Contemporary revolution in Latin America; United States and Latin America, part 1

<v Announcer>The following program is produced by the University of Florida's School of Journalism <v Announcer>and Communications under a grant from the National Educational Television <v Announcer>and Radio Center in cooperation with the National Association of <v Announcer>Educational Broadcasters. <v Music>[Upbeat Latin guitar music plays] <v Announcer>[Music continues in the background] The University of Florida presents: the United States <v Announcer>and Latin America part 1, the 10th in a series of recorded documentary <v Announcer>reports on the contemporary revolution in Latin America. <v Announcer>Your reporter is the distinguished American journalist and editor of the Christian <v Announcer>Science Monitor, Erwin D. <v Announcer>Canham. <v Erwin D. Canham>In today's world, the need for the United States to maintain favorable relations <v Erwin D. Canham>with the 20 Latin American republics is never seriously challenged. <v Erwin D. Canham>In trade and investment, Latin America stands head and shoulders above the rest of the

<v Erwin D. Canham>world in importance to the United States. <v Erwin D. Canham>Two way trade reaches over 8 billion dollars annually. <v Erwin D. Canham>American private investment has passed the 9 billion dollar mark. <v Erwin D. Canham>While our government has invested more than two and one half billions in this region. <v Erwin D. Canham>But perhaps of even more significance is the strategic value of Latin America <v Erwin D. Canham>in the Cold War. <v Erwin D. Canham>Herbert L. Matthews of The New York Times had described this region as <v Erwin D. Canham>"a world at our doorstep" on which, to a considerable degree, we depend <v Erwin D. Canham>for our existence as a world power. <v Erwin D. Canham>"If we were deprived of the raw materials of the area or its markets," continues <v Erwin D. Canham>Mathew's, "our economy and our security would be gravely, perhaps <v Erwin D. Canham>vitally affected." Matthews warns us it is <v Erwin D. Canham>an area where no hostile power can be allowed to gain a foothold for strategically. <v Erwin D. Canham>This is our soft underbelly. <v Erwin D. Canham>The biting criticism and the anti-Yankee-ism leveled by Latin Americans

<v Erwin D. Canham>at the United States, as reported in almost every day's press, is certainly not a new <v Erwin D. Canham>development in our long search for a workable Latin American policy. <v Erwin D. Canham>Indeed, Latin Americans have viewed the United States as a colossus of the North <v Erwin D. Canham>for more than a century and a half. <v Erwin D. Canham>Throughout most of the 19th century and well into the 20th century, much <v Erwin D. Canham>of Latin American literature, including poetry, has been directed against the United <v Erwin D. Canham>States and its policies. Surprisingly enough, however, our relations with Latin <v Erwin D. Canham>America got off to a fairly good start. <v Erwin D. Canham>The United States was the first outside nation to recognize these newly established <v Erwin D. Canham>republics as they fought for and won their independence from Spain, Portugal, <v Erwin D. Canham>and France. The United States, a very young nation, still struggling to maintain <v Erwin D. Canham>its newly won independence, very quickly discovered the strategic importance of this <v Erwin D. Canham>region to its security. In December 1823, we <v Erwin D. Canham>issued a foreign policy statement that has since become known as the Monroe Doctrine.

<v Erwin D. Canham>It was conceived by then Secretary of State John Quincy Adams and delivered as part of <v Erwin D. Canham>President James Monroe's message to Congress. <v Erwin D. Canham>The essence of the doctrine is contained in this one sentence directed toward European <v Erwin D. Canham>powers: <v Unknown Man>"We owe it therefore, to candor and to the amicable relations existing between <v Unknown Man>the United States and those powers to declare that we should consider any attempt <v Unknown Man>on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere <v Unknown Man>as dangerous to our peace and security." <v Erwin D. Canham>The initial reaction of Latin America to the Monroe Doctrine was anything but favorable. <v Erwin D. Canham>Many students of hemispheric affairs see in the doctrine one of the first stumbling <v Erwin D. Canham>blocks in our historically troubled relations with Latin America. <v Unknown Man 2>When the Monroe Doctrine was proclaimed in 1823, there was <v Unknown Man 2>comments all over the Western Hemisphere, as well as all over the world, of course, <v Unknown Man 2>about what our objectives were.

