REMARKS OF PRESIDENT EISENHOWER ON HIS ARRIVAL AT VARIOUS STOPS ON HIS LATIN AMERICAN TOUR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80B01676R000900010062-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 53
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 8, 2002
• Sequence Number: 62
• Publication Date: February 22, 1960
• Content Type: SPEECH

Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80B0l676R000900010 1f ~ k
IMMEDIATE RELEASE, FEBRUARY 22, 1960
James C. Hagerty, Press Secretary to President Eisenhower
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(AS ACTUALLY DELIVERED) (12:07 P.M. PUERTO fICO
THE WHITE HOUSE
(San Juan, Puerto Rico)
REMARKS OF PRESIDENT EISENHOWER
ON HIS ARRIVAL AT INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT IN SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO,
FEBRUARY 22, 1960
Governor Munoz-Marin:
The people and Commonwealth of Puerto Rico are very happy in
welcoming you, and feel highly honored in having you with us, Mr.
President. You will find among us differences of opinion as to the form
that our free union with the United States should develop. But, so far as
the great majority of our people are concerned, you will find no differnt Aic~ssandri
and other lead --rs of your go,,,ernrnvnt, I trust that they have fo- and
these conversations to be as helpht l as we have,
As we prepare to embark, my :Hind go-is back mar.y yearn --
to a time when 1.'oth onr countries were very y;sing, In thrn e davit
many pior..aers in my country jou -neyed to the b'estern Un t d S , - by sea, azoun.d South America. Thousands of them put in'..:) Chi'aar.
ports to rest from their arduous journey and to prepare for the
northward part of their voyage,
-Now, we could reach the capital of my country in a matter of
hours -- a journey which would have taken those pioneers many months.
Technology has inde2ad shrunk the world. Today all men are
close neighbors.
But wheTechnology has us t e means of achieving a Iu?1 life,
- r the possibility is realized is in the :hands and minds of
men,
Will men ever7whe-,3 stritre for the ideals of peace, freedom,
and progress which our stuxdy forefathers sought?
So far-es Chile and he Un'ted States -- and :rho Nations of this
henhisp is,?se -- ~.rs cour-erased, thc answer is oUviou, I.Yr a rr?.
I leave with prcFounP1 admiration for Cl-le's r;fforts for intern;-1
stability and progress, and for your noble work in the world cconr'nin,ity.
Goodbye -- and thanks to all once again for your hespita.lity an;'
friend ship,
Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80BO1676R000900010062-6
 Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80BO1676R000900010062-6
FOR RELEASE ON DELIVERY, MARCH 2, 1960
James C. Hagerty, Press Secretary to President Eisenhower
(AS ACTUALLY DELIVERED) (2:10 P.M., LOCAL TIME)
THE WHITE HOUSE
(Montevideo, Uruguay)
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT EISENHOWER
ON HIS ARRIVAL AT CARRASCO AIRPORT,
MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY
Mr. President of the National Council of Government, Ladies
and Gentlemen;
The friendly reception you have accorded rn;r associates and the
is especially gratifying, for to me it is indicativ3 of the strong spir:Lual
kinship between the governments and peoples of Uruguay and of the
United States.
The fame of your democratic institutions has earned the app!ause
of every American -- school children and adults alike. We salute yau,
not only for your adherence to democratic principles in your e-wn country,
but also for your continuing contributions to hemispheric solidarity, to
the Organization of the American States, and to the United Nations. By
deeds, you have eloquently demonstrated your devotion to the concept of
building a world characterized by peace, justice, and freedom.
I bring you this heartfelt message from all the people of my
country: We treasure our partnership with you, and all our sister Re-
publics in this Hemisphere. We want this partnership to be a model of
mutually helpful cooperation among sovereign states -- some large,
some small, but each equally contributing to the unity of purpose and
effectiveness of the whole. How to make our partnership better shire
as a beacon light to mankind will be the substance of my conversatic ns
with you, Mr. President, and with your associates in government.
I am delighted to be here, and look forward eagerly to meeting
many of you during my short stay.
Thank you very much.
