John F. Kennedy photo

Remarks at the Techo Housing Project in Bogota.

December 17, 1961

Mr. President:

I have come here today to reply to a speech which your distinguished President gave more than a year ago in Washington: "I do hope," Lleras Camargo said in Washington, "that as we come to understand our reciprocal problems better, by virtue of our same faith in our democratic system and in the creative power of liberty . . . we shall go on shaping in this part of the world a better dwelling place for men."

We have come to this open field today to join in making this a better dwelling place for men. And it is, I know, a source of pride to my people, as I'm sure it is to yours, to see this great effort to provide better housing for our people in this hemisphere.

We all of us believe in freedom. The great fight over the past decade in this hemisphere has been the fight against tyranny and dictatorship in countries which have been part of our sister Republics.

The great fight in the next 10 years, now that we have seen a whole system of new, progressive democracies established--the great fight in the next 10 years will be to make it possible for people to live a productive and fruitful life under a system of freedom. Those of us who love freedom realize that a man is not really free if he doesn't have a roof over his head, or if he cannot educate his children, or if he cannot find work, or if he cannot find security in his old age.

It is our responsibility, in this decade of the sixties, to provide the kind of life for our people that will permit freedom not only to survive but prevail--here and around the world, in every part of our hemisphere, in every part of the globe.

The Alianza para el Progreso is a phrase, but I think its real significance is here in this field. This is a battlefield, and I am glad that the Colombian Government under the leadership of your President and all of the people of this country--joining their efforts with the Inter-American Bank and the United States AID program--are going to see filling this field in the next months and years, home after home for people who desperately need it, schools for people who need to be educated, and a steadily rising standard of living for all of our people.

I therefore want to express my appreciation to all of you for your generosity in permitting us to be here today in Techo. There are other communities such as this across this country and across this hemisphere. And we are going to continue our efforts until in every part of our hemisphere the whole concept of progress and freedom is general.

We wish you success, and we are joined with you in this effort in the future, as we have on so many occasions in the past. We wish you well, and we want you to know that in my country we are committed to this effort, and we shall not desist from it until it has been completed.

Thank you.

Note: The President's opening words "Mr. President" referred to Alberto Lleras Camargo, President of Colombia.

John F. Kennedy, Remarks at the Techo Housing Project in Bogota. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/235849

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