa from defending, at the risk of their material interests, of their personal security if it were necessary, the liberty of thought and expression of ideas." This is the credo of one of the world's great newspapers, La Prensa of Buenos Aires. Last week it was living up to its credo. It defied the Argentine dictatorship (see p. 40), demanded restoration of freedom of the press.

The personal security of slender, ascetic Adolfo Lanus, La Prensa's editorial writer, was in doubt. He was reported under arrest. No Argentine regime had yet dared to ban La Prensa, but this was a challenge direct.

Quick to applaud its famed South American colleague was the U.S. press. Said the New York Times: "It is easy for us in New York, sitting snug, to write pieces about freedom of the press. The Prensa . . . may be suspended temporarily or permanently. Any man or woman [of it] may write something displeasing to the Government. Thereupon his or her name will be removed from the register of journalists, his or her livelihood stopped. . . . We praise the Prensa ... for the calm courage with which it faces penalty and loss defending freedom." Said the Scripps-Howard Newspaper Alliance: "We pay tribute to a great newspaper, now even greater. Long live La Prensa."

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