St. Paul recorder., 1963-01-10
alliance For Progress: 4:
U.S.. Has Used
Force 40 Times
In Lo+in America
BY Everett Luoma

ACCOfOAnS 10 rep. clarence
Brown, Republican, Of Ohio, United
States forces have been used some
forty times to preserve American
corporate properties within Latin
America. Castro is symbolic of the
failure Of this policy in the modern
world. The Alliance for Progress,
with its safeguards for American
corporations, is substituted as an
alternative. It's intention Is to give
the working classes Of Latin
America the impression that the
industrial giants are actually look
ing after their welfare to prevent
the taking over Of the corporate
properties by revolutionaries.
Immediately prior to the Span
ish American War, the Washing
ton Post editoriaIzed: "a new
consciousness seems to have come
about US - the consciousness Of
strength - and with It a new ap-
petite, the yearning to show our
strength The taste Of Empire
is in the mouth Of the people as
the taste Of blood in the Jungle" I"
The United States corporate in
terests were apparently successful
in satisfying this taste Of EN-
pire." Carleton Beals, In his '"The
Crime Of Cuba" reports that in
1888, 90% Of the cultivated land Of
Cuba was owned or controlled by
Americans. Capital from the Unit
ed States also owned nearly all
the banks, railroads, streetcar
lines, electric plants, telephone
systems, and other public utilities.
These utilities in other Latin
American countries are also owned
by United States corporations,
serving as a constant reminder of
United States strength.
These holdings make the threat
Of Castro to the United States
very real indeed. AS Herbert Mat
thews reported in the New York
Times (April 26, 1887: IF we
did not have Latin America on our
side, our situation would be des-
perate. To be denied the products
and markets of Latin America
would reduce the us. to being a
second-rate nation and cause a de-
vastating reduction in our stan
dard Of living"
Land in Latin America is In
huge landed estates. One-third of
Paraguay is owned by 25 families
and United States military aid
keeps the dictatorship in power.
In Brazil, 2% of the population
owns 80% Of the land. One estate
in northern Brazil is equal in size
to the state Of Iowa. Despite the
poverty and malnutrition in Brazil,
only 1O% Of the farm and pasture
land is cultivated. The theory Is
that there Is no reason to cultivate
more land because the povertied
mass has no money to buy the pro-
duce with anyway.
A much publici1ed facet Of the
Alliance for Progress Is that in
order to qualify for aid, the re-
ceiving nation must institute some
basic reforms. It is absurd to as
sumo that the landlords will give
up their land without full compen-
sation. This means that the al
ready indebted governments must
buy their own country. Because
Peru proposed too much reform to
satisfy the us. equipped military
of Peru, the military took over the
government. The United States
however found little difficulty in
reaching an agreement with the
ruling military junta.
Because the major holdings Of
the United States corporations
within Latin America are in pub
lie utilities and natural resources,
the Alliance for Progress stipulates
that no United States money can
be used to pay for nationalized
properties. The Alliance for Pro-
gress further stipulates that If any
property is nationalized, full COM
pensation must be given. This
compensation then probably would
end up in foreign banks causing
an even greater drain on the econ
omies Of these countries. Clearly
the Alliance for Progress is not as
radical an approach to Latin
American problems as 1t is made
out to be.