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Latin-American Economic Development, Land Reform, and U.S. Aid with Special Reference to Guatemala

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Extract

President Kennedy, in his inaugural address, spoke of an “Alliance for Progress” with Latin America and more recently of an expanded Latin-American aid program. His phrase “Alliance for Progress” underscores the fact that the U. S. chooses not to be identified with blind defenders of the status quo but to support evolutionary change calling for political, social, and economic reform.

What motivates U. S. citizens to tax themselves to help the underdeveloped countries help themselves? One observes an interesting mixture of goals with respect to U. S. aid programs. There is no single enforced purpose handed down from higher authority. Each citizen indicates and advances his own preferences with some sort of compromise or majority view prevailing when necessary. One peculiarity of a democratic society is the pluralism of motivations and purposes.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 1962

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References

2 See the interesting volume on proceedings of a conference held by the International Economic Association edited by Robinson, E. A. G., Economic Consequences of the Size of Nations, (New York: St. Martin's Press, Inc., 1960)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

3 See Fromm, Erich, Man for Himself (New York: Rinehart and Company, 1947), p. 8 ffGoogle Scholar. Humanistic vs. authoritarian ethics and subjectivistic vs. objectivistic ethics.

4 Villard, Henry, Economic Development (New York: Rinehart and Company, 1959), p. 26 Google Scholar.

5 Plan de Desarrollo Económico de Guatemala 1955-1960, Guatemala, C. A., 1957, p. 20.

6 Luis Manlio Castillo and José Víctor Velazquez, La Agricultura de Guatemala, Instituto Agropecuario Nacional, Guatemala, C. A., p. 8.

7 See Stephen Enke, “The Economics of Government Payments to Limit Population”, Economic Development and Cultural Change, July, 1960, pp. 339.

8 See the volume edited by Jorge Luis Arrióla, Integración Económica de Centroamérica, Organización de Estados Centroamericanos, 1959.

9 For an excellent report, see The Rural Development Program in Guatemala, International Development Services, Inc., 1960.

10 Plan de Trabajo de la Dirección General de Desarrollo Socio-Educativo Rural para el Año 1960, Ministerio de Educación Pública, Guatemala, C. A., 1960, p. 2.

11 International Development Services, Inc., is a non-profit firm headed by Robert Hudgens, 1270 Avenue of the Americas, New York 20, New York. The corporation was originally started by a Rockefeller grant. Glen Grisham has been director in Guatemala since the program began in 1955.

12 See Hibbard, Benjamin H., A History of Public Land Policies, (New York: Macmillan Co., 1924)Google Scholar, for an excellent discussion and criticism of U. S. land policies.

13 See Shultz, T. W., La Organización de la Agricultura (México 12, D. F.: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1956), pp. 353362 Google Scholar, for some observations on land reform and economic development.