Worry In Bogota

The U.S. has no better friend in Latin America than squat, affable Dr. Eduardo Zuleta Angel, chairman of the U.N. Preparatory Commission and Colombian ex-Cabinet Minister. But last week, back in Bogota after a Washington visit, Dr. Zuleta Angel thought it time to speak sharply of what he had heard in the U.S.

"The [U.S.] State Department," said he, "has lost all interest in questions involving Latin America." With the notable exception of Senator Arthur Vandenberg, "statesmen of the great nation to the north are completely absorbed in European problems and in no way take interest in plans for economic cooperation with . . . the western hemisphere."

Many Americans, he found, "now look on Latin America as a kind of poor relation, troublesome, bothersome and unnecessary." U.S. newspapers, he said, showed little interest in the forthcoming Pan-American conference in Bogota. "I am afraid there will not be a serious plan for economic cooperation presented [there] despite efforts of Colombian representatives [in Washington]. . . . The U.S. has soon forgotten the lesson taught by war--that parnership with the peoples of Latin America is necessary for its security. . . .

"I have never been anti-American. Nor have I engaged in anti-imperialistic demagogy. But I have become convinced that U.S. misunderstanding of Latin America can produce among the Latin American republics political situations which would worry me a great deal."

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