What They Want

When members of the Organization of American States gather in Caracas next week for the Tenth Inter-American Conference, Secretary John Foster Dulles and his aides may be in the mood to talk over important political affairs, but they will find the neighbors much more steamed up over economic issues.

Latin American diplomats, preparing for the session for months, were much disturbed at the reassignment last fortnight of Assistant Secretary John Moors Cabot, Dulles' top Latin American hand, to the post of Ambassador to Sweden. Almost to a man, they believe that Cabot was moved out because he had urged greater use of Export-Import Bank loans to finance Latin American economic development, and was overruled by Secretary of the Treasury George Humphrey, who favors letting the World Bank take over that responsibility. Now, though Cabot will still go to Caracas as Dulles' adviser, the Latinos are wondering what further changes in U.S. policy to expect.

In their present nationalist mood, the Latinos want whatever U.S. economic aid they can get, but on their own terms. In general, they hope for lower tariffs, more development loans, and some sort of guarantee against further drops in prices of their raw-material exports.

The political issue that the U.S. regards as most urgent--Communist penetration in Latin America, specifically in Guatemala--seems to have discouragingly little appeal for the neighboring republics. With few exceptions, they regard Communism as an internal problem, and some will even resist, as "intervention," U.S. efforts to turn the spotlight on Guatemala's influential Reds. Unless Secretary Dulles and his men can do an expert, tactful job of persuasion, the Latinos may be inclined simply to place on record a piously anti-Communist resolution, similar to the one adopted at Bogota in 1948, and let it go at that.

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