The Students & the President

The letter President Eisenhower received in Santiago last month from the Federation of Chilean Students was serious in tone, and the President took it seriously. He turned it over to the State Department for a careful answer. Last week the answer, edited by the President himself, was delivered in Santiago to Patricio Fernandez, president of the students' federation.

The students asked Ike to explain U.S. policy in Latin America; in particular, they wanted to know U.S. intentions and attitude towards Cuba. "We know and applaud your recent official declaration, serene and respectful, with regard to the self-determination of the Cuban nation," they wrote. "We are also discouraged by the length of one man's term in office and the lack of institutions based on the will of the people." But the students deplored U.S. press reporting of Cuba, and darkly suspected that Washington plans intervention against Castro on behalf of U.S. sugar companies that own land in Cuba.

The U.S., said Ike, has no intention of intervening, and supports sound land reform. The U.S. did, however, express its firm belief that the attainment of land reform "is not furthered by the failure of the government of Cuba to recognize the legal rights of U.S. citizens who have made investments in Cuba." As for the U.S. press, it "is free to voice its opinions on all matters, whether domestic or foreign; this, you will agree, is a freedom basic to the exercise of democracy. Unfortunately, recent incidents in Cuba make it quite clear that it is dangerous for anyone there to voice opinions which do not conform with government policy.

"In all candor," Ike said, "I must state that many longtime friends of Cuba who were heartened by the ideals expressed by the present leaders of Cuba when they assumed control of the government have been gravely disillusioned by betrayal of the ideals of freedom of expression, equal protection of the laws, and the right freely to choose a representative government."

From Cuba, Castro's newspaper, Revolution, called the letter "an attack on the people of Cuba" and Ike's comments "completely contrary to reality." In Chile, Student Federation President Fernandez called the U.S. statement a "valuable contribution to better understanding between the U.S. and Latin America."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.