Evening star., 1961-12-16

PlOCCSJ tIle lduleS. leHnpeTd-
lures were in the high 70S.
, Maria Teresa Iannetta Her.
, nandez, 5, presented a bouquet
to Mrs. Kennedy. The girl
underwent a life-saving opera
, tion in Houston. Tex, five
months ago.
Motor Into Caracas
The two presidents, with a
full days program before them
, in their joint efforts to ad-
vance the cause of Mr.. Ken
nedy's alliance for progress
motored into Caracas at a slow
T pace.
, The crowds seemed on the
, small side, with some persons
scared away by all the security
precautions.
On the route, the presiden-
tial limousine passed the cor
ner where Vice President Nixon
was stoned by leftist demon
strators 2l2 years ago. There
was no incident of any kind
j today.
At 1920 am. the two Presi-
dents passed the Simon Bolivar
, Center in downtown Caracas
From windows of the Associated
, Press office, one could see hun
dreds of persons lining the
, Avenida Bolivar. Many cheered
, or applauded as the Presidents
drove by huge United States
and Venezuelan flags strung
| between the twin Bolivar Gen.
ter skyscrapers, % stories high
Three Venezuelan helicopters
constantly circled over the pres
, idential party.
|, Soldiers Line Road
Steel helmeted Venezuelan
. soldiers, in spotted camouflage
uniforms. were posted along
the highway into Caracas. The
! average distance between them
was about Is yards.
The Presidents route led him
to La Carlota Airport. 1t was
arranged to fly him by hell
, copter from there to La Morita,
the site of a project in agrar-
. ian reform of which the Ven
ezuelan government is espe-
cially proud.
The presidential Air Force jet
had taken off from San Juan,
Puerto Rico, at $50 am. G:30
am. EST for the flight of some
500 miles across the Caribbean.
Mr.. Kennedy breakfasted in
private with Gov. Luis Munoz
Marin at La Fortaleza, the
Puerto Rico governors resi-
dence where the President and
the First Lady spent the night.
Mrs. Kennedy dined with Mrs.
Munoz Marin.
Then a helicopter took both
couples to the airport where the
Kennedys went aboard and
headed for Venezuela.
Precautions Taken
/ Officials of both Venezuela
and the United States. mindful
Of the leftist-led mobs which
stoned and spat upon former
Vice President Richard M.
Nixon and his wife in 1858,
expressed confidence that the
security forces would prevent
any flareups.
The Venezuelan Air Force
banned all aircraft from flying
over the Caracas area without
special permission during Mr..
Kennedy's stay. 1t said planes
violating the ban would be
ordered to land and shot down
if they refused.
Mr.. Kennedy's goodwill trip,
aimed at boosting his $40 bill
lion Alliance for Progress pro-
gram for Latin America,
brought a flare-up in the ter
rorism campaign led by Com
munists and pro-Castroites op-
posed to the Betancourt gov
ernment and to its friendship
with the United States.
Night Passes Quietly
But the vast majority of the
capitals 1la million residents
appeared set on honoring the
visitors from the United States.
Midnight passed last night
with an absence of violent ter
rorist acts in the capital for
the first time in many evenings.
Three youngsters burned an
American flag in the only
incident.
Across the country in the big
oil city of Maracaibo, however,
police broke up an attempt by
extremists to dynamite install
lations there. Maracaibo had
been stripped of many of it's
security forces who were sent
to Caracas to bolster garrisons
in the capital.
Informed sources said the
government had called out 400
uniformed police, $500 plain
clothesmen and several thou
sand soldiers to guard Caracas
until Mr.. Kennedy departs early
tomorrow for Bogota, Colombia.
the second and last South
American nation he will visit
before returning to Washing
ton late tomorrow. night.
A platoon of combat-ready
infantrymen stood guard in
front of the United States
Embassy.
Recent Acts of Violence
Terrorist acts in recent days
have included hit-and-run at
tacks with gasoline bombs on
three American-owned stores,
gunpoint seizure for one minute
of a radio station for a verbal
blast at M. Kennedy, wild
pistol firing and an attempt to
set fire to the presses of an
English-language newspaper.
Venezuelan authorities rec
|