<v Unknown Man 2>And, uh, it didn't take the Latin Americans long to realize that, um, we <v Unknown Man 2>were trying to do something that they, um, didn't quite understand, and, uh, it made <v Unknown Man 2>them suspicious of us immediately, and, uh, the Monroe Doctrine has <v Unknown Man 2>tended to make them, uh, continue in their suspicion of us over the years. <v Erwin D. Canham>Director of the University of Florida School of Inter-American Studies, Dr. A. <v Erwin D. Canham>Curtis Wilgus, discussed the early effects of the Monroe Doctrine with a faculty <v Erwin D. Canham>member. <v Dr. A. Curtis Wilgus>I think when Dr. Worcester, you as professor <v Dr. A. Curtis Wilgus>of history, have a number of comments to make <v Dr. A. Curtis Wilgus>on-on this early period in the 19th century because it was such a critical period. <v Dr. Donald Worcester>Well, Dr. Wilgus, I think, uh, in part, the reaction, the initial reaction <v Dr. Donald Worcester>against the Monroe Doctrine was, uh, based upon disappointment. <v Erwin D. Canham>Dr. Donald Worcester, editor of the Hispanic American Historical Review. <v Dr. Donald Worcester>During the Latin American Wars of Independence, the Latin Americans

<v Dr. Donald Worcester>anticipated and hoped for substantial aid <v Dr. Donald Worcester>from the United States, but no official aid was forthcoming. <v Dr. Donald Worcester>It's true that men like Henry Clay spoke strongly <v Dr. Donald Worcester>in favor of assisting Latin America and statues of him have appeared <v Dr. Donald Worcester>in various of the Latin American countries, but the United States was not in <v Dr. Donald Worcester>a position to help anyone, militarily or economically. <v Dr. Donald Worcester>Basically, this was an attempt to guarantee the security <v Dr. Donald Worcester>of the United States and nothing more. <v Dr. Donald Worcester>It was a unilateral doctrine, as is the case with <v Dr. Donald Worcester>most of the major aspects of any nation's foreign policy. <v Dr. Donald Worcester>Later on, later presidents, uh, interpreted the Monroe <v Dr. Donald Worcester>Doctrine in manners to make it possible <v Dr. Donald Worcester>for-for them to carry out policies which <v Dr. Donald Worcester>may not have, uh, affected directly Western Hemisphere

<v Dr. Donald Worcester>security. <v Announcer>One of those later presidents with a new interpretation for the Monroe Doctrine was <v Announcer>Theodore Roosevelt. His Roosevelt Corollary ushered in an age of <v Announcer>protective imperialism and dollar diplomacy. <v Robert Bradbury>One of the things that we insisted on at that <v Robert Bradbury>time was pretty much the sanctity of American investments. <v Erwin D. Canham>Professor of Latin American economics at the University of Florida, Robert Bradbury, <v Erwin D. Canham>explains the meaning of the Roosevelt Corollary. <v Robert Bradbury>And one of the modifications of the Monroe Doctrine was the <v Robert Bradbury>Roosevelt Corollary that, um, if we <v Robert Bradbury>said under the Monroe Doctrine that a European nation could not intervene <v Robert Bradbury>in Latin American affairs, we were morally responsible to be the collecting agency <v Robert Bradbury>for bad debts, uh, where a Latin American nation <v Robert Bradbury>refused to pay. This led, uh, in the 20th century

<v Robert Bradbury>to our sending marines into Central American republics and into, <v Robert Bradbury>um, Haiti and Santo Domingo in order to collect <v Robert Bradbury>debts. Also, this increase in our <v Robert Bradbury>economic interest in Latin America, and as a result <v Robert Bradbury>of the war with Spain, our acquisition of <v Robert Bradbury>territories overseas force- uh, caused us to be interested <v Robert Bradbury>in the construction of the Panama Canal. <v Erwin D. Canham>The Panama Canal episode is unanimously agreed upon in both North and South America <v Erwin D. Canham>as one of the truly black pages in American history. <v Erwin D. Canham>There is no doubt that the United States intervened in the Panamanian revolt against <v Erwin D. Canham>Colombia, that we prevented Colombian troops from landing there. <v Erwin D. Canham>Dr. Worcester comments on Theodore Roosevelt's role. <v Dr. Donald Worcester>Hasty Teddy said that it was his policy to speak softly <v Dr. Donald Worcester>or walk softly and carry a big stick.