Approved For Release4 2924p841 # CkA-I DF480B01676R000900010062-6
 Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80BO1676R000900010062-6
FOR RELEASE ON DELIVERY, MARCH 2, 1960
James C. Hagerty, Press Secretary to President Eisenhower
(AS ACTUALLY DELIVERED)
THE WHITE HOUSE
(Montevideo, Uruguay)
(6:05 P.M., LOCAL ': IME1,
ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT EISENHOWER
BEFORE THE JOINT SESSION OF THE
NATIONAL CONGRESS OF URUGUAY,
AT THE LEGISLATIVE PALACE,
MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY, MARCH 2, 1960
Mr. President, Distinguished Members of the Congress, Ladies
and Gentlemen, Citizens of Uruguay:
Before I give to you my communications, the thoughts that I hav='
wanted to say to you, I want to express something of my feelings concern-
ing the welcome that has been given me by Montevideo -- all the way
along the beaches, through the streets with their majestic buildings, and
by a people that seemed to be expressing the utmost in friendship.
My only regret is that every member in every dwelling in the
farms and cities of my country could not have seen this day, because
they would have realized that this people was trying to say "We are wit;.:
you, in believing in freedom, in our dedication to liberty, and because
we are so joined with you we send across these oceans to you from Nor:h
America, our very best wishes.
I deem it a high honor to address you, the democratically elected
representatives of the people of Uruguay.
I bring you from my people and my government earnest expressions
of friendship and good will.
The United States shares with Uruguay an abiding desire to live
in freedom, human dignity, and peace with justice.
The great wonder of history is that leaders -- knowing that
peoples everywhere, regardless of economic station, race, or creed,
possess a burning desire to achieve these values -- and still have been :na.tle
to prevent the world from becoming tragically divided by mistrust, threat,
and even overt hostility.
In our time, the destructive power available for misuse is
awesome.. We have now reached the point in human progress where the
choice before us is mutual annihilation or abiding cooperation in the
construction of the peace that lives as a cherished dream in the hearts
of people everywhere.
At this fateful time, the people of the United States find themseNes
carrying unbelievably heavy burdens. They do this not just in their own
interest, but for the benefit of all who cherish freedom -- all who believe
that human affairs should be 'managed in harmony with basic moral law.
They do this for all who are deeply convinced that peoples have the
inalienable right to live in peace, with their creative energies devoted
exclusively to building the .social,, cultural, and economic institutions
consonant with their own desires.
Approved For Release 200 ?08%21 : CIA-RDP80BO1676R000900010062-6
(OVER)
 Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80BO1676R000900010062-6
My country makes these sacrifices with no avaricious end in view.
The United States does not covet a single acre of land that belongs to
another. We do not wish to control or dictate to another government. We
do not desire to impose our concepts of political, cultural, or economic
life upon either the largest or the smallest, the strongest or the weakest,
of the nations of the earth. We believe that the people of every nation are
endowed with the right of free choice, and that the most sacred obligation
of the world community is to guarantee such choice to all.
Need I document these assertions? The Philippines today are
independe it -- by their own choice. Alaska and Hawaii are now, proudly,
equal partners in our federated, democratic enterprise -- by their own
choice. Puerto Rico is a Commonwealth within the United States system --
by its own choice. After World War 1, World War II, and the Korean War,
the United States did not in any way enrich itself at another's expense --
even from former enemies.
Indeed, it did the opposite. We offered substantive help to others,
first for reconstruction, and then, because of thundering threats, for the
creation of a cooperative defense system to protect the free world from
deliberate attack or the miscalculation of arrogance.
I am aware of the feeling of many people in Latin America that
the United States, while giving bounteously for postwar reconstruction
and mutual security, has been less generous with our good neighbors
of this hemisphere.
I am the first to acknowledge the fallibility of nations and leaders,
even those with the best intentions. But I ask you and all our good friends
of the Americas to consider this:
The aid we gave to. Europe after the Great War helped restore
that area as a producer and buyer, to the benefit of Latin America as
well as to ourselves. During the war, the trade of Latin America with
the United States increased six-fold, and has been sustained at a higher
level since then.
The resources we have exported for the construction of a defense
perimeter have been for the benefi"- o'L all who desire freedom, independence
and the right to be unmolested as they work for the improved well-being of
their own people.
These efforts have required our people to impose upon themselves
the most burdensome levels of taxation in our national history. They have
caused us to forego doing as much as we otherwise would in some internal
projects. They have brought difficulties in our international financial
affairs. But -- let me emphasize this -- the assistance flowing to Latin
America from the United States, in the form of private and public loans
and technical aid, has been higher in recent years than ever before. Indeed
I wonder if many realize the extent, both in mass and beneficial effect, of
the capital going into Latin American enterprises from United States
sources ? In the last fiscal year, for example, the private and public funds
made available in Latin America from the United States and its companies
approximated one billion dollars -- and it is difficult to set a figure
representing the subsidiary benefits brought about by the creation of new
jobs, now markets, and new enterprises.
