Saints & Sinners

Because of Colombia's rigid internal censorship, Bogota's famed Liberal daily, El Tiempo, keeps a guarded silence about political developments at home. But when considering the affairs of her hemisphere neighbors, El Tiempo aims and fires at will. Last week El Tiempo drew a bead on Argentina's President Juan Domingo Peron, whose followers recently celebrated Loyalty Day (TIME, Oct. 30), known also to thousands of Argentines as "Saint Peron's Day." Said El Tiempo:

"Saint Peron's Day signifies that popular rapture has reached a heavenly level. It is not enough to call Peron a Caudillo, Big Brother, Duce or Fuehrer; these terms have a worldly connotation, and since he has achieved heavenly status without the necessity of dying, it is better to dub him saint. But in another sense, Saint-Peron-ism is the political version of Superman. Even as the followers of Superman trust in his extraordinary talents, so do the shirtless worshipers of Saint Peron believe in his special powers--divine, atomic."

"Naturally," explained El Tiempo with a sly dig at Colombian President Laureano Gomez, "all this has nothing to do with us here in Colombia. But this kind of hagiolatry might spread the length and breadth of the continent with the appearance of further saints of this type. Perhaps the canonization of Saint Odria of Peru and Saint Trujillo of the Dominican Republic already is in the works. When the day comes that there are five or seven heavenly governments in this hemisphere, it will be the last bell for democracy."

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