660


FOREIGN RELATIONS, 19 5 0, VOLUME I


     nance the expeditious completion of the upper section of the Inter-
     American Highway, and the balance of $100 million will meet
     emergency transport requirements related to an expanded pro-
     duction effort in Latin America.,
   It will be noted from the foregoing that the adjustments required
are two. Firstly, an expansion in the over-all sum to be expended in
Latin America over the five-year period of $164 million. Secondly, the
recommendation that $40 million be made available immediately
through incorporation in the emergency budget to be presented to
Congress in the latter part of this year. The expansion of this pro-
gram derives from the following considerations:
   a) In defining the objectives for the collective defense of the con-
tinent, the Inter-American Defense Board has stipulated in its docu-
ment, T-03 of June 20, 1950, that one of the principal undertakings
must be:
       "The development, maintenance and protection of an efficient
     inter-American communications system'.
With respect to the Inter-American Highway the recommendation of
the Board in the same document is:
       "The Pan American Highway is not yet an effective means of
     inter-American communications. Completed, it would be of par-
     ticular value in the collective defense of the Continent." 9
ARA's objective is to see to the completion of the Inter-American
Highway. And instead of 8 years as proposed in legislation earlier
this year,10 ARA considers it a matter of considerable urgency to
finish it in not more than half that time. Our estimate of funds re-
quired remain unchanged, $64 million of which we propose $20 mil-
lion should be made available in this fiscal year (including contract
authorization) with the remainder $44 million to be invested over the
following three years.
   b) In addition to the through highway ARA considers it necessary
to promote, in the interest of defense production, the development
of other inland transport facilities to facilitate access to sources of
production of strategic and critical materials. The completion of better
transport facilities as rapidly as possible in the Amapa region of
Brazil and in improving access to the Urucum deposits will be a major

   In a letter to the Secretary of State of November 17, 1950, Frank Pace,
Jr.,
 Secretary of the Army, stated in part that he believed the opinion of the
Army
 Department that there was little or no justification from the military point
of
 view for completion of the Inter-American Highway had been given the State
 Department"... some time ago." Mr. Pace added, however, that the
Army wished
 to open up healthful recreational areas for its personnel stationed in the
Canal
 Zone and for that reason desired completion as early as practicable of that
section
 of the highway which would link the Zone with the Panamanian province of
 Chiriqui. (819.2612/11-41750)
 10 Public Law 769, approved September 7, 1950, authorized $4 million for
fiscal
 year 1951 and an equal amount for FY 1952 towards completion of the Inter-
 American Highway; as enacted it set no time limit for completion. For text,
 -see 64 Stat. 785. By P.L. 911, approved January 6, 1951, $4 million was
appropri-
 ted for the highway-; for text, see 64 Stat. 1223.