Yes, while we have known holocausts of anxiety, suffering, and
great human tragedy three times in this century, we have not turned
inward to indulge in self-pity. We have willingly extended the hand of
friendship and cooperation, and in this process we have attached no
greater importance to solid, abiding partnerships with any area than
we have with those of the American republics.
Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80BO1676R000900010062-6
more
 Approved For Release 2002/08/21: CIA-RDP80BO1676R000900010062-6
-3-
Of course we face vexatious problems requiring constant atte.ition.
We have ahem. You do.
As for our bi-.lateral problems, the record clearly revYatr3 that
they have been susceptible of solution when the healing bairn of ui?.der-
standing has been applied.
I am keenly aware that all of Latin America -- and Uruguay if; no
exception -- is plagued by the fluctuation of raw commodity prices. Latin
America has need for industrialization, diversification, education, health
facilities, and capital to speed development.
Progress in any nation is and must be largely the task of its own
people, institutions, and leaders. But the United States stands ready to
help in any way it soundly can, within the framework of our world
responsibilities and the limits of our resources. Further, we work for
the time -- not distant 1 hope -- when all the nations of the world in
attaining greater prosperity will progressively share in programs of
assistance to less developed countries. Indeed, I would go further:
believe it is the duty of every nation, no matter how large or small, how
weak or strong, to contribute to the well-being of the world conirnunii.y of
free men. For a time, perhaps some can supply only certain skills, or
personnel, or spiritual support. The important consideration is that we
should all accept a common sense of responsibility for our common destiny.
I am sure you hold the concept, as we do, that every human being.,._
given an oppoa tunity to do so, will make his contribution to the gener d
welfare. You must feel, as we surely do, that hunger and privation Must
be eliminated from the earth by the cooperative effort of peoples and of
governments of good will. WVe are certain, as you must be, that the
cooperative effort of free working men and women, dedicated to and 1__vinr
under democratic principles, can out-produce the regimented workir
force of any nation suffering under dictatorial control.
Nations must constantly explore new opportunities to be helpful
to one another. Who would have thought, a few years ago, that six nations
of Europe would now be joined in a common effort to enlarge trade optnor-
tunities, to lower production costs, and thus to improve living standards?
Or that seven other nations would develop a loose confederation for
cooperation with those six? Yet these developments are under way. They
can contribute to the growth of the free world, provided of course that
both blocs operate with due regard for the interests of other countries.
Here in Montevideo last month, you were host to a meeting of the
representatives of eight nations, at which was taken an important formal
step toward the creation of a common market in which Uruguay would il-)e
a participant. You are dealing here with the possibility of widening each
nation?s markets in such a way that you increase the efficiency of many
industries and thus greatly enhance the opportunity to obtain credits to
hasten development. I congratulate you.
The beginning point of all cooperation -- or between individuals,
or between groups within a single society, or between nations -- is
genuine human understanding.
The conclusion, within the next few days,of a Fulbright Agreement
between Uruguay and the United States for the exchange of students anc.
professors is an important step in this direction.
Surely we of Uruguay and the United States should not fail in
developing the knowledge about one another, and the abiding understanding.
on which dependable cooperation can be based. I know you respect our
democratic processes, our system of economic freedom, our adherence to
those cardinal concepts of human dignity and consecrated intelligence v'hich
we draw from our religious phiJ.oso h ,
Approved For Release 2002 f f CIA-RDP80BOl676R000900?MJk5
 Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80B01676R000900010062-6
Certainly we admire you. The people of Uruguay, like the
people of the United States, came from many different places, but all
were guided by passionate desires for freedom, justice, and opportunity.
Under a great leader, Jose Artigas, you struggled for independence,
even as we did under George Washington. And then you set to work.
We have watched the development of democratic institutions in
Uruguay with unbounded admiration. We have been impressed with your
individualism -- with the development of the flaming spirit of liberty,
justice, and self-discipline in the citizens of Uruguay. And we have
applauded your successes as you have battled against human want, withoi:t
sacrifice of human liberty.
It is no wonder that, in a world in which millions have been
subjected to the philosophy and fetters of vicious tyranny, we feel a
deep spiritual relationship to you.
We have worked well together in helping build the most influential
regional organization on earth, the Organization of American States .. .
in helping make the United Nations an instrument of true promise for
international cooperation ... and in seeking the solution to the problem
of transcendent importance: Peace, with justice, in freedom.
Controlled, universal disarmament is now imperative. The
billions now living demand it. That we can make it our children's
inheritance is our fondest hope.
