UN General Assembly
1959

162. The concern is with the problem of "underdevelopment", the very serious problem of developing the countries which have only rudimentary economies, Operation Pan-America" places on this aspect the full emphasis required if we are to tackle these difficult but not insoluble problems. 163. The basic proposal is that there should be joint and concerted action by the countries of America to promote their individual national development, to protect the prices of Latin American products on the world market, to conclude agreements on mutual economic assistance and, above all, to raise the spiritual and material level of the people of Latin America through mutual co-operation and a continuous exchange of goods between all our nations. The aim, in brief, is the economic salvation of the nations of this continent. Impelled by these noble aims, "Operation Pan-America" had come to life and can even be said to have become a motto for Latin America.