Evening star., 1961-10-22
Mexican Stability
An Encouraging Note

country so that 1t is now a me-
tropolis of over million inhabi-
tantS where skyscrapers, speed
ways, flowers, fountains and lux
urieS abound.
Many Are III Fed
Yet for all its glitter and mo-
dernity. Mexico City appears on
the national scene as a huge
Potemkin's Village behind which
live poverty -sticken millions, ILL
housed, i'll fed, inadequately
clothed and educated.
Millions suffer malnutrition.
Only Is per cent of the nation
has adequate housing. Some 80
per cent go barefoot. There is an
acute shortage Of schools. Only
II per cent of the land is arabic
and only half of that amount is
under cultivation.
Behind these problems is one
of the worlds fastest population
growths, an annual 3.5 per cent
increment, which is putting about
l million new workers into the
labor force each year and is
forcing Mexico to run harder
and faster just to stay in the
same place, let alone to progress.
The need to stay ahead of this
population explosion and to
create greater internal purchas-
ing power has given a certain
feverish quality to the govern
ment's recent efforts to keep the
nations growth going.
So far, since 1910, Mexico's
output of goods and services has
grown twice as fast as the popu-
lation which now stands at about
35,800,000.
In basic foods-the bugaboo Of
most exploding populationS-MeX-
leo has never been more self
sufficient nor had bigger export
crops.
Living Stondords Drive
At the same time, the rate Of
capital formation has risen from
about 10 to Is per cent of the
gross national product.
During the last IL months, the
drive to raise living standards has
been intensified by the Lopez
Mateos administration. Almost
20 per cent Of the budget, some
Sl6l million went for education
which was triple the amount al
located to the armed forces.
In addition to an accelerated
program of school construction,
some II million textbooks will be
given out free this year.
other government programs of
the past year have made four
fifths of the nations malarial
areas free from the disease, have
brought increased revenue from
income tax reforms and have sub
stantially expanded the nations
highways. railroads and petrole-
um capacity.
Below all these activities, how
ever. is a confidence that Mexi-
CO possesses the basic social and
economic foundation to build SOL
idly for the future in a way that
most Of Latin America is not
equipped to do.
This point was made in a re-
cent speech delivered here by DR..
Ramon Beteta, former Mexican
cabinet minister and pro-Ameri-
can director Of NovedadeS, one
of the capitals leading daily
newspapers.
Alliance for Progress
Many Latin American coun-
tries. he declared, do not have
the social and land reforms which
Secretary of the Treasury Dillon
insisted should be a requisite for
effective Alliance for Progress aid
from the United States to de-
velop the Americas and combat
communism.
The tiny minority in these
countries which own vast land
holdings. DR.. Beteta said, would
not voluntarily relinquish their
privileged position merely to pro-
vide the social reform needed to
prevent communism from getting
a hold on the discontented pop
ulace.
Because of this, DR.. Beteta
doubted that there would be
healthy growth in Brazil where,
he said. 80 per cent of the ara
BILE land is in the hands of is
per cent of the population" or in
Peru where 80 families own most
of the arabic land or in Ell
Salvador where IA families are in
the same situation"
Although much remains to be
done in Mexico to expand the
distribution of wealth and create
greater consumer buying power,
many observers here agree with
DR.. Beteta that the widespread
Mexican land and social reforms
make it possible for the nation
to build on a broad and solid
foundation.