The United States is deeply committed to a ceaseless search for
genuine disarmament, with guarantees that remove suspicions and fears.
Nearly seven years ago I said what I now re-pledge: The United States
"is ready to ask its people to join with all nations in devoting a substantial
percentage of its savings achieved by disarmament to a fund for world aid
and reconstruction. it
Members of the Congress: I profoundly thank you for the
honor of meeting with you, for your generous hospitality and for the
friendly greetings of the Uruguayan people whom you represent. May
Cod favor you in your efforts to promote the interests of your people in
freedom, and inspire you to still greater effort in our common struggle
to achieve a world which lives in harmony under moral. law.
Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80B01676R000900010062-6
 Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80B01676R000900010062-6
IMMEDIATE RELEASE, March 2, 1960
James C. Hagerty, Press Secretary to President Eisenhower
THE WHITE HOUSE
(Montevideo, Uruguay)
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT EISENHOWER
AT THE OBELISK CEREMONY, MONTEVIDEO,
URUGUAY - March 2, 1960
Mr. President, Mr. Mayor, and Members of the City Council
of Montevideo:
It is indeed a very great honor that you do me to give me this
medal as a symbol of the medal of honor of Montevideo. It is indeed
a unique occasion.
To stand here in the shadow of this obelisk, a memorial to
constitutional government, in a country that worships -.. venerates
the doctrines of Artigas, one of the great champions of liberty and
freedom of all time, this is an occasion that warms the very depths
of my heart.
I could only say that this medal, if ever earned at all, has been
earned by the people of the United States, who with the people of
Uruguay have been champions of freedom, have worked for freedom,
have been ready to sacrifice for freedom. And no stronger bonds could
hold together two people more firmly.
So, Sir, as I thank you, the citizens of Montevideo, as a matter
of fact, all Uruguay -- I do so as one who believes in exactly the same
sentiments that you have just expressed concerning liberty, independence,
and human dignity.
Thank you.
Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80B01676R000900010062-6
 Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80B01676R000900010062-6
FOR RELEASE ON DELIVERY, MARCH 4, 1960
James C. Hagerty, Press Secretary to the President
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - -
(AS ACTUALLY DELIVERED)
THE WHITE HOUSE
(Ramey AFB, Puerto Rico)
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT THE LUNCHEON
MEETING OF THE AMERICAN ASSEMBLY, DORADO
BEACH HOTEL, DORADO, PUERTO RICO
Governor Munoz-Marin, President Wriston, Members of the
Assembly, and Fellow Citizens of this Hemisphere.
I should apologize, I think, before beginning this little talk, because
I face a distinguished people who !snow a very great deal about the subjR=ct
that I expect to talk about; and the other is that I have just learned, while
sitting at the head table, that your Report has been completed. And after
I gave my conclusions, they said, well it's identical, and I think they
should have added: well, then, you don't have to give the speech. But in the
hope that there may be one or two points of some interest, I will indulge:
myself to take advantage of you for a few minutes.
When I first visited the proposed site for the American Assembly
at Arden House ten years ago, I could hardly have foreseen that in the
year 1960 I should be addressing a regional meeting of the Assembly in
Puerto Rico; or that I would come before you having just completed two
journeys, totalling almost forty thousand miles, with visits to fifteen
countries on four continents.
But I assure you I am delighted to be with you here in a renewal of
my personal association with the American Assembly. And I must confs3ss
to some pride that this meeting is a major expansion of what was for me
little more than a dream ten years ago.
You will permit me, I hope, a few minutes of reminiscence about
my early thinking on the Assembly and my participation in its establishment.
Even before I went to Columbia as its President, out of some
experience in war and in Washington, I had come to feel very strongly that
there was a need for a forum or council in which could be utilized the best
minds of the nation.
To do this, my associates and I believed, we should attempt to set
up specific problems of national interest, where in a proper setting the
best academic and practical minds could be assembled for the neces.:ary
analyses. Their examination of each of these could take place in an
atmosphere free from the pressures of partisan politics and special
interests. Then, solutions might be suggested, founded in sound principle
and wide knowledge, undistorted by pleas for the expedient and immediatf ty
popular.
We felt that many of the problems confronting the American people
often were apparently impossible of solution, and hopelessly confused,
because even the most critical question could easily become a political
football or an excuse for sensationalism and even hysteria.
more (0 vER)
Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80B01676R000900010062-6
 Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80B01676R000900010062-6
Matters affecting the future of the Republic, its world leadership
and responsibilities deserved, we thought, the serious, deliberate, calm
study their importance merited.
