The Alliance for Progress

103 Pages·2015·3.7 MB·English

by  Barbara J. Ford

Illinois Wesleyan University
DDiiggiittaall CCoommmmoonnss @@ IIWWUU
Honors Projects History Department
1968
TThhee AAlllliiaannccee ffoorr PPrrooggrreessss
Barbara J. Ford
Illinois Wesleyan University
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/history_honproj
Part of the History Commons
Recommended Citation
Ford, Barbara J., "The Alliance for Progress" (1968). Honors Projects. 39.
https://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/history_honproj/39
This Article is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital
Commons @ IWU with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this material in any
way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For
other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights
are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This material
has been accepted for inclusion by faculty at Illinois Wesleyan University. For more information,
please contact [email protected].
©Copyright is owned by the author of this document.
WesleUynavin. Librarlelii
!rElrr!oonmoinlgstIo lnl.. 6 1701
TheA llianfcoerP rorgess
)
BarbaJr.aF ord
A"RCHIV!!
II
fie
II::,
Subtmtiefdo rH onorWso rk
Int heD epratmenotfH istory
Illinosi WelseyaUnn iversity
BlomointgonI,l lniois
1968
[[llinWoiees leUynainvL:l. b:l.'a.l'i es
:BloomingIltLo n61,7 01
Departmento f Historyo f
\vesleyaUnn iversityi n fulfillment
lLl���lt� for departmental honors.
TABLOEF C ONTENTS
Chapt1e r
INTRUOCDTOIN
1
Chapt2e r
A NEWC ONCEOPFTI NTER��IERIROEALNTA IONS
8
Chapt3e r
APPLYITNHGEC llAROTFERP UNTA EDSETLE
25
Ohapt4e r
THEA LLAINOFEO RP ROGREISNSO PERATION
52
Chapter
5
THEF UTUROEF T HEA LLAINCEFO RP ROGSRSE
79
BIBLIRAOPGHY
84
LISTO FT ABLES
Tabl1e
PrinciMpuallit laterOarlg anso ft heA lliance
forP rorgess 29
Table2
TotaUln iteSdt atEescn oomiAcs ssitnacet o
LatiAnm erica 40
Tabl3e
Econocm Aisssitancteo LaAtmienr icbay
InetrnaotniaAlg necies 42
Tabl4e
TheI nteArm-erni cDaevelmoepnBta nk
Tabl5e
LatiAnm ericOav'esr aGlrlo wtRha te 67
Tabl6e
LatiAnm ecrani FoerignT rade 70
CHAPTERI
INTROUDCTION
On March1 3, 1961,a t a WhiteH ouser eceptiofno r
LatinA mericadni plomatasn d memberso f Congre,s sPresident
Kennedy "calledo n allt he peopleo f the hemispherteo join
in a new Alliance Prfoogr ress--Aliapnazraa P rogreso--a
vastc ooperativeef fort,u nparalleliend magnitudaen d
nobilitoyf purposet,o satisfyt he basicn eedso f American
peoplef orh omes,w orka nd land,h ealtha nde choole--techo,
l
trabajoy tierra,e aludy eecuela."SeveramlO nthsl ater,
at them eetingosf theI nter-AmericEacno nOmiacn d Social
Oouncialt theM inisteriaLle vel,h eld Puntad el Eate,
Uruguayf romA ugust 5 to 17,1 961, tAhlel iancef or Progress
was officialleys tablishebdy the signingo f the Charter of
Puntad elE steb y representativoefs t wentyA mericanna tions.
Themu ch debateadn do ftenm isunderstoAoldl inacef orP ro�
ress,w hichi s the subjecotf thisp aper,w ast husp roposed
and established.
Thisp aperi s concernepdr imarilwyi tht heA lliance
for Progresasn d willn ota ttemptt o analyzteh ec ircum-
l
Richardp. Stebbinse,d .,D ocumentosn AmericaFno reign
Relations-19(6Nle wY ork:H arpera ndB rothers,1 962), p. 397.
2
stancesl eadingt o itsi ntroduo:tion. a brief
of conditions theU niteds tatesa nd in LatinA merician
the early1 960lsi s necessarfyo ra n understandionfg t he
Alliancaned its relatiotno previouisn ter-Americaang ree­
ments.
*
Throughoutth et wentietche nturyc onditionisn Latin
Americhaa d deteriorateads a rapidleyx pandinpgo pulation:
compoundetdh e problemosf underdevelopmenSto.c ial,
economica,n dp oliticaplr oblempsl agueda llo f LatinA merica.
The concenttriaono f money,p ower,a nd governmenitl lt he
handso f a smallu pperc lassl ed to discontenatm ongt he
masses.W idespread illiteracyc,o ndpiotoiro nosf hOUsin"g
andh ealth,l ow incomesu,n fulfilled riesxipnegc tations,
stagnatioinn rurala reas anodv erburdened centers
keptt he people Economic structbuarseesd
on a fewa griculturaa�ld productfso re xporta nd
a lowp erc apita t we4'ber eakindgo wna ndt he problems
of balanceo f paymentasn di nflatiotnh reatenedG.o verr�ents
wereo ftenu nstablaen du nablet o dealw itht he problems
withint heirc OtL�tries.T hem ilitargye nerallcyo ntrolled
andt errorizetdh e peoplea ndt heirl eaders.T hee ntire
