Grand Slam

When the U.S. slammed the door on Mexican cattle imports last June, Mexicans were hopping mad. Nonsense, they said; those fine Brahma bulls (which they had imported from Brazil) did not have foot & mouth disease. But the bulls did carry the dread disease, and Mexican herds in four central states and the Federal District were infected. Last week, energetic President Aleman set in motion a $40 million, three-month campaign to smash the epidemic. Emergency squads prepared to slaughter and cremate as many as a million head of cattle--one-tenth of Mexico's herds.

In Washington, Department of Agriculture officials announced that the border gates, recently reopened, had been shut again. This time it was a grand slam. To guard U.S. herds, the border might remain closed "for several years." For Mexico's brand-new Government, that was a real jolt. The half million head of cattle that annually went to U.S. markets had meant prosperity for the northern states; and cattle export duties had made up a big chunk of the federal budget.

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