Plain Talk

Aside from a Buenos Aires traffic-jam delay that left his chair embarrassingly vacant for 13 minutes during the swearing-in of Argentine President Arturo Frondizi, Vice President Richard Nixon has handled the pomp and protocol of his swing through Latin America wth precision, ability and affability. Even more impressive has been his readiness to shuck off diplomatic doubletalk and explain just where the U.S. stands.

Nixon went out of his way for straight-from-the-shoulder talk in Uruguay. The day of his arrival, he was showered with anti-U.S. pamphlets as he passed the University of Montevideo Law School. Next day, against the cautious advice of U.S. embassy and Uruguayan police officials, Nixon paid a spur-of-the-moment visit to the Law School, was asked to talk with Ricardo Yelpo, 26-year-old leader of the Communist-front Student Federation. Nixon agreed. "We reproach the U.S. for its passive policy towards dictatorships in Latin America," Yelpo began. "Secondly, your economic policy on wool* forces us to remain in economic anemia."

Nixon fielded the economic question first: "When we get to specific commodities such as wool, you must realize that ours, too, is a free country. We have people who produce these commodities. We have pressures to protect these interests. These pressures are particularly strong during an economic recession." As for dictators, he said: "If the U.S. were to take the position of openly discriminating between one form of government and another, with what would we be charged? Interfering in the internal affairs of other nations. Dictatorships are repugnant to us, but this would be the colossus of the north telling the little countries of the south what to do."

In Argentina, Nixon paid a duty call on outgoing President Pedro Aramburu, then slipped off for an hour's chat with President-elect Frondizi. Perched on a daybed in an out-of-the-way apartment, Nixon told Frondizi that the U.S. wants to be a good friend of Argentina, but the flow of private capital must be encouraged. Public loans are not the answer. Frondizi answered frankly. He wanted to lower the barriers against U.S. private capital, he said, but his country was caught between a sinking economy and nationalist hostility to "concessions."

At a round-table meeting with a group of Argentine businessmen, Nixon stood his ground, even though forced to tread on some tender toes. Asked about a loan to Argentina's limping nationalized oil industry, Nixon replied: "It is our policy not to make loans in areas where private capital is available. I anticipate no change in this policy." There was no doubt that the U.S. Vice President was getting his country's message across loud and clear. At week's end he pushed on to Paraguay, was greeted at Asuncion by a warm abrazo from President Alfredo Stroessner, chorused vivas from a capacity crowd at the airport and a 21-gun salute.

* A special duty on Uruguayan wool tops.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.