Economic Strategy toward Latin America

摘要

Economic and social development are the best deterrents to communist infiltration in Latin America. The social and economic conditions existing in this atmosphere of political instability have not gone unnoticed by the major communist powers. The power and appeal of Marxism in most of the European countries may have waned, but in Latin America it remains a lively alternative. Soviet officials have long regarded Latin America as a principal base for their operations against the United States. Altering the conditions for revolution is of vital concern to the security of the United States. This paper focuses on U.S. economic policy toward the Latin American community. There are various directions that this policy can take. One course is that economic development is best served by the laissez-faire programs of the free market and private enterprise. Another is that the most effective results will be obtained by turning the coordination of the developmental structure over to an international body under the management of the United Nations. A third course is contained in the philosophy that development is strictly a national problem and should be handled by each sovereign nation using bilateral arrangements. A final option is to devote the main thrust of U.S. assistance through regional institutions while decreasing direct identification with the United States. It will be the task of this paper to determine which of these alternatives best serves the United States' interests. The author proposes that U.S. assistance efforts be channeled through the Inter-American Committee for the Alliance for Progress (CIAP). The strategy proposed involves increased authority for CIAP, coordination of private and foreign investment, encouragement of local equity participation in private foreign investment, and preferential trade agreements of a limited nature.