THE AMERICAS: The Stay-Away Vote

Costa Rica, alone among the American republics, boycotted the Tenth Inter-American Conference at Caracas as a form of protest against the jailing of political prisoners by the Venezuelan government. But when he announced Costa Rica's decision, President Jose Figueres made a promise that his country would "adhere to any inter-American resolutions taken there for the betterment of democracy."

Last week, just before the conference adjourned, Costa Rica's ambassador in Washington, called on Secretary of State John Foster Dulles to announce his country's wholehearted adherence to the U.S.-sponsored resolution to curb Communism in the Western Hemisphere. In San José, President Figueres gave two reasons for the action: 1) "We suffered the outrages of Communism" [before the 1948 civil war, in which a Communist-supported regime was ousted], "and can testify that Communism is an attempt to destroy democratic institutions"; 2) "It is clear that Communism and Russian aggression are identical, and it is our duty to stand where the hemisphere stands."