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.