Community for Prosperity

In a well-reasoned speech urging formation of a Latin American common market, U.S. Senator Jacob K. Javits last week argued that only by eliminating internal trade barriers and ultimately integrating their economies will Latin America's 19 nations solve their social and economic problems. Addressing U.S. and Latin American businessmen in Mexico City, the New York Republican pointed out that development of an economic community with unified trade policies and a common external tariff would 1) "greatly increase Latin America's leverage with the industrial countries of Western Europe, North America and Japan in the field of trade," and 2) exert a "powerful pull" on the outside capital that is essential for rapid industrial development.

220 Million Customers. In fact, Javits pointed out, Latin America today may be closer to economic unity than would appear from its many problems. Working toward that goal are the Alliance for Progress, the nine-nation Latin American Free Trade Association, and the five-nation Central American Common Market, as well as such private investment agencies as the Atlantic Community Development Group for Latin America (ADELA), which Javits himself initiated two years ago. He compares Latin America today to the Europe of ten years ago. Then, despite an impressive degree of economic cooperation, a full-fledged, six-nation Common Market seemed a Utopian vision; three years later it was a reality.

Javits foresees a barrier-free trading area stretching from the Rio Grande to Tierra del Fuego and embracing a population of 220 million, with an annual gross national product of $75 billion (v. the European Common Market's 180 million population and $250 billion G.N.P.). The area's sales potential would be so great that Latin Americans would be encouraged to manufacture their raw materials into finished goods themselves, thus not only creating new wealth and new jobs but also freeing the area from its forced dependence on exporting raw materials and importing finished goods. Javits envisions ultimate U.S. and Canadian membership in one vast hemispheric common market.

Considerable Considerations. The significance of Javits' challenging proposals is that they coincide with Administration thinking. As such, they will be given searching scrutiny in Latin American capitals. The Senator counseled against impatience: "We must recognize that Latin America would be trying to achieve in a decade what we in the U.S., after a century of trying, have not perfected--the operation of private business in the public interest."

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