Message to the Inter-American Economic and Social Council Meeting in Caracas, Venezuela.

Dear Mr. Chairman:

I send to you and to the other distinguished representatives of the Americas my cordial greetings and my very best wishes for the success of the work which you begin this evening.

The great concerns that this Eighth Special Meeting of the Inter-American Economic and Social Council address lie at the heart of the more mature and more effective relationship among us that we all seek. Yet those concerns--some of them complex, many of them technical, all of them difficult--are only expressions of a still more fundamental concern: the people of the Americas and the quality of their lives.

Today the leaders of the Americas share a historic opportunity--the chance to bring our peoples the benefits of modern science and technology and to give to them and to their children fuller and more productive lives. There is no task which deserves greater effort and attention than the one of securing peace, development and progress for our own hemisphere. There is no subject with which I have been more concerned.

During the first year of my Administration, I have devoted a great deal of attention and thought to how the United States can effectively contribute its share of this common responsibility, and to how to redefine and reinvigorate our relationship so as to meet the needs and realities of the 1970's.

As you know, my Administration undertook a very careful and systematic study of the problems of the region and of the premises that should underlie our policies. In my address to the Inter-American Press Association last October, I expressed the results of that study in the form of the organizing concepts around which I believe United States policy toward this region should be built. In that speech I proposed that we forge a vigorous new partnership based upon shared responsibility, increased communication and interchange, and respect for each other's national identity and national dignity. In that speech I said that our goal for the 70's should be a decade of Action for Progress in the Americas.

I reaffirm that goal tonight.

To translate our words into action and to find ways in which the United States can take effective action to carry out its share of the common responsibility toward our peoples--these are now major tasks of my Government. We have made a beginning, but only a beginning. We have a long way to go.

Some of the measures which I have already instituted in the fields of trade, development assistance, science and technology have already been described by the United States delegation to the meetings of the Special Committee of this Council which were held in Washington last November and here in Caracas last week. All of you know, for example, of the major effort we are pushing to achieve a liberal system of worldwide generalized trade preferences; of the liberalization of the untying provisions of our assistance loans which I have authorized to give the hemisphere special treatment; of the major steps we are prepared to take to support your efforts to broaden scientific and technological exchange.

I want to take this occasion to report to you tonight an additional action which I have taken to give further substance to my commitment that the United States will do its part.

I have just presented to the Congress my recommendations for the budget for the United States Government for Fiscal Year 1971. In constructing that budget, I tried to give special attention to the needs of the hemisphere and to include a number of new elements to carry out the concept of partnership.

I have included in the budget a contingency account of $540 million to provide for expanded multilateral assistance through the international financial institutions. A very substantial part of these funds is to be available to respond to new proposals for replenishment of the funds of the Inter-American Development Bank.

In the 1971 budget I have also requested $556 million in AID funds for the hemisphere. This is the largest of the regional AID programs and reflects an increase of about 20% over the 1970 appropriation levels. Included in this total is over $100 million in support of the kinds of programs that have been discussed here. For the most significant of these, we have estimated the following amounts in the budget.

--$30 million for assistance in developing securities markets and securities commissions;

--$20 million for the promotion of tourism, including establishment of essential infrastructure;

--$20 million to support science and technology, efforts;

--$15 million to support trade expansion.

In addition to the foregoing, I have decided to advance the request for funds to fill the United States subscription of $206 million to the callable capital of the Inter-American Development Bank which had originally been planned for 1971. Accordingly, I will shortly submit to the Congress a request for a supplement to the 1970 budget to cover this item.

Obviously, we still face very serious problems and very large obstacles to progress; there are often practical and serious limits and constraints which inhibit our efforts to meet the aspirations that surge out of our societies. I know, for example, that in the field of trade policy there are highly complex, highly technical and often conflicting factors which sometimes make agreement difficult. I cannot guarantee' that we will always be able to meet your aspirations. But the point I want to stress is that my Administration will continue vigorously and persistently to try to overcome obstacles to satisfactory agreements, and to do all it practically can to assure that our trade policies support the region's development.

Since we are a community of widely diverse peoples, it will not be easy to forge a new partnership. Our perceptions of self interest and of reality are often different. Our emotional reactions are different. As I said last October, partnership, mutuality of interests, do not flow naturally. We must work at them. The United States for its part will do so energetically and sincerely.

I take this occasion, Mr. Chairman, to pledge to the peoples of America that my Administration will strive to demonstrate in action our commitment to progress and to the enhancement of the dignity of life in this Hemisphere. I pledge to you that I will continue personally to direct the attack of the United States on the problems that all of us confront as we proceed together on this difficult but inescapable task--to give to our peoples and to their children peace, prosperity, justice and dignity.

RICHARD NIXON