<v Dr. Donald Worcester>And, uh, this sounded amusing at first, but, uh, the- <v Dr. Donald Worcester>after the Panama affair, it was no longer amusing. <v Dr. Donald Worcester>The treaty we signed with Panama after Panamanian independence was probably <v Dr. Donald Worcester>the most rapid action of this sort ever taken by the United States. <v Dr. Donald Worcester>And this is one of the things which, uh, caused some eyebrows <v Dr. Donald Worcester>to be raised with regard to our-our part in the whole affair. <v Erwin D. Canham>It has been written that our intervention in Panama, what with our diplomatic, legal, <v Erwin D. Canham>and financial manipulations, is something that most Americans wish <v Erwin D. Canham>they could forget--without, of course, losing the canal. <v Erwin D. Canham>This episode, as well as other interventions in Mexico, Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic, <v Erwin D. Canham>and Nicaragua have left a legacy of mistrust that still exists <v Erwin D. Canham>in Latin America. <v Erwin D. Canham>By the 1920s, this kind of imperialism did not sit comfortably with the American people. <v Erwin D. Canham>Besides, we had emerged as a stronger nation after World War I, and a sense

<v Erwin D. Canham>of security came over the nation. <v Erwin D. Canham>The Kellogg-Briand pact in 1928 outlawing war <v Erwin D. Canham>remove the po- at least designed to outlaw war, removed the possibility of European <v Erwin D. Canham>intervention in Latin America on paper. <v Erwin D. Canham>And so the stage was set for the good neighbor policy. <v Erwin D. Canham>Franklin Delano Roosevelt was not the first American statesman to use this famous phrase. <v Erwin D. Canham>Over a century before, Secretary of State Henry Clay had used it to describe his Latin <v Erwin D. Canham>American policy. President Lincoln used the phrase "good neighborhood" in a message <v Erwin D. Canham>to the Senate in 1862. <v Erwin D. Canham>President-elect Herbert Hoover, in a goodwill tour through Latin America, promised the <v Erwin D. Canham>Latins that his administration would act as a good neighbor. <v Erwin D. Canham>But it remained for FDR to give the phrase eloquence as well <v Erwin D. Canham>as application. <v Franklin Delano Roosevelt>In the field of world politics, I would dedicate this nation to the policy <v Franklin Delano Roosevelt>of the good neighbor.

<v Franklin Delano Roosevelt>The neighbor who resolutely respects himself, and because he does <v Franklin Delano Roosevelt>so, respects the right of others. <v Franklin Delano Roosevelt>The neighbor who respects his obligations and <v Franklin Delano Roosevelt>respects the sanctity of his agreements in and with a world of neighbors. [Polite applause] <v Jules Dubois>This is Jules Dubois, Latin American correspondent of the Chicago Tribune. <v Jules Dubois>Uh, the Good Neighbor policy, uh, did bring a smile and communication to <v Jules Dubois>Latin America, the famous FDR smile and his <v Jules Dubois>communication; he talked to them regularly and sent emissaries around them. <v Jules Dubois>But the precursor to that Good Neighbor policy was Herbert Hoover. <v Jules Dubois>He's the one who started it rolling, and FDR in his inaugural address <v Jules Dubois>gave it a name and impetus. <v Jules Dubois>Latin Americans love slogans. <v Jules Dubois>They buy slogans as easily as they buy lottery tickets.

<v Jules Dubois>And if we can promote a good slogan and back it up with some effective <v Jules Dubois>measures, then we've got it made. <v Erwin D. Canham>World War II had ended, and as far as Latin America was concerned, so had the good <v Erwin D. Canham>neighbor policy for before a long Cold War and the Marshall Plan established <v Erwin D. Canham>a new focus for United States policy. <v Erwin D. Canham>Faced with the immediate danger of the economic and political collapse of Western Europe, <v Erwin D. Canham>the United States responded in 1948 with the introduction of the Marshall Plan. <v Erwin D. Canham>This massive aid program excluded our southern neighbors. <v Erwin D. Canham>Consequently, Latin American dreams of a continuing wartime industrial boom <v Erwin D. Canham>and prosperity were cruelly shattered. <v Erwin D. Canham>One of the most consistent complaints heard in Latin America. <v Spanish speaking commentator>[Creo que confiamos que la próxima administración norteamericana (crosstalk throughout the simultaneous translation)]. <v Erwin D. Canham>Is that ever since V-J Day, this region has been neglected by <v Erwin D. Canham>Washington. <v Erwin D. Canham>A Colombian businessman and former diplomat described <v Erwin D. Canham>as linked to a group like American newsmen and tells of Colombia's hope for

