A WISE POLICY UNDER ASSAULT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00806R000100500036-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 9, 2010
• Sequence Number: 36
• Publication Date: January 13, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/09: CIA-RDP90-00806R000100500036-6
t
BALTIMORE SUN
~?. :i..,L~ r,. EA P. D 13 January 1984
0 P% ^ - /~ -
A Wise Policy
Under Assault
B~ Alejandro Portes gain acceptance among the poor. An IAF The Heritage Foundation repo: re-
IS well known among development ex- grant of a few thousand dollars could often pare by a former CIA al, o ict contained
iperts that the official aid program of make the difference between survival or, so little evidence in support o accusations
the United States, channeled primarily failure of a peasant cooperative or a shan- of Communist influence that it was
through the Agency for International tytown construction project affecting hun- promptly dismissed by congressional lead-
velopment, is hampered by the need to dreds of families. ers and the press. Far more serious were
Development,
the short-term reed by the see to A statement frequently heard from administration demands for the resigna-
e
meet the administration. Latin American political leaders is that the tion of IAF's entire leadership, a challenge
be-
Development aid funds have consistent- foundation has done more to promote pop- that was defeated at the time only be-
oyea to reward governments ular goodwill and a positive image of the cause of the autonomy of the foundation
ly United States during its 15 years of exis- and its strong bipartisan support in Con- d wandhich been have comp mpllloy been a with reward
sl wites tence than the rest of the U.S. develop- gress. Since its beginnings, the foundation
W sard gone hington' poli
i ment establishment with much greater re- i has received the endorsement of Republi-
held from those which didn't. More impor- sources. cans and Democrats alike. Support of LAY
tantly, the aid is almost always channeled Until recently, the president of IAF was I includes both. of Maryland's senators as 1
to governments, seldom to the people. Peter Bell, a man widely respected among well as most Maryland representatives.
So it is not surprising that, despite the development experts both in Latin Ameri- Representative Michael Barnes, head of
billions of dollars allocated to foreign aid. ca and the United States. Mr. Bell lived for the House Subcommittee on Latin Ameri-U.S. de- during the last three decades, the ul extensive periods in several Latin Ameri- can affairs, has been a consistent advocate
velopment program has been unsuccessful can countries as a Ford Foundation official of the style of development aid embodied
in promoting popular welfare in most and was intimately familiar with the social in IAF.
Third World nations. In Latin America, and political realities of the region. Under Despite being thwarted in its initial ef-
even those countries which enjoyed sus- his leadership the foundation's popular forts, the administration did not give up
tained economic growth for several years, self-help program expanded and diversi- the attack. Its subsequent strategy is simi-
such as Brazil and Mexico, experienced an lied to include organizations concerned lar to that adopted against the U.S. Civil
increase in economic inequality. As a con- with the development of local talent and Rights Commission. The next step consist-
sequence, the already precarious living the support of democratic institutions. ed in packing the IAF board of trustees
standards of their poor deteriorated fur- Shortly after the inauguratio; of. the with Reagan nominees, individuals natu-
ther. Reagan administration, the Heritage Foun? rally hostile to the foundation's philoso-
During the late Sixties, some congress- dation, a right-wing think tank, published 1 phy. Victor Blanco, a California business-
men concerned with social conditions in a report which indicted the Inter-American man whose only qualification for the job
Latin America wanted to create an aid in- Foundation for supporting Communist-in- seems to be his support of Republican can- ;
strument independent of short-term politi- spired organizations. The principal crime didates, was appointed chairman of the .
-cal considerations. Legislation established committed by the IAF seems to have been board. Eventually, the Reagan. trustees
the Inter-American Foundation (IAF), a approval of several grants to church-spon- formed a majority. Even then, they were
non-partisan agency dedicated to promot- sored human rights organizations and in- prevented from acting because of senti-
ing grassroots projects in the hemisphere. dependent research centers operating un- ment in Congress that the foundation
In the words of one of its founders, the new der dictatorial regimes. should be kept free of short-term politics.
agency was committed to helping the poor yet the rationale for the grants was well The final move by Mr. Blanco and his as-
he themselves by making small contribu- - within the limits of IAF's mandate. Human sociates is a telling one: They simply wait-
tio6 s g directly to popular organizations. those of rights groups of Christian inspiration and ed until Congress was in recess to fire Mr.
a ing with budget t a a fraction the o eof independent research centers emerged in Bell. The vote followed strict partisan lines
-the
circumvent agencies, the official n- Latin America both to monitor the activi- with only the Reagan appointees voting for
dation t devef4pment
"development set" and use popular initial ties of authoritarian government and to removal.
tives - such as rural cooperatives, small provide a high-level critical analysis of its The Inter-American Foundation was an
housing economic policies. The latter have a deci- intelligent initiative. Even if U.S. policy
business ventures self- sive effect on the survival possibilities of concerns were limited to neutralizing ex-
projects which and d
prom small could benefit help lp housmi directly
s. the poor. Organizations supported by the treme-left movements, the agency fully
f
Tje allinye tm an. of LAY at- Inter-American Foundation invariably in- justified itself. It reached toward and de-
cted highly Qualified e_*+d committed volved individuals favoring the return of veloped lasting relationships with popular,
-rg a Wi*-~ a total budget never exceeded democratic institutions. These groups lead groups, consistently neglected by the offi
its a budg trat never had a precarious existence, surviving only cial development establishment. In doing
$27 million, t its
viewed wit) susad to e I through external support. That support so, it was able to sense, at close range, the
~ '" io,p comes from development agencies of other social currents and the levels of popular
Latin America as a potential vehicle for po- I governments, such as those of Canada, discontent and mobilization in each coun-
y'1 pressure or even QA activities. it Sweden and Holland, as well as church- try. The benefits of these grassroots activi?
gradually won the confidence of grassroots sponsored private charities in Western Eu- ties for the United States extended, how-
.+~ fence pat small-business rope. The modest lAF grants often provid- ever, well beyond reliable information.
o?
croups. The absence of patent polittgal m ed the only American presence in the vital With very modest resources, IAF repre-
r;vns and the ability to amass ineffective task of keeping these independent organi- sentatives were able to help directly thou.
ggy~-rnmennt bureaucracies were the nrinci-
ay I too-1s employed by the foundation to zations alive. sands of poor peoplte who otherwise would
never see a cent of American aid funds.
1-VXVVUED
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/09: CIA-RDP90-00806R000100500036-6