Kennedy's Call

To "dramatize and spotlight'' his Alliance for Progress aid program, President Kennedy planned to venture into volatile Latin America this week for the first time since his inauguration. With the First Lady along, Kennedy scheduled three ports of call: San Juan, in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; then Caracas, Venezuela; then Bogota, Colombia.

The three-day trip would carry risks for the Kennedys. Although the hosts will be old U.S. friends--Governor Luis Munoz Marin of Puerto Rico. Presidents Romulo Betancourt of Venezuela and Alberto Lleras Camargo of Colombia--the latter two nations hold riotous bands of leftist students and workers, with disciplined Communists to lead them. Last week in Caracas (where Vice President Nixon was set upon by a Red-incited mob in 1958) leftist organizers in the high schools burned two cars and a bus, passed out leaflets exhorting the capital to "receive Kennedy as it did Nixon." President Betancourt will no doubt call out all the troops and lock up all the troublemakers he can find. The question is whether he can find them all. Presidential Press Secretary Pierre Salinger played down any danger: "We have plenty of confidence in the hospitality and friendship of the Venezuelan people."

One purpose of Kennedy's call is his fear that too many Latin American countries are dragging their feet on the reforms they agreed would be their contributions to the Alliance for Progress. By his presence in Latin America, he hopes to honor the cooperative and nudge the laggards. Addressing Latino Alliance experts in Washington fortnight ago, Kennedy warned: "The urgent needs of our people in this hemisphere cannot wait . . . Measured by the past, we have moved swiftly; measured by the needs of the future, we must all do much better."

In support of a Colombian proposal, the 21-member Organization of American States last week voted 14-2 (with five abstentions) to summon foreign ministers to a Jan. 10 conference on Cuba.

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