<v Erwin D. Canham>the future. <v Spanish speaking commentator>[Considerando que los paises latinoamericanos son también <v Spanish speaking commentator>importantes para los Estados Unidos]. <v Translator>They hope and they believe- <v Spanish speaking commentator>[y que no solo ayuda ?inaudible? gana ?inaudible? los paises Europa y los paises cercano, lejano, oriente ?inaudible?]. <v Translator>that the new administration <v Translator>will integrate the American economy <v Translator>in terms of recognizing that the Latin American countries <v Translator>are also very important for the United States, and that <v Translator>consequently-. <v Spanish speaking commentator>[Nosotros a través de nuestra historia ?inaudible? de los Estados Unidos y nos molesta ver los programas de auxilio siempre ?inaudible? siempre ocupados ?inaudible? auxilio y <v Spanish speaking commentator>sobre todo ?inaudible? avión siempre ocupado.] <v Translator>they will not concentrate help as has been done in the past on the countries <v Translator>of Europe and the East, on those countries out in the communist <v Translator>orbit in those areas but will recognized that <v Translator>the Latin Americans and particularly the Colombians have been faithful <v Translator>friends and allies and feel <v Translator>very bad about having been in the last place in relation to programs

<v Translator>not only of help but of mutual cooperation, in terms <v Translator>of global defense. <v Erwin D. Canham>Certainly the dissatisfaction with the United States policies in Latin America has been <v Erwin D. Canham>deeply rooted in economics. <v Erwin D. Canham>The postwar world had created new problems for our sister republics. <v Erwin D. Canham>During the war, because of the United States' is great need for their raw materials and <v Erwin D. Canham>the unavailability of many imports from other parts of the world, Latin America <v Erwin D. Canham>accumulated almost 4.5 billion dollars in gold and foreign <v Erwin D. Canham>exchange holdings. <v Erwin D. Canham>Then, in the wake of postwar inflation, the Latin American nations stood helplessly <v Erwin D. Canham>by as the purchasing power of their dollar reserves dwindled. <v Erwin D. Canham>The Truman administration removed domestic price ceilings. <v Erwin D. Canham>The price of many products which the Latin Americans needed rose sharply. <v Erwin D. Canham>Studies show that Peru, for example, was forced to pay more than twice as much for <v Erwin D. Canham>household appliances, automobiles, and radios as it previously paid before

<v Erwin D. Canham>the war. <v Erwin D. Canham>In addition, Latin Americans somehow felt the United States responsible for the chronic <v Erwin D. Canham>fluctuations in the prices paid for their own basic export products: coffee, <v Erwin D. Canham>metals, cotton, bananas. <v Erwin D. Canham>Technically known as the instability of commodity prices, this condition has <v Erwin D. Canham>non-technical effects that the entire population feels: the pinching of the <v Erwin D. Canham>pocketbook, the tightening of the trouser belt. <v Erwin D. Canham>Latin Americans see themselves caught in the center of a large pair of economic scissors. <v Erwin D. Canham>One blade represents the depressed prices of their commodity products. <v Erwin D. Canham>The other blade is the steadily increasing costs of imports, mostly from the United <v Erwin D. Canham>States. The dean of a medical school near Cali, Colombia, told us of <v Erwin D. Canham>the effect on coffee growers in his country when the price of coffee on the world market <v Erwin D. Canham>dropped nearly 50 percent in less than 5 years. <v Dean of a Medical College Near Cali, Colomubia>That means that those families, those coffee growers, are recieving <v Dean of a Medical College Near Cali, Colomubia>for the same effort half of what they were receiving

