160 UTAH INTERNATIONAL: A BIOGRAPHY OF A BUSINESS Marcona’s Peruvian manager, proposed to Robinson a campaign orchestrated in the United States to funnel statistics and dire predictions about the international iron ore industry through Utah Construction’s press contacts to cushion the shock if the market declined, or if the government called Marcona to account for any other reason. “This would help to avoid any unfriendly campaign against us,” East wrote Robinson, “and if such a campaign starts, it would be easier for us to have these people write articles in our defense without having Marcona appear directly.” A veritable whirlwind of nationalistic rhetoric was blowing in the Peruvian congress and press as Marcona completed its $40 million expansion at San Nicholas. Company officials took heart in the cordiality of conservative President Manuel Prado, but in the 1962 election Prado backed the aprista Haya de la Torre, who supported nationalizing all land and industries, including those owned by foreign companies. When none of the major candidates received a majority in the election, the Peruvian congress handed power to an APRA-dominated coalition. Alarmed by Haya de la Torre’s ascendancy, the armed forces declared a national emergency and installed a military junta in the presidential palace. The United States immediately condemned the coup, broke diplomatic relations, and canceled $81 million in Alliance for Progress aid, yet Marcona and other multinational companies in Peru felt some relief. At least the coup deflected a growing impulse to “do something” about American-owned firms. Robinson and other executives felt the company’s investments were safe as long as the junta held sway, a notion vindicated when wildcat strikes against several American operations—including Marcona for the first time—drew a decisive response from the junta. The unrest at Marcona began when shovel operators and spotters objected to their transfer to another operations sector, and the managers’ unwillingness to discuss the matter led to strikes on both shifts, followed by managers suspending the strikers. When both sides appealed the matter to Lima, the junta backed Marcona, declared the walk-out illegal, and upheld Marcona’s refusal to compensate workers for time lost on the job. Beaten, the employees accepted the verdict and returned to work. Such developments encouraged company officials but did not