Remarks Upon Arrival in Uruguay for the Punta del Este Meeting of American Chiefs of State

President Gestido, Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen:

Mr. President, I appreciate deeply your warm and generous welcome.

This is the first time that I step on South American soil. It is my very great privilege that it should be the land of Artigas.

More than 150 years ago, Artigas said: "La causa de los pueblos no admite la menor de mora--The cause of the people does not admit of the slightest delay."

The same cause brings us here to Punta del Este.

Six years ago a great charter was written in Punta del Este. Under its banner we have moved forward and made progress. 'We are demonstrating that "free men working through institutions of representative democracy can best satisfy man's ambitions."

But we also know that our task is only in its beginning. The experience of the first 6 years of the Alliance tells us where we must quicken the pace.

Diligent work has gone on during the past year in preparing the program which the Presidents will consider at this conference. This program is not a reaction to crisis, but it is a response of farsighted Latin American leadership to the needs of present and future generations.

The progress of our Alliance shows that the initiative is increasingly with Latin America. We in the United States welcome this--as we believe you do. I would repeat what I said to my fellow Presidents last August: "Move boldly along this path and the United States will be at your side."

So Mr. President, I look forward to this conference and to the opportunity it will afford me to exchange views with my fellow Presidents. I believe that personal contact is essential to understanding--and I know that understanding is the foundation of our common effort.

The hemisphere is grateful to your government and your people for opening its doors to all of us. I should like to join my colleagues in saying to you and to your people muchas gracias.