Shortly after my arrival at Columbia, I was invited by the present
President of the American Assembly, my friend, Henry Wriston, to
participate in the monthly deliberations of the Council on Foreign Relations.
There in our discussions of various international concerns we tried, with
the help of expert and specialized counsel, to suggest courses of action in
the field of foreign relations that were designed directly for the correction,
improvement or clarification of the situation udder study. Our proposals
were formulated within the context of the enlightened self-interest of the
United States of America. They were not reached under the influence of
the politically palatable, the quick and easy, the supposedly popular.
The same quality of work on a much larger scale -- the study of
all problems affecting our people and the future of the Republic - - could be
ideally undertaken,. I thought, at Columbia University. There we had
available immense resources in the faculty and libraries and trained
research people -- a unique pool of human knowledge and written knowledge.
By testing faculty proposals before groups of businessmen and leaders in
all professions, we felt vie would provide for such proposals a validity not
otherwise likely to be had.
In 1949, with the trustees and my associates on the campus, we
began work on this idea. By early 1950 we had a home for the American
Assembly, at Arden House, given to the University by Governor Averell
Harriman. I thought this venture so important that I wrote hundreds of
letters and flew the length and breadth of this country time and again to
raise the necessary money. It came in -- often in generous amounts --
and before I left for SHAPE in January of 1951 a healthy start for the
American Assembly was assured.
As you know, the studies of the Assembly have been many and
varied, ranging from our relations with Western Europe to Wages, Prices,
Profits and Productivity. They have had a substantial impact on American
thinking throughout government and in the communities of our own country.
But even in the planning days, a decade ago, I felt that the Assembly's
deliberations eventually should be concerned with the subject on which I
expect to speak briefly today -- the common destiny, the common interests,
the common aspirations of the American Republics and Commonwealth
members, Netherlands and French communities.
Our hemisphere, from the polar cap to the Antarctic ice, is a
geographical unity. For the advantages of all its nations the hemispheres
should be characterized by mutually-helpful economic cooperation. With
proper respect to the sovereignty of its states and the cultural heritages of
its peoples, there should be a mutual security unity and, in its philosophy
of representative free government, complete political harmony. These
purposes, it seems to me, indicate a need to exploit for the good of almost
half a billion people of the Americas -- and their numbers daily increase --
the new mastery of space and natural resources, of science and machines.
If I have to apologize for my voice, I could do so by saying I left most of it
in South America.
Ignorance of each other, misunderstanding of each other, lack of
mutual and cooperative planning in our common purposes: these, I think,
are the principal obstacles in our path. To do something toward their
reduction was a principal purpose of the journey I have just finished.
Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80B01676R000900010062-6
 Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80B01676R000900010062-6
-3 -
Wherever I went, I stated again and again the basic principles and
attitudes that govern our country's relationships in this hemisphere.
For example: Our good neighbor -- good partner policy is a
permanent guide, encompassing nonintervention, mutual respect, and
juridical equality of States.
We wish, for every American nation, a rapid economic progress,
with its blessings reaching all the people.
We are always eager to cooperate in fostering sound development
within the limits of practical capabilities; further, we shall continue to
urge every nation to join in help to the less fortunate.
We declare our faith in the rule of law, our determination to abide
by treaty commitments, and our insistence that other nations do likewise.
Everywhere I found in the nations I visited a general agreement that
these principles have been actually practiced by the United States. I found.
too, inescapable evidence that many in every country knew little of our
record and more who misunderstand our purposes. But identically the same
can be said of North Americans in their ignorance and misunderstanding of
Latin America.
Here the American Assembly can play a tremendous and useful rob!
Its participants are recognized everywhere for their experience in human
affairs, their broad knowledge, their professional competence -- and above
all their good will and their dedication to truth. Particularly -- to the
young people, those who will manage the affairs of this hemisphere in a
few years, the members of the Assembly can be honest teachers and wise
counsellors.
And the problems that confront us are immense. Many countries of
Latin America desperately need long-term financing of their development
projects; technical assistance in their planning and execution; escape from
dependence on one crop or one mineral; help in balancing budgets an
substituting productive work for bureaucratic make-work; and end tc
inflation and a start on solidly, widely-based economics. And their needs
must be answered soon and effectively.
Panacea proposals, facile solutions, will lead only to disillusionment.
Above all, any thought of the United States alone developing a
so-called master plan for the raising of living standards throughout tie
hemisphere has been rejected by us and by the leaders of the states I have
just visited, including Surinam, and is foredoomed to failure.
