Tangible Tokens

THE PRESIDENCY

Lyndon Johnson began his week by rolling out the red carpet for an Afghan Prime Minister and ended it by throwing a rollicking Texas-style barbecue for 29 Latin American diplomats.

The visitor from Afghanistan was Prime Minister Mohammed Hashim Maiwandwal, whose mission, though officially unofficial, rated full-dress treatment from Johnson. Afghanistan, after all, shares borders with Russia as well as Red China--not to mention Pakistan, India and Iran. There were bands, honor guards, a 19-gun salute, and a sit-down lunch for 140 in the Yellow Oval Room with green turtle soup, Florida red snapper and vanilla Jalalabad, named for the mountain resort that is the Afghans' Aspen. Afterward, during a half-hour talk with the President, Maiwandwal promised that Afghanistan would continue to press for democratic reforms. Johnson, in turn, agreed in principle to make some $40 million in economic aid available to the Kabul government in the next fiscal year--which would bring overall U.S. aid to Afghanistan close to $400 million.

Sensitive in Spanglish. At week's end, accompanied by Lady Bird and Latin ambassadors accredited to the U.S. and to the Organization of American States, the President took off aboard Air Force One for the L.B.J. ranch. There were red bandanas with Texas-shaped clasps for the guests, a tour of the ranch and a historical pageant known as a "Texas Fandangle"--border-country Spanglish for fandango, the frenetic Mexican dance. Lyndon used the weekend to give his guests a high-pressured pitch for San Antonio's 1968 "Hemis-Fair."

So far, only 13 nations have announced plans to participate, and the President is naturally hopeful that the $156 million extravaganza on his back doorstep (70 miles from the ranch) will draw more Latin nations.

The main point of the weekend was to pave the way for next week's hemisphere conference at the Uruguayan resort of Punta del Este, which Johnson plans to attend along with 20 Latin heads of state. At the top of the agenda are talks on joint inter-American programs for developing the basic economies of the nations south of the Rio Grande and on creation of a Latin American common market by 1985.

As an earnest of his interest in hemispheric development, Johnson has asked Congress to adopt a resolution endorsing the common market. He has also requested a more tangible token--a pledge of $1.5 billion in aid over the next five years, in addition to the $1 billion-a-year that is already being given in aid under the Alliance for Progress. Increasingly sensitive to criticism that his Administration is preoccupied by the war, the President hopes to demonstrate at next week's conference that he is as deeply committed to social and economic progress in Latin America as he is in South Viet Nam.

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