Word: alfonsin
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Before accepting an honorary doctor of laws degree from New York University last week, Argentine President Raul Alfonsin breakfasted in New York City with TIME editors and correspondents. Excerpts from the interview...
There were fanfare and tributes aplenty in Washington last week as President Reagan paid homage to a distinguished South American guest, Argentine President Raul Alfonsin. There was also an exchange of sobering messages and differing perceptions. Above all, Alfonsin warned that the heartening tendency he represents, the return of democracy to Latin American nations, is too fragile to be taken for granted. As he put it, "Right next to hope, there is fear in Latin America, the fear that arises from the unsatisfied expectations of our peoples...
...contrast in tone was a recurring feature of Alfonsin's eight-day journey to the U.S., which included his first state visit to Washington since he took office in December 1983. For the White House, welcoming the Argentine President was a chance to salute the hemisphere's democratic transformation, of which Alfonsin, whose election ended nearly eight years of often brutal military dictatorship, is an apt illustration. It was also an opportunity to salve wounds left by U.S. support for Argentina's enemy, Britain, during the 1982 war over the Falkland Islands, which the Argentines call Las Malvinas...
...Alfonsin's concern, however, was both more pressing and more serious: the worsening crisis Argentina faces in trying to cope with a $45 billion foreign debt and a towering 800% annual inflation rate. Thus the main item on Alfonsin's agenda was a plea for more money. He got a sympathetic hearing but apparently not much concrete satisfaction...
...reply the stocky, dignified Alfonsin cited the foreign-debt issue as "one of the biggest differences between our two countries" and told Reagan that overpowering economic problems "conspire against democratic systems." Nonetheless, Alfonsin noted that in conversations with U.S. leaders, "the subject of Nicaragua and Central America will not be absent." He added, in words similar to those he used two days later at a meeting with TIME editors (see box), "I am convinced that it is through dialogue that we will be able to reach peace...