Alliance for Progress

The Alliance for Progress was started by U.S. President John F. Kennedy on March 13, 1961. It aimed to build stronger economic ties between the United States and Latin America. The goal was to help Latin American countries grow and develop, and to prevent the spread of communist ideas from Cuba.

Governor Luis Muñoz Marín of Puerto Rico helped advise President Kennedy on Latin American issues. One of his top administrators, Teodoro Moscoso, was chosen to lead the program. The plan was signed at a meeting in Uruguay later that year.

The Alliance for Progress had several important goals. It wanted to help Latin American countries grow their economies, support democratic governments, improve education, keep prices stable, and share wealth more fairly. The plan asked Latin American countries to invest $80 billion over ten years, and the United States promised to help with $20 billion in aid. Although it aimed to improve life for many people, the program faced challenges and did not always achieve all its goals.

Origin and targets

The United States started to build stronger friendships with Latin America in the late 1950s.

In March 1961, President Kennedy announced a big plan to help Latin America grow over the next ten years. He wanted to create a place where everyone could live well and feel proud.

The plan was signed in Punta del Este, Uruguay, in August 1961. It aimed to:

• raise incomes by 2.5% each year,
• build free and fair governments,
• teach everyone to read and write by 1970,
• keep prices steady,
• share wealth more fairly, change laws about land, and
• plan for better economies and communities.

The plan asked Latin American countries to invest $80 billion over ten years, and the United States promised to help with $20 billion.

Countries also needed to make new plans for their growth and change laws to help everyone share fairly.

U.S. aid to Latin America

Because of the program, economic help to Latin America grew a lot between 1960 and 1961. From 1962 to 1967, the U.S. gave about $1.4 billion each year to Latin America. When counting new investments, the help went up to $3.3 billion per year.

Economic help to Latin America fell quickly in the late 1960s, especially after Richard Nixon became president.

Business lobbying

The Alliance for Progress wanted Latin American governments to make it easier for foreign investments, especially from the U.S. American industries worked with Congress to change the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. They wanted to make sure U.S. aid did not help foreign businesses that could compete with American companies. They also tried to control where aid money was spent on machinery and vehicles. A study in 1967 showed that most of the aid money went to U.S. companies.

Reception

Ivan Illich criticized the Alliance, saying it was mostly supported by rich countries and groups.

A journalist named AJ Langguth wrote that some people in Brazil did not like the Alliance. They felt it helped America more than Brazil. Even though Brazil had money problems with the United States, the U.S. also gave Brazil a lot of help and support.

Military version

During President Kennedy's time in office, from 1961 to 1963, the United States stopped economic support and ended diplomatic ties with some governments it did not agree with. These included Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Peru. These pauses in relations lasted for a few weeks to six months.

Rockefeller study

After the Alliance for Progress didn’t work as well as hoped, President Richard Nixon asked for a study in 1969. He chose Nelson Rockefeller to lead it. Rockefeller and his team traveled to Latin America but faced many challenges.

The report showed that many people were upset because life hadn’t improved quickly enough. Some protests grew bigger and turned against their own leaders and the United States. The report suggested that the U.S. should reduce its involvement and stop using aid to influence other countries’ politics. It also recommended continuing some aid but making the programs better.

Success and failures of the plan

See also: Chilean land reform

The Alliance for Progress had some successes but did not fully achieve its goals, and in some ways, it caused problems. Economic growth in Latin America during the 1960s was slightly better than the plan’s target. Many countries improved their schools and universities, and more children received extra food and new textbooks.

However, not all countries did well, and some changes were too slow. For example, only a small number of families got help with land reform, and many leaders resisted these changes. While new laws were made to help workers, the wages were still too low to make a big difference. Some parts of the plan also led to more military rule in the region, which was not what the plan intended.

Results

The Alliance for Progress began with some early success and did bring some economic improvements, though they were limited. By the early 1970s, many people felt the program had not worked well.

There were three main reasons for this:

• Latin American countries were not ready to make big changes, especially about land reform.
• Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon did not support the program as much as Kennedy had.
• The $20 billion budget was not enough for the whole region, which meant just $10 per person in Latin America.

In 1973, the Organization of American States ended the special group that was managing the Alliance.