Each nation of Latin America is highly individual. Each must
analyze its own human and material resources, and develop a program of
action, with priorities assigned. Then, national and international credit
agencies should stand ready to be of assistance in making the program a
reality. Obviously the major responsibility for a nation's development
devolves upon its own people, its own leaders, its own pride, its own self-
respect, its own self-interest demand that this be so. And, parenthetically,
may I say I saw many evidences of this on the trip I have just completed. I
visited what was nothing but a rural slum outside of Santiago. Thousands of
people living in hovels, whose poverty beggared description. But the
government gave them a start. The government owned the ground of the
area and then it laid out plots, and it built concrete floors. On each of these=
floors were two families, in the center where the normal washroom and
Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80B01676R000900010062(8.rFR )
 Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80B01676R000900010062-6
toilet facilities were. Then, they've got a new system of construction,
one I had never seen, and yet may be a very practical thing in many
countri es. It is the amkin of bsickks out of wood, and these bricks
instead of being put together by cement, they have very heavy glue, and
then they are nailed down to the block below -- each block is about a
foot long and about four inches Square is cross-section.
Now the point is that all the rest of the work is done by self-help.
Before work in the morning,after work in the evening, these families do
this. The particular project I visited, I believe there were 4, 102 cottages,
of which about six hundred have been developed in the weeks so far past,
and they are going to have it finished before snow flies -- before winter
comes.
Now here is the point: Never have I seen such a happy people,
because they were doing this themselves, in crowds -- and crowded
around -- workman after workman coming running to me, would I
autograph one of the blocks that was going in his house, he wanted to
show this as a show piece to his -- even to his grandchildren, I suppose.
And all he needed is a plumb bob, because once you get the walls
straight, it seems like they are very, very strong. The inventor is
convinced that he has hold of a very good idea, and these people are show-
ing what self-respect and pride can be developed out of your ability to
do something yourself, with a little bit of help -- a helping hand from
someone outside.
I assure you I think that the government is reaping great benefits,
not only for the individuals thus helped, but for what it means in under-
standing on the part of all these people of its own government.
But nations which desire to advance rapidly surely do need public
and private funds from abroad. And funds are available. First there
is private capital always seeking good investment opportunity. The
International Bank and the Export-Import Bank have had their funds
greatly increased, and the new inter-American Bank will soon be
functioning. And behind all these is the instant readiness of the United
States, on a government-to-government basis, to investigate cooperatively
any special problem or need, and to make such arrangements as seem
to fill the requirements.
As I said a few days ago to the Uruguayan Congress:
"We work for the time -- not distant, I hope -- when all the
nations of the world in attaining greater prosperity will progressively
share in programs of assistance to less developed countries. Indeed
I would go further: I believe it is the duty of every nation, no matter
how large or small, how weak or strong, how rich or poor, to contribute
to the well-being of the world's co:;:cnn.iunity of free men. For a time,
perhaps some can supply only certain skills, or knowledge, or personnel,
or spiritual support. But all these are important too. And the most
important consideration is that we should all accept a common sense of
responsibility for our common destiny."
Only hard thinking and hard work will do the job. And they must
be accompanied by a most determined drive to eliminate ignorance and
to correct misunderstanding.
Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80B01676R000900010062-6
 r
Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80BO1676R000900010062-6
-5-
Here the American Assembly can help greatly. The need for
your help is, I think, the greatest challenge to confront you since the
founding of the Assembly ten years ago.
So I congratulate the American Assembly for its venture into this
whole area of study which is so profoundly important to the millions w .o
inhabit this hemisphere -- indeed, to all the free world.
Thank you very much.
Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80BO1676R000900010062-6
 ' Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80BO1676R000900010062-6
FOR RELEASE AT 7:00 P.M. EST, TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 1960
James C. Hagerty, Press Secretary to the President
(AS ACTUALLY DEI IVERE
I)
, (7:00 PM, EST)
THE WHITE HOUSE
TEXT OF THE REPORT TO THE NATION
BY PRESIDENT EISENHOWER ON HIS
SOUTH AMERICAN TRIP, DELIVERED
FROM HIS OFFICE AT THE WHITE HOUSE
TUESDAY EVENING, MARCH 8, 1960
Good Evening, Friends:
My first words upon my return from the four American republics
I have just visited must be a heartfelt expression of gratitude for the
friendly receptions my associates and I experienced, wherever we went.
