Boss for the Alliance

"No long-range program is more important to U.S. foreign policy than the Alliance for Progress. On its rapid and successful implementation depends, to a large extent, the future of freedom in this hemisphere." So saying, President Kennedy last week chose a man to run the U.S. end of the Alliance and help make it a going concern. His choice: Jose Teodoro Moscoso, 50, the Puerto Rican economic planner who was in large measure responsible for the success of the island commonwealth's Operation Bootstrap and now serves ably as U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela.*

Though a few hypersensitive Latin Americans may not be pleased to deal with a man from a small--sometimes belittled--U.S. territory, there is an undeniable logic to Kennedy's decision. For all the noble sentiments expressed at the Punta del Este conference in Uruguay-last August, the Alliance will work only if U.S. aid ($20 billion promised over the next ten years) is matched by thoroughgoing reform throughout Latin America. In Puerto Rico, Moscoso was the business end of just such a partnership. While liberal Governor Luis Munoz Marin cleared slums, built hospitals and educated his people. Moscoso went out and planted industrial seeds.

A successful businessman (wholesale drugs) in his own right. Moscoso knew what Puerto Rico had that mainland investors wanted: a stable government, good transportation facilities, a large, increasingly skilled and relatively low-cost labor market. By offering generous tax exemption as well, he encouraged 834 companies to invest more than $500 million in the island; the island's economy shot ahead until today its $622 annual per capita income is more than double the Latin American average.

Moscoso is the first to understand that what worked in Puerto Rico, with its special commonwealth ties to the U.S., is not necessarily the solution for the rest of Latin America. But he does insist that a common foundation exists, and that is "a sense of purpose and an understanding of the sacrifices needed.'' From Puerto Rico's experience, he spells out three prerequisites for development:

-"A sound governmental structure with adequate planning, budgeting, personnel and auditing departments.''

-"Education. We must have brainpower, and the first step in its development is literacy."

-"Social justice, which would see to it that the fruits of the new efforts were justly distributed. How? Through expansion of public services in health, education, housing, etc. Tax reforms and land reforms would also be part of this arsenal."

At the Punta del Este conference three months ago, every Latin American nation (except Cuba) agreed to get busy on the necessary reforms. But a fortnight ago, back from a trip through Latin America, one of the Kennedy advisers who helped shape the Alliance said sadly: "I've got to report that the Alliance is not working yet. We've got to light a gigantic bonfire under the Latino ruling classes, and we've got to do it immediately. We had expected the Latins to respond, and they promised they would, but with few exceptions [Venezuela, Colombia, El Salvador] they've done nothing--they're waiting for the U.S. to do it all."

-Moscoso's jaw-cracking new title: Latin American Area Administrator of the Agency for International Development (AID). His rank: equivalent to an Assistant Secretary of State.

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