LatinA mericacno ntinenwta s uneasya �dr evolutionsse emed
imminent.
The 195'0s had beena periodo f anxietyf ort he
Uniteds tatesw itht he increastienngs ionosf theG oldW ar.
3
WhenF idelO astro seizpeodw eri n Cubai n January1,9 59,
theU niteds tatesf eltt hreatened Communism
withini ts own hemisphereA.t thist imet hel eaders and
peopleo f the United stbaetceanse aware of obligations
to the peopleo f the underdevelopneadt ions.C onditions
werer ipef ora new departurien inter-Americarne lations
and theA lliancef or Progress wapsr oposeadn de stablished
as a methodo f inter-Americraenl ationfso rt he1 960's.
Ther elatioonf theA lliancfeo r Progrestso previous
United diplomaciyn LatinAm erica is oftend ebated
8 an
question.R elationbse tween the statesan d Latin
_�ericah ad beeng radualliym prOvinsgi ncet he introduction
of the GoodN eighbopro licyi n the1 90's. In 1948t he
3
Organizatioofn Americans tatesw asc reateda,n di t gavea n
organizationaslt ructurteo the principleansd policieosf
inter-Americcaono peratiotnh ath add evelopeodv ert he
years. Duringt he1 950'sU niteds tatesa ssistancteo Latin
America hadi ncreasesdt eadily.I n responsteo the explosive
pressurecsr eatedb y aspirationfsor s ociala nde conomic
justicea.. npdr ogressP,r esidenKtu bitscheokf Brazili n
1958p roposeOdp eratioPna nA mericaa s a broadscale
on sociala nd eoonomidci fficultiesO.n Septembe5r, 1960,
the Aot Bogo't was signed by theU niteds tatesa ndt he
LatinA mericann ations.S ocialp rogresst,h e creatioonf
a ·t8 .."ledc onomigrco wth, andmu ltilateral
cooperatiowne r • In 1960t heI nter-
4
AmericaD�e velopmenBta nkw as establishetdo
e
Act of Bogot•!!.
the Bogot..-ap roposerde gionarle spon-
sibilitayn dc ollaboratifoonr p romotioonf sociald evelop­
menta ndw as calledb y PresidenKte nnedy" ourc harteor f
economiancd sociala dvance,i"t lackedt he properv ehiole
to put it intom otion2. In 1961P residenKte nnedyi ntro­
duoedt heA llianofeo rP rogresass the vehiolet o bring
aboutt hiss ociald evelopment.
PresidenKte nnedyu nderstootdh e problemisn the
LatinA merioacno untrieansd referretdo themi n his
inauguraald dressw henh e said," Too ur sisterr epublics
southo f ourb order,w e offera specialp ledge--tcoo nvert
our good intog oodd eeds--ian new alliancfeo r
progress--atsosistf ree men and gforveeernm entsi n
castingo ff the chainso f poverty3o ,K,ennedyw ast he first
Presidensti nce FrankDloi Rno oseveltto referd irectltyo
4
LatinA merioia n hisi naugural.Thisb espokehi s personal
oonviotioonn behalfo f a sensitivittyo thee merginigs sues.
The Alliancfeo r Progresosf fereda creative and
experimentaaplp roach ftoor eign aid. In it theU nited
2Pan AmerioanU nion,T he Inter-AmericSayns tem
(WashingtonD,. C .: PanA mericaUnn ion,1 963),p o 16.
3stebbinsD,o cumentsp,o 14.
4ArturoM orales-Carri"6Tnh,e G enesiso f the Allianee
for Progress,S"p eechb eforet heM iddleA tlantiRce gional
Conferencoef thAes sociatioofn InternationaRle lations
Clubs,W ashingtonD,. C., Oo2t9., 1965,p . 7.
5
statesa ssumedt hati t couldm akef undsa vailablfeo ra
varietyo f purposes--anndo t simplyf ore conomic matters.
The Alliancaes proposebdy PresidenKte nnedyr eoognized
the aoceptanooef the ideat hatL atinA mericane conomic
ands ociald evelopmenwta s onep roblem requirainn g
integraslo lution.A socialr evolutiobna ckedb y United
statesf oreign aid was proposetdh roughd evelopmental
diplomaoayn dt he Alliancfeo r Progress.
Undert he Alliancteh e Unitsetda tese xpecterde sults
fromt hef oreign aid fundst hatw ered istributedT.h e
LatinA mericanna tionpsl edgedt o taket heirs hareo f the
resposnibilitanyd to workf orr eformsw ithint heirc ountries.
The governments alsoa greedt o workt ogetheurn dert he
Alliance-t�ah inga lmostu nhearodf in LatinA merica.
The Alliancfeo r Progresst,h us,s eemst o represent
a change of policyf orb otht heU niteds tatesa ndt heL atin
Americanc ountriesN.e verb eforeh ad theu niteds tates
attemptetdo underrwitea socialr evolution wiittshf oreign
aid andn everb eforeh ad theL atinAm erican countriehsa da
responsibilittoy w orkf orr eformi n theicro untrieisn
retvxnf orf oreign aid. TheU niteds tates realitzheadt
foreign aid fundsc ouldb e usedf orm oret hane conomic
developmenantd in wayst hatw oulda ffectt hep ersonalli ves
of millionosf people.A newp eriodo f inter-American
relationbse ganw itht hei ntroductioofn the Alliancfeo r
Progress.