Economic and Social Council.15 At Bogotá it was recognized for the first time that the social problem demands immediate attention-that we cannot wait for present conditions to improve as a consequence of economic development, as people used to believe. The doctrine of the Alliance for Progress went further, declaring that the economic product should be increased not just for the benefit of the higher-income sectors but for that of the entire national community, and the speeding-up of tax- and land-reform projects was recommended. We are thus confronting a new revolutionary movement that seeks to complete the work of emancipation begun by the wars of independence. But, taking our inspiration from the thinking of the founders of our republics, we want to perform this enormous task of reconstruction of the American community through the channels of legal evolution, within an order of peace and democracy. The Alliance for Progress, then, is not a plan offered to Latin America but a plan that translates and puts into effect Latin America's own doctrine. It is a project, summing up the aspirations of many years, that can now-with the enthusiastic support of the United States-take concrete form. Committed as they must be to realizing their own destinies, the American republics can now set to work, if they so desire, with the necessary tools and financial resources. To be most successful, the enterprise must arouse the interest of all social groups and must find its way to the last American, overcoming skepticism, mistrust, indifference, selfishness, and the inertia that always opposes change. We must courageously and resolutely face a world that is ever more complex, in which the science and technology that hasten progress also force profound modifications in ways of life and methods of production. The job we have undertaken obliges us to think of another aspect vital to the fullest achievement of the Alliance's objectives: How can the economic, and hence the political, stability of Latin America be maintained at a stage in its development when it is almost totally dependent on the sale of its basic products? There are many causes of the persistent malaise in this connection. The consumers of Latin American primary products are concentrated in a very few countries. Between 1937 and 1960 the volume of world exports increased by 111 per cent, while Latin American exports rose by only 33 per cent. Except for petroleum, between 1920 and 1960 Latin America's share in world rawmaterial exports declined and during the fifties those products constituted 75 per cent of the region's total exports. To all this must be added the steady drop in their prices, except during the short period of the Korean war. This downward trend continues to the present day, with excessive fluctuations in foreign exchange receipts from these sales. Besides such adverse factors as poor crops, surpluses, and competition from synthetic substitutes, there is the added problem of new producing areas to aggravate the situation of Latin America's rawmaterial trade. I need only cite the growing competition of similar products from Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Among its objectives the Alliance for Progress formulated some concrete ideas, which were approved as resolutions appended to the Charter of Punta del Este. Means of putting them into practice were immediately considered by the InterAmerican Economic and Social Council. This organ met at the expert level in Washington in November and December 1961 and devoted much of its work to the problems of basic export products, with special attention to the effects of the European Common Market on the Latin American economies.10 Active representation of the OAS in Europe is indispensable today as an aid in defending the vital interests of the hemisphere. Such action by our Organization on a permanent basis is contemplated as an integral part of the Alliance, not only to attend to the problems of trade in raw materials but also to promote technical cooperation from outside the hemisphere and to participate in the attempts to win the support of capital-exporting countries for American development. Our permanent relations with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and European Economic Community are aimed at achiev 15 See ibid., 1960, pp. 293-300. 10 See post, doc. 153. ing better understanding between continents and peoples that are united, not separated, by the Atlantic. Finally, in industrialization projects and economic-integration agreements the Alliance has effective means for accelerating the development plan, for it is only through balanced diversification of the economic structures and industrial employment to absorb the population growth that New World prosperity can be consolidated and the ultimate goal of a Latin American common market reached. Only thus can Latin America find itself as a strong human, cultural, and economic force and take its place, along with the United States and Europe, in the great Atlantic triangle. The Charter of Bogotá endowed the Organization of American States with great flexibility, defining it as a permanent body to achieve an order of peace and justice, promote hemisphere solidarity, strengthen collaboration, and defend the sovereignty and independence of the member states. This has made it possible for the regional institutions to progress within the framework of a basic structure, without any necessity for fundamental changes in the constitution. The very life of the member states and the situations they face owing to changing circumstances require unceasing growth in the international agencies. In juridical and political affairs, the OAS Council is acquiring ever-greater responsibilities. The member countries have become accustomed to looking upon this organ as an enormously valuable instrument for attending to a variety of problems that affect the functioning of the inter-American system and the solidarity and general well-being of our peoples. That had been the view of the Chapultepec Conference of 1945, which recommended giving the Council attributes much broader than it possesses at present." 