Statement on the 10th Anniversary of the Alliance for Progress.

TEN YEARS ago the United States joined the countries of Latin America in an Alliance for Progress. The occasion of this anniversary gives us an opportunity to reflect upon the achievements and experiences of our cooperative endeavors over the past 10 years to improve the lives of the people of the Americas.

The Charter of Punta del Este, which was signed on August 17, 1961, added to the inter-American system a vital dimension of the concern for the welfare of people. It called for an unprecedented investment of human and financial resources. That investment has been made, and the proof of what our countries have accomplished together is now visible throughout the Americas in increased schooling for millions of children and adults, improved health, rising agricultural productivity, new industries, and a surge forward in transportation, communications, and power. Countless numbers of citizens who had been outside the social and economic mainstream have gained access to opportunity, and economic development and social reform have become the dominant concern of peoples and governments alike.

Despite the great strides made in the past 10 years, we have come to recognize that our work has only begun. We have learned that the complex and difficult problems of economic and social development will not all be solved within the next decade or within the next generation. We have also learned that each nation must take the initiative and primary responsibility for meeting the challenges of its development if progress is to be effective and enduring. We have understood, therefore, that we must establish a more balanced relationship, one which will permit positive collaboration attuned to the realities of the decade we are entering.

The tasks ahead are formidable. Many people in the hemisphere still do not share in the benefits of growth and development. Education, housing, and health care still lag far behind growing needs. Jobs must be found for the unemployed who stand idle in the countryside and strain the resources of overcrowded cities. The nations of the hemisphere must also confront problems unique to our era, whose consequences we have only begun to understand: air and water pollution, the conservation of natural resources, and the continued rapid growth of population.

As we face the challenges ahead, the nations of the Americas can draw strength and guidance from the principles of cooperation and mutual respect, embodied in the Charter of Punta del Este. On this occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Alliance for Progress, I reaffirm the commitment of the United States to those noble principles, and join with our hemispheric partners in rededicating ourselves to the achievement of a better life for our peoples.