State Visit

"I'll fight for Uruguayan wool in Boston and Uruguayan beef in Chicago," announced President Luis Batlle Berres in Montevideo last week. "I'm going to converse, discuss and fight in a friendly way to defend Uruguayan interests." Thereupon, Batlle Berres and his wife took off for a twelve-day state visit to the U.S., at the special invitation of President Eisenhower. The itinerary was loaded with wreath-layings, state dinners, speeches and sightseeing. But President Batlle (pronounced Bat-zhay) Berres took his finance minister with him, and some serious talk on economic matters--perhaps even U.S. loans--was clearly expectable in Washington, Boston and Chicago.

The U.S. is sure to like Uruguay's President. The nephew, protege and successor of Statesman Jose Batlle y Ordonez (who 50 years ago implanted modern democracy in a country battered by civil war), Batlle Berres, 58, is an engaging blend of hotheaded leader and old-shoe egalitarian. As a newspaper publisher, radio-station operator and politico, he seems to speak authentically for his liberty-loving little (pop. 3,000,000) nation.

But though Uruguay has rare freedom and with it one of Latin America's highest standards of living, it also has mounting financial problems. The national debt total for the past three years is $72,800,000, and the government has plans to borrow another $190 million. Wool sales are lagging behind because of low prices on the world market. A wheat surplus, spurred by government subsidies, is snowballing. To complicate matters, the subsidies have encouraged cattlemen to reduce herds and convert pasture land to wheat. As a result, many of the country's packing and canning plants are idle, and Uruguay has been trying to import beef cattle from Argentina to keep them going. Batlle Berres is sure to have a few words to say about wheat, especially since the U.S., carrying a big surplus itself, is beginning to cut into Uruguay's markets by selling to dollar-short customers such as Brazil, for local currencies (TIME, Nov. 28). U.S. spokesmen for their part may have some polite suggestions about the desirability of whittling down state controls and giving the free economy a chance to run.

Batlle Berres' itinerary calls for a state dinner with Vice President and Mrs. Nixon in Washington, a ticker-tape parade in Manhattan, and a visit with President Eisenhower at Gettysburg. After quick looks at wintry Boston and Chicago, his party will drop in on sunnier Miami. When he returns to Uruguay, Batlle Berres will have less than three months more to serve as President. Then, under the country's Swiss-style, national-council form of government, the No. 2 man in last year's election, Alberto Zubiria, will take over the chairmanship (i.e., the presidency) for one year. But Batlle Berres, on the National Council, will still be well able to reap the benefits of his goodwill trip.

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