17 In signing the Charter of Bogotá, however, the Ninth International Conference of American States limited the Council's jurisdiction. In the matter of peaceful settlement of disputes, its powers were restricted to very precise situations: when it acts provisionally as Organ of Consultation, in accordance with the Charter itself or through the application of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance," and when it is expressly authorized by the terms of the American Treaty on Pacific Settlement (called the Pact of Bogotá).1 In 1954 the Tenth Inter-American Conference made an effort to widen the powers of the Council. A resolution approved there assigned new matters to it, some of them highly important." One of these was to prepare draft agreements at the request of the governments in order to promote inter-American cooperation; another was to submit recommendations to the governments, to the Inter-American Conference, or to the Meeting of Consultation, with regard to the functioning of the Organization. Broader exercise of these attributes could give the Council greater scope for action and open up new perspectives before it. The American Treaty on Pacific Settlement, to which I have referred, authorized the Council, at the request of the party instituting the proceedings, to convoke the Committee on Investigation and Conciliation or to appoint the Arbitration Tribunal, within the provisions of the treaty. Thus the Council may under certain circumstances offer its services to help direct any dispute into the paths of peaceful settlement. Nor should it be forgotten that Article 21 of the OAS Charter, in naming the various peaceful procedures, ends with "those which the parties to the dispute may especially agree upon at any time," a provision that entitles them to call upon the Council for some special procedure if they so desire. It might also be possible for the Inter-American Peace Committee, created by 17 See A Decade of American Foreign Policy: Basic Documents, 1941-1949, pp. 414-421. 19 Text ibid., pp. 421-427. 19 Not in force for the United States; text in Ninth International Conference of American States, etc., pp. 186-201. See American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1957, pp. 356–359. 20 See Res. XLVI of the 10th conference; text in Tenth Inter-American Conference, Caracas, Venezuela, March 1-28, 1954: Report of the Delegation of the United States of America, With Related Documents (Department of State publication 5692), pp. 116-117. Doc. 75 a resolution of the Second Meeting of Consultation (1940)," to link itself directly to the Council rather than-as at present-to remain totally outside its orbit. The Peace Committee is empowered to suggest measures and steps leading to the pacific settlement of disputes, but now it may act only at the request of one of the directly interested parties and with prior consent from the other or others. The Committee should be constantly on guard to see that conflicts or controversies between states are settled as quickly as possible. 22 The Council could make use of the Peace Committee's services; all that is required is for the Statutes of the Committee to be amended by a resolution of the Organ of Consultation or the Inter-American Conference. The expansion of OAS activities arises out of the increasing urgency of the problems related to the welfare of the American peoples. The new functions in this field assumed by the General Secretariat have consolidated the Pan American Union's position as central, permanent organ of the system. Through technical cooperation, fellowship programs, advisory services, scientific development, education, and finally the Alliance for Progress in all its aspects, the Union is working constantly on the actual soil of the member countries and coming into direct contact with all their social groups. The authority given to the Secretary General by Article 81 of the OAS Charter to participate in the deliberations of all the organs of the regional organization truly imposes a delicate responsibility and should be exercised in a positive fashion consistent with the high aims of the Organization. There is no question that the admission to the OAS of new member states will have to be considered in the future. This will be another way of opening new horizons and extending the benefits of cooperation to new areas of the hemisphere whose populations would like to enjoy them. New aspects of culture, new types of political experience, new forms of civilization will become part of our regional organization, and it will present a picture far exceeding the expectations of those who first visualized it. As I have already pointed out, social change and the pressure of public opinion on our conference debates and on the activities of our organizations have obviously produced a need for substantial alterations in the mechanisms available to us. The Alliance for Progress itself has not overlooked the fact that we must call upon the public opinion of the hemisphere, and especially the trade unions, labor organizations, and student associations, to become aware of the social implications of the Alliance and to take an active part in the dissemination of information on its objectives and in the discussion and execution of its programs. We are entering upon this path. With respect to labor, for example, we have begun to work closely not only with international agencies such as the International Labour Organisation and with the governments, but also with regional agencies, the unions themselves, and industry and other private interests. The ramifications of our present activities, and the need for the collaboration of every segment of the hemisphere's social and political structure, lead us to an important question: how can we establish more direct contact with the legislatures and political parties, which directly express the will of the people? The experience of Europe shows us the benefits of greater understanding, on an international scale, between the political parties and the associations working toward social and economic development, especially in the achievement of economic and political integration. I believe these experiences should be fully taken into account in the Inter-American system. As Latin American economic integration-now under way-advances, it will be more and more urgent that we face up to the development of European integration and above all to the consequences of its common market. The participation of political parties in the organs of European integration has been of the utmost effectiveness in accelerating the movement toward politi "See American Foreign Policy, 1950-1955: Basic Documents, pp. 1285–1286. 