C
olin and his wife landed by plane
from Britain at one of South America’s new- est airports, Foz do Iguaçu right on the North Eastern tip of Argentina just against the western boarder of Paraguay. This airport is also near the mouth of the River Plate, the site of the first 1 major naval battle of the Second World War, be- tween the German pocket battleship, the ‘Admiral Graf Spee’, and three Royal Navy small cruisers s ‘The Exeter ‘, the ‘Ajax’ and the ‘Achilles’. The battle lasted from 13th to 17th December 1939, and although the British cruisers were badly damaged, the Captain of the Graf Spee decided , given that his ship was also badly damaged, to scuttle her when he thought that British reinforcements were close at hand (which in fact they were not!) The Graf Spee’s captain, an honourable man, sub- sequently committed suicide.
H B
owever thoughts of this far off battle were far from the minds of Colin and his
wife when they jouryned the short distance up the River Plate to Argentina’s Capital Buenos Aires. Her they came across the beautiful 2 Island of San Martine, with its wonderful wa- ter falls cascading on either side of the Island. The area around is abounding with picturesque scenery, wildlife and vegetation, helped by the prolific rainfall in the region and resulting in no fewer than 275 waterfalls.
uenos Aires is a city of
nearly 3 million and is one of the largest city in South America (the largest being Sao Paulo in Bra- zil). 90% of the population
is
white, chiefly de- scended from Spanish and Ital- ian immigrants, the city also has the 2nd largest Jewish community in South America. The climate is
humid in the summer, with temperate conditions in the winter. The city has a thriving commercial and
industrial area largely servicing the abundant agricultural products of the country. Culturally the city has been called the Paris of South America, with museums, art galleries and theatres in abundance, as well as a lively café scene – after all the tango was invented in Buenos Aires! In addition there is a growing tourist industry with 2½ million visitors each year.
H
owever Buenos
Aires has had a chequered history given the political instability arising from the growth of shanty towns around the city whose voters were canvassed by varied political opportunists seek- ing power espe- cially in the 1930’s when 4 Juan Peron, who began his career as a soldier, took a leading part in the army revolt in 1943, Peron proved an hypnotic public speaker and follower of Mussolini. In effect he became President, aided by his politically astute wife, Eva, who unfortunately died in 1952. Peron was formally elected President in 1946, crushed all opposition and left the economy a shambles. Peron was deposed by the army in 1955 and fled to Spain. He eventually returned in 1973 but died the following year. Since
then political instability has continued to haunt Argentina and its capital Buenos Aires.
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