Statement by the President at an Informal Meeting With the American Chiefs of State at Punta del Este, Uruguay.

Mr. Chairman, fellow Chiefs of State:

I shall be presenting some thoughts in the agenda of our conference tomorrow; but as we enter into our private discussion of the declaration before us which our Foreign Ministers have prepared, I wish to make a few specific observations.

First, I want to restate my support of the program which you have set for yourselves.

In my message to the Congress on March 13, I recommended increased financial assistance to your countries in the areas covered by the declaration before me: economic integration, multinational projects, agriculture, education, and health. This represents my convictions and my policy today.

The decisions which you make here--and the follow-up action which you take in the months ahead--will enable me to pursue that policy.

Second, I wish to state my country's position on how we might assist in expanding Latin American trade.

Much of our thought and work in the hemisphere has centered in recent years on ways to expand the volume and the value of Latin American exports.

We all know that basically the answer lies in the diversification of agriculture and in making overly protected Latin American industry competitive and efficient. This is one of the reasons that we all support Latin American economic integration.

But we wish to be as helpful as we can in this transitional period in Latin American history.

We are now devoting a major effort to try to make the Kennedy Round negotiations a success. If they succeed, they will help us all--including Latin America.

But the process of freeing trade from unnecessary restrictions will not come to an end when the current important Kennedy Round negotiations are completed.

We have been examining the kind of trade initiatives that the United States should propose in the years ahead. We are convinced that our future trade policy must pay special attention to the needs of the developing countries in Latin America and elsewhere in the world.

We have been exploring with other major industrialized countries what practical steps can be taken to increase the export earnings of all developing countries. We recognize that comparable tariff treatment may not always permit developing countries to advance as rapidly as desired. Temporary tariff advantages for all developing countries by all industrialized countries would be one way to deal with this.

We think this idea is worth pursuing. We will be discussing it further with Members of our Congress, with business and labor leaders, and we will seek the cooperation of other governments in the world trading community to see whether a broad consensus can be reached along these lines.

We also recognize the very special importance for certain Latin American countries of earnings from coffee exports. In our programs for assistance for agricultural development, we are already helping to carry forward the process of diversification-which alone can prevent chronic surpluses. As a further step in this direction, we are prepared to lend $15 million to the proposed international coffee diversification and development fund with the understanding that the coffee producing countries agree to contribute $30-50 million per year over the next 5 years; and to lend up to $15 million more to match contributions by other coffee consuming members of the International Coffee Agreement.

I have been informed of the great importance which you attach to the use of Alliance for Progress funds to finance procurement in other Alliance for Progress countries as well as in the United States. I know that you are all aware of the United States balance of payments problems and we deeply appreciate your cooperation in helping us meet them.

The cooperative nature of our Alliance is very important to me. I want you to know that we shall undertake consultations on this matter. We shall try to establish whether we can agree that aid funds for capital projects and related technical assistance can be used in Alliance for Progress countries in ways which will protect the U.S. balance of payments.

The final point I would make has to do with the declaration which is before us. As the political leaders of our countries we have the responsibility to translate complex issues into understandable language for our peoples. The decisions reached at this meeting are complicated decisions. Though essential to the progress and prosperity of our people, they may seem removed from pressing everyday needs, unless we extract them from the language of the economists and diplomats--on whom we so greatly rely.

I know that when I return home, I shall try to make clear to our people these basic decisions we have made together. And I am sure you will all wish to do the same.