World: LOW PROFILE IN LATIN AMERICA

The Good Neighbor policy was all right for the '30s, and the Alliance for Progress has been a step forward in the '60s. But in the '70s we need something more.

—Galo Plaza

RICHARD NIXON'S first official foreign visitor in the White House last January was Galo Plaza, Secretary General of the Organization of American States, and there was a sense of urgency in his call. U.S. relations with the nations to the south were at their lowest ebb in years. The U.S.-conceived Alliance for Progress had been a disappointment, if not an outright failure, and many disillusioned Latin Americans were seriously asking whether the U.S., preoccupied with Viet Nam and domestic crises, really cared. Not until last week, after more than nine months of reassessment, did Nixon give his answer. "We do care," he told Latin America. "I care." The President could hardly have said less. But how much did he care? And in what ways? Nixon expressed his concern rather quietly, in the form of a sedate and pragmatic U.S. approach to relations with its neighbors. Businesslike and low-keyed, his proposals were a far cry—and, some felt, a refreshingly realistic departure—from the soaring vision of John Kennedy's Alliance or the "Decade of Urgency" that Lyndon Johnson proclaimed at the conference of hemisphere Presidents in Punta del Este, Uruguay, more than two years ago.

Listening More. The President's policy, outlined before the Inter-American Press Association in Washington, called for a more balanced partnership rather than an American-dominated alliance. From now on, the President promised, the U.S. would listen more and lecture less; it would be "guided by a healthy awareness that give-and-take is better than take-it-or-leave-it."

Nixon drew some of his recommendations from the findings of New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, who earlier this year visited 20 hemisphere nations (TIME, July 11). Rocky's report, to be released soon, was described in Washington as considerably more far-reaching than Nixon's guidelines. During his tour, the Governor was told that Latin Americans are unhappy not only with the slow pace of development but also with the often domineering, paternalistic attitudes and policies of the

U.S. Such sentiments are fueling a relatively new, vibrant nationalism of both right and left that frequently finds expression in strident anti-Americanism.

"We have heard many voices from Latin America in these first months of our new Administration—voices of hope, voices of concern, voices of frustration," Nixon declared. "They have told us that if our partnership is to thrive, or even to survive, we must recognize that the nations of Latin America must go forward in their own way, under their own leadership. I recognize the concerns, and I share many of them."