Thanks

In La Paz last week, Bolivians gave the U.S. an uproarious show of thanks for the aid they have received from Washington—and with disarming candor added that they hoped for more. Henry Holland, touring Assistant Secretary of State, got the wildest, warmest greeting so far on his fact-gathering swing around South America.

Every 30 yards along the five-mile trip from the airport to the presidential palace was an arch of bright cloth decorated with pictures of President Eisenhower. On a street corner a scrawled sign read: "We thank the United States for its help." Girls pelted Holland with flowers as he drove slowly through the crowd in an open car. On the presidential balcony, to echoing applause, President Victor Paz Estenssoro told Holland that "these are people who, when offered a helping hand, know how to be grateful and affectionate."

There was much to be grateful for. When Paz Estenssoro took power 2½ years ago, he was less than an even bet to last six months. Bolivia faced starvation, counterrevolution, a serious Communist threat, an empty treasury and a world glut of tin, its only valuable export. The U.S. helped save the situation by sending free wheat and buying tin for the strategic stockpile. Cost of grant-aid to the U.S.: $17 million—10¢ for each U.S. citizen. Two and a half years later, Bolivia still needs more loans and grants. But it has a better chance than ever before, because it has now completed—with U.S. help—an economically vital road linking its high Andes and rich lowlands.

The highway runs 311 spectacular miles from mountainous Cochabamba over a 12,000-ft. pass to Santa Cruz in the eastern plains (TIME, June 6, 1949). It ties together regions that are physical neighbors but commercial strangers; in La Paz it used to be cheaper to buy imported sugar than Santa Cruz sugar. Now the road also gives access to other food crops, cattle, mahogany and prospectively rich oil land. In addition, it provides the final link in a rail-and-highway route from Rio de Janeiro to the Pacific Coast. Construction of the road, hampered by red tape and revolutions, took ten years, cost $45 million ($34 million of it in U.S. loans). One of Holland's pleasant duties last week was to watch while Paz Estenssoro cut two ribbons-one in Bolivian colors, one in U.S.—and opened the highway.