Presidents at Work

Decked out in gleaming tropical whites, Panama's President Ricardo Arias led 18 fellow American Presidents and Presidents-elect into a conference room in Panama City this week to consider a five-point declaration of hemisphere principles. The visitors listened as the document was read in English, Spanish and French, voted their approval, then filed out for a public signing.

The declaration's keynote: "In a world in which the dignity of the individual, his fundamental rights and the spiritual values of mankind are seriously threatened by totalitarian forces alien to the tradition of our peoples and their institutions, America holds steadfastly to its historic mission--to be a bulwark of human liberty and national independence." The main proposal for immediate action: "interAmerican cooperative efforts to seek the solution of economic problems and to raise the living standards of the continent."

When he had signed this Declaration of Panama with the other Presidents, Dwight Eisenhower of the U.S. underscored its meaning and offered a suggestion in the first major speech he has delivered since his June 8 ileitis attack. "Our Organization [of American States]," he said, "has already begun to apply the principle that the material welfare and progress of each member is vital to the well-being of every other. But we can, I think, do more . . . Each of us should name a special representative to join in preparing for us concrete recommendations for making our O.A.S. a more effective instrument in those fields of cooperative effort that affect the welfare of our peoples." Ike suggested "my brother Milton" (see EDUCATION) as the U.S. representative.

Common Problems. In such hopeful words, the visitors agreed on the principles underlying their two-day meeting in Panama's capital to commemorate the first Pan-American conference, called by Simon Bolivar in 1826. Some of the Presidents, practicing strongmen at home, may have been paying lip service to the ideals of the declaration. But many of them genuinely welcomed the chance to meet and talk over common problems in face-to-face relaxation.

At the handsome, modern El Panama hotel, where all the Presidents except Ike and Venezuela's Marcos Perez Jimenez were billeted,/- the informality of a college reunion flourished. To avoid the possibility of hurt feelings, suites identical in size and furnishings were set aside for each chief of state, put under guard and furnished with on-the-house bottles of each President's favorite drink (Spanish "Fundador" brandy for Cuba's Fulgencio Batista, Scotch for Chile's Carlos Ibanez, French cognac for Mexico's Adolfo Ruiz Cortines).

As soon as they arrived, the visiting Presidents fanned out in search of old friends. Chile's Ibanez popped in on Paraguayan President Alfredo Stroessner bright and early the day before the conference; Costa Rica's Jose Figueres dumped his bags in his room and headed for the hotel coffee shop for a chat with a group of old pals. At the first formal meeting at Arias' presidential palace, the informal talks went on.

Friendly Cheers. Aside from the call on President Arias, the only other fixed events on the first-day schedule were a presentation of medals at the palace and a reception at the Union Club. Next day, the formal signing of the declaration of principles preceded an evening session of the O.A.S. in honor of the Presidents, and a glittering reception at the hotel.

As expected, Eisenhower drew the blackest headlines and the loudest cheers, not only because of the physical sacrifice he made to attend (see NATIONAL AFFAIRS) , but because without him, the conference could easily have been a sparsely attended failure. Newsmen, watching the convalescing U.S. President dutifully handle the formal niceties on the first day of the conference, quizzed Press Secretary James Hagerty about his boss's health. Hagerty's answer: "He's not completely recovered, but he wanted to make this trip and take part in these ceremonies."

The reason for such determination was clearly shown on the first day. Before the medal-giving at the palace, Ike dropped in at the hotel, spent quiet half-hours with Mexico's Ruiz Cortines and Guatemala's Carlos Castillo Armas. After the conference was over, Ike planned to stay an extra day to talk with the other Presidents. For Ike, and for most of the other chiefs of state, those intimate talks were the heart of the meeting.

/- Eisenhower stayed at the U.S. embassy, Perez Jimenez at a private residence.

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