U.S. Tries To Halt Castro’s Gains

Press, Volume C, Issue 29524, 27 May 1961, Page 11

U.S. Tries To Halt Castro’s Gains

(Specialty wntlm for th« N.Z.P.A. by FRANK OLIVER) WASHINGTON, May 26. While Dr. Castro’s effort to get 500 tractors and bulldozers for 1200 prisoners is being negotiated by private interests here, the Administration is taking other measures to prevent the spread of what is variously termed “Castroism’’ and “InFidel ism” to other parts of Latin America. To offset the failure of the Cuban invasion, Washington’s strategy is to check the spread of “Castroism” by efforts to improve elsewhere in Latin America social and economic conditions which could provide fertile ground wherein Dr. Castro could sow the seeds of his social revolution.

Some writers are claiming 1 that the Cuban affair was a failure because its objectives I were wrong, that it excluded i liberal Cuban elements and yet expected the Cuban ] people, and particularly the i peasant class, to rise against Dr. Castro. Whether or not members 1 of the Administration have taken such writings to heart, new policies indicate a determination to rid LatinAmerica of social and economic conditions that can be exploited by the Commun- ■ ists. As one publication says, the Cuban disaster is making America realise that its political and economic relationship with Latin-America is perhaps this country’s most difficult long-range problem in foreign affairs. The United States is counting on President Kennedy’s Alliance for Progress, a 10-year programme for economic and social development. Today there are almost 200 million people in Latin America, the vast majority ill-clothed, ill-housed, ill-fed. largely uneducated and many (as in Brazil) governed by administrations on the verge of bankruptcy. The problems inherent in those facts are bad enough. What must be added is that Latin-America has one of the highest birth rates in the world, and in 25 years the South American continent will probably have 400 mil- ' lion people. In short, the problems of ! the whole area are increasing faster than they can possibly be dealt with by Latin--1 American governments in ’ present circumstances. LatinAmerica cannot be pulled up

by its collective bootstraps, in Brazil has been the first h recipient of aid from this b country under plans to elim- A inate the ills that foster i< political instability. Aid e comes none too soon. In Brazil, two-thirds of the si population lives at subsist- r ence level. The new Presi- li dent, Janio Quadros, inherited E a “lamentable legacy of in- C flation. unpaid bills and ex- p travagant subsidies to such tl favoured groups as the mill- y tary and the coffee farmers.” a says the "Washington Post,” b which adds that the 903 mil- fl lion dollars aid package is a needed to keep the most fl populous country in Latin- d America from virtual bankruptcy. t The package included 338 n million dollars in new U.S. t money and 305 million dollars h for re-scheduling debts, as e well as 120 million dollars a from the International Mon- f etary Fund in new stand-by v credits and 140 million dol- f lars for re-scheduling cur- t rent debt. s The reaction in Brazil has been regarded here as satis- r factory. The press in Brazil I has been hailing the fact f that to get this much-needed s i help, Brazil was asked for. r no concessions and made a none. t The United States has re- r . ceived no assurances that as c i a result of this money Brazil i i would take a stand against i Dr. Castro. But it is felt ( '■ that in the long run the aid F ■ will pay off in goodwill to- r wards the United States as ' f well as helping unhappy i • economic conditions >n > ■ Brazil. The need for such aid pro- 1 i grammes has, of course, in- I ■ creased since the Cuban I > fiasco. Many here believe that Dr. Castro’s stock • mounted in Latin America as 1 a result of his victory over 1 the invaders. Thus the need for aid to ' improve economic and social conditions is more urgent to halt the spread of “In-Fidei-ism” than it was before the unsuccessful invasion of Cuba. American strategy to help Latin-America and prevent the spread of Communistic revolutions falls into two parts.

One is capital investment r by government and by private interests, the other concerns trade policy, and there LatinAmerican help is needed. Latin American governments must undertake fiscal, legal, and agrarian reforms that alone will permit economic developments to succeed. To secure this help. President Kennedy is promoting an inter-American meeting of American and LatinAmerican ministers to plan such reforms. It is hoped that this meeting will take place in July. High hopes for its success are held here, especially so since the happy I reactions of the Brazilians to 1 ’ the United States aid. Private investment from 1 American sources naturally ; will be a big item in the Kennedy plan. The maga- i I zine. "Business Week” re- : ports that generally business- ■ men welcome the Alliance For Progress and its objec- ■ tives. and that they feel it > is a start in the right direc- . tion. The main criticism. , where it occurs, is concerned , with lack of specifics so far. ' Argentina, Peru and Chile , are regarded by businessmen as good areas for investment. but they are worried about the nationalistic pressures in Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela. Both busi-

ness and Government here have been cheered recently by reports from Latin America that many politicians there want reform and economic development. The size of the bill worries some businessmen. It is recognised that the 500 million dollars promised at the Bogota conference and which Congress has agreed to appropriate is just a drop in the bucket. No-one here is yet prepared even to guess at the total figure that will be needed to put Latin America on its economic feet and give 200 million Latin Americans a reasonable standard of living. As the plan is seen here at this time, the main investments in the beginning must be government money. It is hoped that when the various economies begin to pick up and fiscal and agrarian reforms are started, private investment will begin to flow freely and eventually play the primary role in the scheme.

It is foreseen that government investment (long-term, low-interest loans) and he’p from the Inter-American Development Bank will go mainly into public works and education—the things on which an industrial economy rests and for which private capital is not often available. Much, of course, depends on Congress. Current reports are that the President’s new approach to foreign aid, which includes authority to make long-term commitments and to borrow directly from the Treasury to finance them, will meet much opposition but eventually will go through. The Cuban affair and Dr, Castro’s success seems to have taken some of the sting out of congressional opposition to foreign aid. Dr. Castro has said that Latin America could thank him for the 500 million dollars Congress is appropriating for . Latin countries. There is • much truth in it. and Latin America will probably have much more to thank him for in the future, for he looms larger than he did as a menace in this hemisphere to democratic processes and nations.