<v Dean of a Medical College Near Cali, Colomubia>5 years ago. <v Dean of a Medical College Near Cali, Colomubia>And they are importing goods from the States <v Dean of a Medical College Near Cali, Colomubia>at about 40 percent more, probably, the cost because <v Dean of a Medical College Near Cali, Colomubia>farming equipment, machinery, and all the things that we need have been <v Dean of a Medical College Near Cali, Colomubia>slowly, slowly going up in price, and our <v Dean of a Medical College Near Cali, Colomubia>money is going down. <v Dean of a Medical College Near Cali, Colomubia>So really, they- these people are receiving about <v Dean of a Medical College Near Cali, Colomubia>25 percent of what they were recieving 5 years ago <v Dean of a Medical College Near Cali, Colomubia>for the same effort. <v Dean of a Medical College Near Cali, Colomubia>That tends to create bad feelings, of course. <v Erwin D. Canham>During most of the postwar period when aid was forthcoming from the United States, it <v Erwin D. Canham>was rather likely to be military aid. <v Erwin D. Canham>This may have pleased the Latin American militarist, but it certainly built up resentment <v Erwin D. Canham>on the part of those citizens who were trying to raise their country's level of living. <v Erwin D. Canham>Men like Dr. Gabriel Velásquez, former minister of public health <v Erwin D. Canham>and past director of education in the Department of Valle in Colombia, who has this to

<v Erwin D. Canham>say. <v Speaker>Official aid in the past years, with <v Speaker>some exceptions, was for military aid. <v Speaker>A- I remember an anecdote about 4 or 5 years ago <v Speaker>while we were struggling in requesting money for <v Speaker>improving education, health, even in loans. <v Speaker>I was invited to see a demonstration of aid. <v Speaker>Oh, then you'd get that were given a very low price to our <v Speaker>government. And one of the military at the proudly came to me and <v Speaker>said, "What do you think of this beautiful jet given for such <v Speaker>a small price?" And I said, "Well, I dream of 8 universities <v Speaker>that I can build with the same amount of money." Each of those was about a million <v Speaker>dollars. <v Erwin D. Canham>United States military aid to Latin America was part of our program to arm

<v Erwin D. Canham>our friends in the struggle against communism. <v Erwin D. Canham>This had been the chief concern of our foreign policy since 1947, when President Truman <v Erwin D. Canham>said, in effect, that we would have to defend ourselves at great distances rather <v Erwin D. Canham>than waiting to meet a communist threat on our beaches. <v Erwin D. Canham>A direct result of this exclusively anti-communist policy was the support <v Erwin D. Canham>and the appearance of support which we gave to cruel, corrupt dictators <v Erwin D. Canham>by professing to be anti-communist, dictators such as Batista in Cuba, Trujillo in <v Erwin D. Canham>the Dominican Republic, Perón in Argentina, Somoza in Nicaragua, Pérez <v Erwin D. Canham>Jiménez in Venezuela. <v Erwin D. Canham>These men, despised by their people, were able to secure the favor of <v Erwin D. Canham>the United States. Even as late as December 1960, a noted Latin American <v Erwin D. Canham>advocate of democracy, José Figueres, could berate an American audience <v Erwin D. Canham>for embracing dictators. <v Jose Figueres>The United States have had too much complacency, too much, uh, <v Jose Figueres>even, uh, connivance with the regimes that were hated

<v Jose Figueres>with the people. And the United States has, uh, overlooked <v Jose Figueres>Latin America in this terrible attitude of not knowing what <v Jose Figueres>is going on. I'm not making any distinction between a democratic movement <v Jose Figueres>and a dictatorial one in not knowing who the leaders were, <v Jose Figueres>in not knowing what was going on, who wants honest, uh, reform, <v Jose Figueres>honest- an honest, uh, and democratic social movement and who is what. <v Speaker>I think that the purpose of the United States in doing this, that is maintaining <v Speaker>dictators, is to keep Latin America from communism. <v Erwin D. Canham>Mario Ariet, a Cuban exile attending the University of Florida. <v Erwin D. Canham>His is typical of student opinion throughout Latin America. <v Speaker>But I would say that that just creates resentment on the part of the <v Speaker>Latin American countries. I could cite, for instance, the example of Nicaragua, <v Speaker>where the sons of a former dictator, Somoza, are now dictators

<v Speaker>of the country. This former dictator, Somoza, was setting power by the United <v Speaker>States, and they live on a hill which is on top <v Speaker>of the city of Managua, the capital of Nicaragua. <v Speaker>And this hill is all surrounded by tanks and military force. <v Speaker>And the only other building besides the <v Speaker>residents of East, almost as is the United States embassy, which is inside <v Speaker>that military fence there. <v Speaker>So that creates an identification between the dictators which are hated by the people <v Speaker>and the United States. Naturally, when those dictators are overthrown, <v Speaker>then the natural reaction of the people is against the United States and toward <v Speaker>the only other leading country in the world, namely rush-hour <v Speaker>communism. <v Erwin D. Canham>Another factor helping to create a climate of anti-Americanism was the failure of <v Erwin D. Canham>many Latin Americans to make a distinction between American businessmen and the United

