Joint Statement following Discussions With the President of Ecuador.

HIS EXCELLENCY, Carlos Julio Arosemena Monroy, President of the Republic of Ecuador, has visited Washington as the guest of President Kennedy, with the objective of further strengthening the bonds of friendship and cooperative relations that exist between Ecuador and the United States. During this visit the two Presidents have held conversations in a spirit of cordiality, frankness and understanding, exploring a number of matters of bilateral interest as well as hemispheric and international matters of a wider scope.

In the course of these conversations the two Presidents reaffirmed the friendship which has traditionally united and continues to unite their two countries. This friendship is founded upon their common principles of mutual respect and the concept of juridical equality of States, the effective exercise of representative democracy, and the maintenance of individual liberties and respect for human dignity, which are principles essential for the advancement of nations and the furtherance of social justice.

The two Presidents expressed the importance with which they regard the close ties among the Republics of the Hemisphere and their determination to remain united against aggression and subversion either from within or from outside of the Hemisphere. They rejected the use of force for the settlement of international disputes and agreed upon the necessity to adhere to the principles of law which are applicable to the settlement of international controversies in seeking solutions to problems which may effect the countries and peoples of the Hemisphere, rejecting violence and arbitrary action.

Presidents Kennedy and Arosemena reaffirmed their faith in the Alliance for Progress as an instrument by which the American Republics and peoples can achieve the conditions necessary for their advancement within a framework of developing democratic institutions. They confirmed their adherence to the principles of the Charter of Punta del Este, expressing their determination to carry out the commitments embodied in it. They recognized the need for national planning designed to concentrate the utilization of available resources on objectives of the highest priority for social and economic development and for structural reforms in such fields as agriculture, taxation, and fiscal management, as well as the need for financial and technical assistance from international sources if the objectives of the Alliance for Progress are to be achieved with speed and efficiency.

The two Presidents restated their confidence that the Republic of Ecuador is capable of achieving a high level of economic development in an atmosphere of social equity and justice through the efforts of its own people and Government supplemented by the aid available through international cooperation. They agreed that the achievement of such development would require major changes in the social and economic structure of Ecuador to assure not only steady economic progress, but also a more equitable distribution of the fruits of such progress among the people so that each Ecuadorian may feel that he is simultaneously an agent and a beneficiary of progress.

The Presidents concluded that in view of the present condition and potentialities of the Ecuadorian economy, the current year represents an important period which should witness an intensified effort to work for economic growth.

The two Presidents discussed the problem of the fluctuations of export earnings and agreed that such fluctuations represent a major obstacle to economic growth. They agreed that the stability of such earnings, if accompanied by adequate distribution of their benefits among the people, would represent a factor even more important than external assistance for the growth of the less developed countries. Consequently, the two Presidents were in agreement on the importance of seeking means to reduce such fluctuations. They also recognized the necessity for the more advanced countries to express their spirit of cooperation in a practical manner by following import policies contributing to an expansion in export earnings of the less developed countries, avoiding harmful discrimination and restrictions. In regard to this point, Presidents Kennedy and Arosemena discussed the problems of the exports of bananas, coffee, and cocoa as well as other Ecuadorian products and United States efforts to contribute to price stability and market expansion through such means as the coffee agreement and our activities in the Special Group on Trade in Tropical Products of the GATT.

The Presidents reviewed with satisfaction the progress achieved in the cooperation between the two countries in the execution of various programs and projects in which the Government of Ecuador is engaged. They discussed the special importance of projects for the construction of roads and other investment in transport facilities, forts in the field of agriculture and industry, in which government action will be reinforced by private investment, social development programs such as education, housing, water supply, and sanitary facilities, as well as efforts planned and under way for regional and community development. In examining such projects in the light of internal and external financing available, the two Presidents agreed to make joint efforts to reduce to a minimum delays in effecting external assistance as well as in carrying out internal steps to insure thorough preparations and successful implementation of such development projects. In this regard, the Presidents stressed the importance of cooperation between their Governments to undertake studies and to prepare projects which will permit the improved utilization of internal resources and external assistance and will form the basis for the preparation by the Government of Ecuador of its important General Development Plan to succeed the present shorter range program now being executed.

President Arosemena and President Kennedy reviewed the prospects for holding the Eleventh Inter-American Conference and expressed their hope that circumstances would make possible the timely convocation of the Eleventh Inter-American Conference in the capital of the Republic of Ecuador. They noted that as the host nation Ecuador had from the beginning faithfully complied with its commitment to make physical preparations for the Conference.

The Presidents reiterated their adherence to the principles of liberty which unite the Western World in its struggle against international communism and other despotic doctrines which attempt to destroy the essential values which shape the life of their peoples.

Finally, the Presidents of Ecuador and the United States renewed the expressions of their faith in the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and that of the Organization of American States, proclaiming their loyal and unrestricted adherence to those principles.