Russia Hopes For Trade With Mexico

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29108, 21 January 1960, Page 18

Russia Hopes For Trade With Mexico

[By MARION WILHELM in the "Christian Science Monitor")

The failure of Soviet First Deputy Premier Anastas I. Mikoyan, to reach a commercial agreement during his 10-day visit to Mexico does not discourage Soviet hopes for trade with Mexico, he said. “Look next year for developments of a technical nature,” he told an American reporter before flying back to Moscow. The Soviet trade promoter said in a final press conference that he had not come to make Mexico any specific offers but that the Soviet Union was ready to offer ample credits to Mexico or any other Latin-American country for “materials and heavy machinery.” Mexico said good-bye to Mr Mikoyan without any commitments and apparently loyal to its Western friends. That was the interpretation placed by some observers on the farewell speech to him from the Secretary of Industry and Commerce, Mr Raul Salinas, who said Mexico is advancing economically without sacrificing its liberties. “We hope,” he said, “that your impressions of Mexico will recall our loyalty to friendly countries, our love of peace between individuals and nations, our respect of the rights of others and of the forms of life and government that each people chooses for itself. “We are sure that you have observed that our progress has its impulse in the philosophy of the Mexican Revolution, which pursues economic development with social justice, the constant elevation of the level of living, and political and economic independence—all within an immovable framework of individual liberties and democracy.” Businessmen More Open So jealous is the Government of the national origins of the Mexican Revolution that on its forty-ninth anniversary on November 29 Mr Mikoyan was not around when the official parade went by for review by the President.

The Foreign Ministry had hustled him off to see the Toltec pyramids on the outskirts of the city. The Commerce Minister, however, left the door open for trade with Soviets when he spoke of Mexico’s desire for the peaceful co-existence of all nations through commercial and cultural interchange. Mexican businessmen were more outspoken in support of trade. Industrialists, bankers, and exporters and importers dined separately with Mr Mikoyan, and the president of the Association of Exporters and Importers proposed that a study be made with a view to expanding Mexican-Soviet commercial relations. Public Impressed? “I prefer to deal with businessmen rather than diplomats,” said Mr Mikoyan later. “Diplomats look for conflicts. Businessmen do not. If we do not see eye to eye on something, we discuss it, and hunt for a friendly agreement.” While difficult to assess at this time in terms of official or public impact, Mr Mikoyan’s consistent attacks on the United States were generally rejected by the Mexican press. “Mr Mikoyan does not know or has been wrongly informed about Mexican psychology,” commented the newspaper, “Excelsior.” “He tries to revive old resentments toward the United States, forgetting that the average Mexican does not want anyone to brainwash him or use him as an instrument in the cold war. The Soviet leader will continue to enjoy Mexican hospitality by not trying uselessly to create conflicts with our good neighbours and friends.” The industrial, scientific, and cultural exposition which he came to inaugurate, meanwhile, seemed to be making more of an impression on the Mexican public. Huge crowds continued to visit exhibits in the national auditorium.