Word: alianza
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That criticism is all too valid. From Teddy Roosevelt's big-stick diplomacy to Franklin Roosevelt's genial Good Neighbor policy to John Kennedy's ambitious but disappointing Alianza para el Progreso, the U.S. has long tended to treat Latin America like an entity. In fact, the area never has been and never will be a package deal...
During this entire period, the Alianza para el Progreso remained the top conversational subject in U.S.-Latin American relations. The Alianza pledged $20 billion in aid (mostly U.S.) over ten years, plus a highly ambitious investment of another $8 billion annually from Latin American business and government. As its goal, the Alianza aimed at increasing the per-capita growth rate of each country by a whopping 2.5% a year. To get the cash, each Latin American country would submit a blueprint for social reforms-from schools to housing to tax collection to cutting up the wealthy landowners' huge holdings...
...Alianza has fallen far short of its promises. Few governments have accomplished much toward real reforms; yet nearly all have collected millions of dollars-as "emergency loans." Said Alfonso Gumucio Reyes, Bolivia's Minister of Economy: "To speak the truth, I am not satisfied with the Alianza. It is an engine that is idling. Did it raise too much hope? Kennedy suggested that a miracle was about to happen. But unless this sense of urgency is duly acknowledged, it will be difficult to stem the masses' loss of faith...
...Kinds of Nationalism. Thomas Mann, the Texas pragmatist, still thinks there is hope. "I believe in the Alianza" he says, "But we must not believe that it is going to solve all problems. It is not a panacea. Countries lacking a good internal structure cannot expect to prosper with Alianza help-or, for that matter, with all the money in the world. Each country has to be studied as an individual case with individual idiosyncrasies and approaches. Our intention is to work with anybody who seriously wants to survive...
...Alliance for Progress, so far it has been more a slogan than a policy. The nations and governments of Latin America are vastly disparate, yet many still seem all too ready to consider the Alianza an excuse to sit back and let the U.S. foot the bill for their own shortcomings. In fact, in those Latin American nations where U.S. policy has been successful, it has been due as much to capable on-the-scene ambassadors as to the Washington-directed programs and policymakers...