Evening star., 1953-09-04
CoIombians. Assert
U. 5. Voice Programs
Miss Objective
BY chorles Fernandez
Foreign Correspondent Of The Star and
the Chicuso Daily News

the Chicago Daily News
CALI, Colombia.-1f you Won
der why we can readily peddle
our soft drinks abroad but some
times find it hard to sell the
United States, consider this par
adox:
In this western section of Co
lombia-next door neighbor to
the vital Panama Canal-the one
man charged with putting over
the United States point Of view
has never been in the United
States.
Furthermore, the sales material
he gets is long on Mickey Mouse
and short on the basic pitch
why we must combat Communist
imperialism.
OF $50 State Department NOV
les currently available for prop
aganda here. only five come to
grips with the Communist issue
and only one deals with Korea.
The others offer entertainment or
purely academic subjects like ag-
riculture, Industry and weather.
Voice BrOadcasts OFF.
Voice of America broadcasts
beamed in Spanish to Latin
America were suspended alto
gether last June-a loss which
would have been greater had the
programming been sharper.
And in Colombia, where an es-
timated IS per cent of the people
can neither read nor write. radio
and the movies are the only
means of mass communication.
AS chief of the United States
Information Agency for the five
far-f1ung states centered around
this bustling city, Guillermo
Rossi is working overtime-and
doing a good job with limited
facilities.
His help consists of one mo-
ton picture operator and one
messenger.
Still, he manages to get seven
translations of United States
newspaper stories to the local
newspapers every day, to record
personally a week half-hour
radio program for transmission
over three stations, and to ar
range for $50 movie ShOWingS
q month.
Wants Trip to U. S.
A former Colombian radio edi-
tor, Mr.. RoSsi joined the in
formation agency in Caracas,
Venezuela, five years ago. There
he learned English in high
school and became acquainted
with the United States by read
Ing books and pumping Ameri-
cans for information.
I've asked to go to the United
States several times" said Mr..
Rossi. Maybe they'll send me
this fall"
Toughest point in Mr.. Rossi's
far-f1ung domain is probably
the rough and tumble Pacific
port of Buenaventura. where
some of the local. citizens don't
look too kindly on Uncle Sam.
Once, after drumming up a
crowd of about 1000 for an
open-air movie showing, Yam
kee hater set fire to the screen.
Rossi grimly replaced it with
another and went on with the
show.
Then" Mr.. Rossi recalled sad
~. II had to show them a movie
on how typhoons are born in the
Pacific"
While the educational films are
fine, Mr.. Rossi takes the view
that there should be a greater
proportion of movies "that go to
the point of what we are trying
to do-the objective"
The same should apply to ra-
dio, which reaches even the re-
moteSt pueblo in this craggly
land of mountains and valleys.
In Manizales-an isolated city
built atop an Andean mountain
20 miles from here-the mayors
wife bemoaned the suspension of
the Voice of America broadcasts.
II listened religiousiy every
night at g." she told me. "I was
a great booster of the programs
and told all my friends. Now
they are in English, so listen to
Switzerland and London. which
have Latin American broadcasts."
She and her husband, Mayor
Jose M. Gomez, said they partic-
ularly missed Dolores Canals
program on health and medicine
and Carlos Videla's "anti-Com-
munist" news commentaries.