23 Text in American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1956, pp. 323–326. cal union. One of the organs of the European Community is an advisory parliamentary assembly, composed of representatives of the legislatures and empowered to discuss economic, social, cultural, scientific, legal, and administrative questions and also to promote respect for human rights. The various structures that have been created in Europe with a view to effective union are backed, as communities of different orders, by the political forces, in a supra-national parliamentary action. For this reason the European Community is on the road to becoming much more than a customs union. Quite often, nowadays, members of the national legislatures are included in the countries' delegations to the Inter-American Conference, which should meet every five years. To a degree, this has constituted a form of cooperation between political leaders and our Organization. But the Inter-American Conference which decides the general action and policy of the OAS, determines the structure and functions of its organs, and may consider any other matter pertaining to friendly relations among the member states-meets only at very long intervals. In my opinion, we need a permanent parliamentary organ, of a consultative or advisory nature, that would link the OAS more directly to legislative action and give political leaders a major role in connection with the agencies of the regional system. An advisory parliamentary body, following from close at hand the matters most important to the OAS, would strengthen our regional system. In particular, it could collaborate in OAS efforts to safeguard individual liberties and consolidate democratic regimes. It has been said that to transform the Alliance for Progress into a hemispherewide plan there must also be an alliance of legislators, for after all it is they who must decide upon the legal reforms demanded by the Alliance. The supranational work of the political parties will be one of the main factors in making the principles of the Charter and the objectives of the Alliance more effective. The OAS has engaged itself in a vital undertaking to strengthen democracy and to advance on all fronts, removing the obstacles in the way of progress. The difficulties must not be ignored. We must admit the alternatives and even the stumbling blocks. But, to conquer discouragement, let us remember the concept of Robert Frost, who recognizes that "the most exciting movement in nature is not progress, advance, but expansion and contraction; the opening and shutting of the eye, the hand, the heart, the mind." Unswerving confidence in America assures the fulfillment of our responsibility. 76. THE BUDGET OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES FOR THE FISCAL YEAR JULY 1, 1961-JUNE 30, 1962: Resolution Approved by the Council of the OAS, February 15, 1961 23 THE COUNCIL OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES RESOLVES: 1. To approve the work program presented by the Secretary General in the Proposed Program and Budget for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1962,24 in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 3 of this resolution. 2. To appropriate $9,538,583 to meet the expenditures for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1962, and $236,417 to reimburse the Working Capital Fund, as follows: OAS doc. OEA/Ser. G/III/C-sa-399 (English), pp. 10-12. 24 OAS docs. OEA/Ser. G/III/C-i-493 and 511. 7. Department of Technical Cooperation 8. Office of Council and Conference Secretariat Services 9. Office of Publication Services 10. Office of Financial Services 11. Common Staff Costs 12. Common Services 13. Permanent Equipment 14. Debt Service 15. Contingencies Sub-total Pan American Union 16. Inter-American Defense Board Total Reimbursement to Working Capital Fund: Amount to meet expenditures in connection with Amount required to meet expenditures in con- TOTAL $56, 521 1,689, 740 522, 324 628, 831 435, 925 1,063, 525 307, 355 103, 405 91, 922 45,000 $9, 241, 099 297, 484 $9,538, 583 3. Not to authorize any expenditures in connection with the appropriations for the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and the Division of Philosophy and Letters of the Department of Cultural Affairs, until the revised program and budget to be presented by the Secretary General has been approved by the Council of the Organization.26 4. To authorize the Secretary General: a. To transfer credits from Chapter 15 (Contingencies) to other chapters, and to use them to meet unforeseen requirements. b. To transfer credits, not to exceed 5 per cent of the total appropriations for the chapter from which the credits are taken, to other chapters of the budget, provided that no approved program is eliminated or substantially changed thereby. In case any transfer exceeds the aforesaid 5 per cent, the Secretary General shall obtain the prior ap25 Texts in American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1959, pp. 407-431. The OAS Council subsequently, on June 29 and Dec. 20, 1961, approved resolutions authorizing expenditures of $56,480 and $2.042,218 for the Division of Philosophy and Letters and for the economic and social program, respectively. 26 |