Why Nixon Failed in Latin America

...The students, imbued with youthful dynamism, have no goals upon which to focus their energies...

...Army...

...They are countries for whom democracy and liberty are as precious as for Americans or Swedes...

...On the other hand, there is pressure for support of the dictators—i.e., regimes which throw the unions into the hands of cynical Communists and with v/hich U.S...

...corporations, the military have taken power...

...Almost by instinct, when they wished to demonstrate, they knew no other way save violence...

...to support democratic regimes—i.e., regimes that permit the development of independent trade unions which fight for higher wages and even the nationalization of industry...

...3. The double standard: Latin America comprises 20 countries shaped by European culture, onto which in recent years has been grafted the influence of the American "way of life...

...From this, it is easy to jump to the conclusion that Washington favors the dictators and sabotages the democratic regimes...

...little was needed to make the rumor stick...

...We are taken for granted...

...Yet Latin America has been selling most of its raw materials to the U.S...

...Nevertheless, I dare say that the majority of those who reflect public opinion in Latin America share the sentiments—although they keep them under control—which the students in Lima and Caracas expressed openly...

...In 1952, when an unscrupulous candidate wanted to bar the present President of Mexico from the nomination, he promoted the rumor that his rival had collaborated with the "Yankees" at Vera Cruz in 1917...

...4. Unilateral decisions: Recently, Secretary of State Dulles declared— for the first time—that he would consult with Latin American countries to try to find ways by which changes in the prices of Latin American raw materials would work the least damage...

...Furthermore, Latin Americans are accustomed to the fact that the only people in the LT.S...

...for decades...

...as primitives, as "uncivilized" people ready to kill out of jealousy or clan spirit...

...we are economically dependent on the United States...

...who are genuinely interested in their problems are liberals and radicals...

...knows this, and the result is that the Americans don't give a damn for us," a Colombian friend told me...

...Nixon—whether rightly or wrongly—is considered by Latin Americans as anything but a liberal...

...In the wake of these reactions, Washington is now reappraising its Latin American policies...

...The demonstrators in both Lima and Caracas were students, 20 to 25 years old, who have barely begun their political life...

...Since then, we have had the Good Neighbor Policy of Franklin Roosevelt, but this is just a phrase to the students of Lima and Caracas...

...The problem is one that is easily exploited by demagogues...

...policy By Victor Alba Mexico City The anti-Nixon riots in Latin America were stimulated, if not organized, by the Communists...

...The students of Lima and Caracas have never voted, have not had the opportunity to acquire a political education...

...The demonstrations might have been organized differently— through a boycott, through the silence of those who lined the streets through which Nixon passed...

...the same Pedro Estrada was decorated in Washington at the very time that his police force was acting with pitiless ferocity...

...2. U.S...

...It is, therefore, astonishing that American diplomats in South America did not anticipate the unfriendly reactions to his tour...

...lack of interest: Latin Americans are acutely aware of the fact they they are taken for granted in the U.S...

...If this is to have real meaning, it will have to come to grips with the problems stated above in concrete terms, not with hollow words of friendship...

...Let me cite some of them: 1. History: Texas, Vera Cruz in 1917, Nicaragua in the days of San-dino, Haiti, the Dominican Republic before Trujillo, Cuba—all of these remote events still live as memories of "Yankee Imperialism...

...Certainly the Communists gave the demonstrations their particularly offensive form...

...But Latin America faces a number of problems which make the stabilization of democracy impossible: the problems of land, militarism, and economic dependence on the U.S...

...The many coups d'etat, the alternating dictatorships, the incomprehensible political reversals cause Latin Americans to be regarded in the U.S...

...In Latin American eyes, the Yankees are a cold, adolescent people, lacking subtlety and finesse, who rely on force because they are incapable of understanding other peoples...

...Many factors which Americans rarely take into account have contributed over the years to create these hostile feelings...

...Every time a government tries to solve the land problem, to keep the army out of political life, or to take action harmful to certain big U.S...

...corporations can easily work out an arrangement...

...The Communists alone wished to produce something spectacular—and did...

...Thus, for example, last April, the labor federation ORIT warned that certain foreign companies (the oil companies) were cooperating with the military in Venezuela to prepare for a coup d'etat that would prevent the unions from demanding too much and the Government from asking for increased royalties...

...they must abandon reforms and the effort to find solutions for the basic problems of the country...

...Lima till a year-and-a-half ago, Caracas until five months ago lived under brutal dictatorships...

...As everywhere, they are idealists, but there are few serious outlets for their idealism at present...

...Countries like Peru and Venezuela, which have newly regained their liberty, must tread a cautious course: They must appease the military and nationalistic elements who might foment a coup...

...In many cases, American diplomacy has had to reckon with two types of pressure: On the one hand, there is pressure for the U.S...

...The man in the street in Mexico City, Rio, Lima, Buenos Aires, Caracas has begun to realize that his standard of living depends on the prices of cotton, zinc, lead, coffee, oil, sugar and on the import quotas fixed by the U.S...

...On the other hand, every year, students who have never been Communists pay homage to the memory of Sandino or to the "Nine Heroes" who died in 1847 defending Mexico City from the U.S...

...5. Political life: Students have functioned as the barometer of public opinion in Latin America...

...Thus, former Venezuelan dictator Perez Jimenez is now living in Miami along with his chief of police, Pedro Estrada...

...The U.S...

...It is easy to provide one in anti-Americanism, especially since the factors we have cited already predispose them in this direction...