Millions endured for long hours along the streets the hot summer
sun -- and occasionally rain -- to let us know of the enthusiastic good
will they have for the government and people of the United States. In
the nations of Latin America --- indeed as I have found in all of the eighteen
countries I have visited in my trips of recent months -- there is a vast
reservoir of respect, admiration and affection for the United States of
America. The expressions of this attitude by Latin American peoples
and their leaders were so enthusiastic and so often repeated as to admit:.
fo possibility of mistake. Two or three insignificant exceptions to this
may have made a headline, but they were only minor incidents, lost in
the massed welcome.
This was a good will trip -,; but it was also much more. Members
of my party and I held serious conversations and exchanged infoi rnation
on bilateral, hemispheric, and global problems with the four Pleads of
States, with Cabinet members, with leaders of labor, education, .financ ,
and business.
Two impressions are highlighted in my mind.
First -- Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay treasure as much
as we do freedom, human dignity, equality, and peace with justice. In
freedom, they are determined to progress -- to improve and diversify
their economies -- to provide better housing and education -- to work
ceaselessly for rising levels of human well being.
Second, while certain problems are continental in scope, nonetheJ .
each of the countries I visited -- indeed, each of the twenty republics of
Latin America -- is highly individual. Each has its own unique pvobiems
and ideas regarding future development.
Hence, our cooperation with each republic must be tailored to its
particular situation.
I was gratified to learn that, as the indispensable basis for their
self-improvement, comprehensive surveys of resources, capacities,
objectives, and costs have progressed rapidly in recent years. But each
nation feels it must do more in this regard, and seeks help for this purpe.=e.
The United Nations has funds for su..i pre-development studies. The new
Inter-American Bank also should be able to lend technical help. The
more
Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80BO1676R000900010062-6
(OVER)
 Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80BO1676R000900010062-6
studies of each country called for under "Operation Pan America" will
likewise contribute to this k nd.
Once sound plaxrnixg has rn ade.-signifir-ant progress, a nation can
formulate specific projects for action, with priorities established, and
with confidence that each do eft will open still further opportunity
to speed the spiral of growth.
The execution of any development program will of course depend
primarily upon the dedicated efforts of the peoples themselves.
I was impressed, for example, by what I saw in Chile, I visited
a low-cost housing project. The government had provided land and
utilities. The home owners were helping one another build the new houses.
They will pay for them monthly, over a period of years. Personal
accomplishments brought pride to their eyes; self-reliance to their bearing
Their new homes are modest in size and character -- but I cannot possibly
describe: the intense satisfaction they take in the knowledge that they
themselves have brought about this great forward step in their living
conditions.
In Argentina and Uruguay I witnessed encouraging sights -- men
building schools, homes, and roads -- and, in Brazil, erecting a wholly
new capital city.
The people of Latin America know that poverty, ignorance, and
ill-health are not inevitable. They are determined to have their resources
and labors yield a better life for themselves and for their children.
I assured them that most earnestly, we of the United States want
them to succeed. We realize that to speed improvement, they need foreign
capital. They want sound loans, public and private. Their repayment
record on loans previously made is noteworthy.
International and United States lending agencies have recently had
their funds greatly increased. The new Inter-American Development Bank
will soon be functioning. I believe that each. nation which has produced a
well-conceived development program will find that these lending institutions
will respond to their needs. Should this not be so in a particular situation,
we of the United States would want to know the circumstances and do what
we could to help to rectify the difficulty.
In our discussions, I stressed that all nations -- large or small,
powerful or weak -- should assume some responsibility for the advance-
ment of humankind, in freedom. Though we of the United States will,
within the framework of our world situation and economic capacity, assist
all we can. we look for the time when a:.l t 'e free nations will feel a common
responsibility for our common destiny. Cooperation among free nations
is the key to common progress. Aid from one to another, if on a one way
street basis only, and indefinitely continued, is not of itself truly productive.
The peoples of Latin America appreciate that our assistance in
recent years has reached new heights, and that this has required sacrifice
on our part.
I must repeat, however, what I said several times during my trip:
Serious misunderstandings of the United States do exist in Latin America.
And, indeed, we are not as well informed of them as we should be.
Many persons do not realize the United States is just as committed
as are the other republics to the principles of the Rio Treaty of 1947. This
Treaty declares that an attack on one American republic will in effect be
Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80BO1676R000900010062-6
more
,r'
 Approved For Release 2002/08/21.: CIA-RDP80BO1676R000900010062-6
an attack on all. We stand firmly by this commitment. This mutual
security systex,proved by time, should now enable some of the Americsr
republics to reduce expenditures for armaments, and thus make fundF;
available for constructive purposes.
One editorial allegod that the Uaitod States did not accept the
principle of non-intervention urtil 1959. In fact, our country has con-
sistently abided by this hemispheric concept for more than a quarter
of a century.