<v Erwin D. Canham>States government. A few horrible examples among the many shining ones <v Erwin D. Canham>in our business community operating in Latin America gave the United States a black eye <v Erwin D. Canham>difficult to live down. <v Speaker>In general, the ill feelings come from a mutual lack of understanding. <v Speaker>Observations from a Chilean born assistant editor of the McGraw Hill Trade Magazine. <v Speaker>Industria Sankyo gassie to a. <v Speaker>General of the Americans who are sent to Latin America. <v Speaker>Do not know the language, nor do they make much of an attempt to learn <v Speaker>it while they-they arrive there. The Americans are usually <v Speaker>sent on short, short time assignments without a proper orientation <v Speaker>program here in the United States before they go down there. <v Speaker>Investment of dollars in Brazil <v Speaker>has taken on a form which is not <v Speaker>very healthy. Criticism from one of Brazil's most successful businessmen <v Speaker>and industrialists, Antonio buying to a company could

<v Speaker>come to Brazil, especially after the Second World War, <v Speaker>when the United States is practically a monopoly on world trade and the ability to <v Speaker>deliver manufactured goods and practically <v Speaker>make the profit which it wanted make. <v Speaker>And inasmuch as the Sherman antitrust laws <v Speaker>do not go beyond the boundaries of the United States, this enables <v Speaker>certain American firms to get together <v Speaker>on the local market, as they probably did in all foreign countries, <v Speaker>and have a different set of rules for their foreign business from what they <v Speaker>had in their domestic company. <v Erwin D. Canham>A Brazilian director of Willis Overland of Brazil tells us what sort of American <v Erwin D. Canham>company his country would welcome and what kind should stay out.

<v Speaker>It is only a question of confidence and different proposal <v Speaker>coming to establish an industry and not a fly <v Speaker>by night outfit to come and make a quick profit and get the hell out. <v Erwin D. Canham>We've been listening to the nature of the resentment Latin Americans had against our <v Erwin D. Canham>foreign policy, a resentment that had been building up under both the Truman <v Erwin D. Canham>and Eisenhower administrations. <v Erwin D. Canham>These were the widespread feelings of Latin Americans in the spring of 1958, when Vice <v Erwin D. Canham>President Richard M. Nixon set off for a goodwill tour of South America. <v Erwin D. Canham>Was the State Department aware of how Latin America felt? <v Erwin D. Canham>The time: 2 months before the Nixon trip, the scene: hearing room of the <v Erwin D. Canham>Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. <v Erwin D. Canham>The questioner: Senator William Fulbright, Democrat of Arkansas: "Do you believe, <v Erwin D. Canham>Mr. Rowbottom, that there is widespread discontent in Latin America with the United <v Erwin D. Canham>States policies?" Answer from Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, <v Erwin D. Canham>Roy Rubottom: "No, sir, I do not."

<v Wells Church, News Correspondent>No one in Washington realized clearly how deep the resentment was against United States <v Wells Church, News Correspondent>policy when Vice President Richard Nixon took off on an 18 day tour <v Wells Church, News Correspondent>of Latin America this spring. <v Wells Church, News Correspondent>But it began to show early in the trip. <v Erwin D. Canham>Correspondent Wells Church, who accompanied Nixon, reporting his observations later that <v Erwin D. Canham>year over CBS Radio. <v Wells Church, News Correspondent>We noticed that in Uruguay, in Argentina, Paraguay, and Bolivia, the crowds were quite <v Wells Church, News Correspondent>cool and the Latin reporters questions sometimes hostile. <v Wells Church, News Correspondent>And in Lima, Peru, the first demonstrations broke out. <v Wells Church, News Correspondent>[Yelling in the background] The vise president was stoned and spat upon. <v Wells Church, News Correspondent>The violence reached a crescendo when Mr. Nixon arrived in Caracas, the capital of <v Wells Church, News Correspondent>Venezuela. There, the Vice President's car was rushed by the mob, which <v Wells Church, News Correspondent>was obviously led by communists and communist sympathizers. <v Wells Church, News Correspondent>They threw rocks, shattering the limousine's glass windows, and Mr. Nixon's very <v Wells Church, News Correspondent>life was in danger. And afterward, he told reporters what went through his mind