Another persistent misunderstanding which I sought to cnrrect
wherever I travelled is- that we sometimes support dictators. Of tour;-,e
we abhor all tyrannical forms of government, whether of the left or of
the right. This I made clear.
In Brazil, I explained another important item of our policy:
We believe in the rights of people to ch6ose their own form of govern-
ment, to build their own institutions, to abide by their own philo.scphy.
But if a tyrannical form of government were imposed upon any of the
Americas from outside or with outside support -- by force, threat, or
subversion -- we would certainly deem this to be a violation of the
principle of non-intervention and would expect the Organization of
American States, acting under pertinent solemn commitments, to
take appropriate collective action.
On occasion I heard it said that economic advance in some
American republics only makes the rich richer, and the pour poorer,
and that the United States should take the initiative in correcting this
evil. This is a view fomented by communists, but often repeated by
well-meaning people.
If there should be any truth in this charge whatsoever, it is
not the fault of the United States. So far as our purpose is involved,
projects financed by our institutions are expected to yield widespread
benefits to all, and, at the same time to conform to our policy of
non-intervention. I know that the Latin American leaders I met also
seek this same result.
Moreover, when internal social reform is required, it is -purely
an internal matter.
One of the most far-reaching problems of continental scope is
this: In their exports, the Latin American republics are largely single
commodity countries. The world market prices of what they sell
fluctuate widely, whereas the prices of things they buy keep going up,
We have tried to be helpful in the cooperative study of this
vexing situation, Many facts about supply, demand, production are
widely comprehended for the first time. Thus, for example, with
the facts about coffee understood, producing nations are cooperating
in orderly marketing for this commodity with beneficial results.
The real solution is in agricultural and industrial diversifi-
cation. Here, we are encouraged by the progress being made toward
the creation of common markets. Large areas, relatively free of
trade restrictions, will make for greater efficiency in production and
distribution, and will attract new capital to speed development.
Despite such problems as these, our relationships with our
sister republics have, with notable -- but very few -- exceptions,
reached an all-time high. Leaders and populations alike attested to
this truth. But an even firmer partnership must be our goal.
Approved For Release 2062O N21 : CIA-RDP80BO1676R000900010062-6
(OVER)
 Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80BO1676R000900010062-6
The republics of this hemisphere have a special relationship
to one another. The United Stases is important to al. of Latin America,
as its largest buyer, as the main source of foreign investment capita.,
and as a bastion of freedom. our southern neighbors are important to
us, economically, politica Uy, culturally. militarily. Indeed, no other
area of the world is of more vital significance to our own future.
This interdependence must be c u rehended by us, and by them.
Each should know the policies, s; itudes, aspirations, and capacities of
the other. F'er, as I have srld time and egalr, *U fruitful, abiding
cooperation must be bused upon genuine mutual understanding of vital
facts.
Exchanges of students, teachers, labor leadore, and others are
helpful. Newspapers, magazines, all means of communication should
accept the responsibility not merely of trax emitting spectacular news,
but of helping build the knowledge on which cooperative action may
flourish.
In one respect our neighbors put us to shame. English is rapidly
spreading as the second language in Latin America. Business executives,
labor leaders, taxi drivers -- most speak English well, learned in school
or in bi-national institutes. The study of Spanish is increasing in our
schools, but I wish that literally millions of Americans would learn to
speak Spanish or Portugese fluently, and to read the literature, histories,
and periodicals of our sister republics.
H. G. Wells once said that civilization is a race between education
and catastrophe. His thought is applicable to hemispheric relations. With
common dedication to the highest ideals of mankind, including shared
aspirations for a world at peace, freedom and progress, there is no
insurmountable impediment to fruitful cooperation, save only insufficiency
in mutual understanding. This is something that you and I -- every single
citizen, simply by informing himself -- can do something about.
I hope each of us will do so.
Again, I express my gratitude to President Kubitschek, President
Frondizi, President Alessandri, and President Nardone and all their
peoples for providing me with a most instructive and rewarding experience.
And I convey to you their best wishes and warm greetings.
Thank you, and good night.
Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80BO1676R000900010062-6
 Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80BO1676R000900010062-6
MEMORAND41 FOR: DCI
Herewith is one complete set.
Four Copies of each release have been received
from the White House; one will be sent to WH
Division, e.nd2 will be retained here for what-
ever use you may have.
STAT
AU NO. jGH RELACES
MAY FORM
BE USED.
I AUG 54 WH
Approved For Release 2002/08/21 : CIA-RDP80BO1676R000900010062-6