<v Wells Church, News Correspondent>at that very moment. <v Richard Nixon>My thoughts were with regard, what are you going to do in the next minute? <v Richard Nixon>The next 5 minutes? Uh, you don't think in terms of, uh, world politics <v Richard Nixon>and hemispheric problems [Audience laughs] when somebody is banging on your window. <v Wells Church, News Correspondent>The Vice President also expressed a philosophy that must guide the United States in <v Wells Church, News Correspondent>its relations with countries of Latin and South America. <v Richard Nixon>One rule we must never forget in international relations, as well as <v Richard Nixon>in political or business affairs, is that we must never take our friends <v Richard Nixon>for granted. What we must get across there, <v Richard Nixon>as well as in other parts of the world, is this very simple message <v Richard Nixon>that we, the government, the people of the United States, want for other peoples <v Richard Nixon>just what we have for ourselves: independence for our country, <v Richard Nixon>freedom for our people, and the greatest <v Richard Nixon>possibilities for economic progress that can be devised.

<v Richard Nixon>[Applause] <v Erwin D. Canham>One of the repercussions of the entire affair was a sweeping study of our <v Erwin D. Canham>relations with our neighbors to the south and a reappraisal of the aid programs we <v Erwin D. Canham>sponsor in Latin America. <v Erwin D. Canham>Some of the changes resulting from the hard look we were forced to take in ourselves as a <v Erwin D. Canham>result of the attacks on Vice President Nixon are certain to have an effect <v Erwin D. Canham>reaching long into the future. <v Erwin D. Canham>Looking at the Nixon trip with all the advantage that comes with hindsight, it's not <v Erwin D. Canham>possible to say it gave our Latin American policy a new direction. <v Erwin D. Canham>As a direct result of his jolting experience, Mr. Nixon came to a number of reasonable <v Erwin D. Canham>conclusions and policy ideas. <v Erwin D. Canham>One was a new formula for handling dictators: a cool <v Erwin D. Canham>handshake, leaving the embrace--the abrazo--for our <v Erwin D. Canham>democratic friends. <v Erwin D. Canham>Mr. Nixon believed a widespread misunderstanding of our motives existed in Latin America. <v Erwin D. Canham>He believed that our diplomats were woefully out of tune with Latin American opinion

<v Erwin D. Canham>because of too much contact with the elite, not enough contact with the political <v Erwin D. Canham>opposition, labor leaders, the people. <v Erwin D. Canham>He believed that we should try to do something about protecting these nations from wild <v Erwin D. Canham>fluctuations of prices paid for their basic export products. <v Erwin D. Canham>And finally, he believed the United States should assert its Democratic leadership more <v Erwin D. Canham>vigorously in Latin America in order to stem the tide of communism's rising appeal. <v Erwin D. Canham>Mr. Nixon felt if the trip had called attention of our government and our people <v Erwin D. Canham>to the pressing problems of Latin America, then it was well worth those agonizing <v Erwin D. Canham>moments in Caracas. <v Erwin D. Canham>Next week's program will examine the evolution of our current Latin American <v Erwin D. Canham>policy. <v Announcer>[Upbeat latin guitar music plays in the background] The United States and Latin America, <v Announcer>part 1 is the 10th in a series of weekly documentary reports on the

<v Announcer>contemporary revolution in Latin America. <v Announcer>The program is narrated by the distinguished journalist and editor of the Christian <v Announcer>Science Monitor, Erwin D Canham. <v Announcer>The series is produced in cooperation with the University of Florida School <v Announcer>of Inter-American Studies. [Music continues] <v Announcer>You may receive without charge the text of today's program by writing this station. <v Announcer>Today's report was based in part on material appearing in the publication: the United <v Announcer>States and Latin America, published by the American Assembly, Columbia <v Announcer>University. This program was prepared and recorded by Will Lewis <v Announcer>for Radio Center, School of Journalism and Communications, University <v Announcer>of Florida, Gainesville under a grant from the National Educational Television <v Announcer>and Radio Center and is being distributed by the National Association of

<v Announcer>Educational Broadcasters. <v Announcer>This is the NAEB radio network.