CONFERENCE FOR CORPORATION EXECUTIVES - - 'LATIN AMERICA 1974'

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80M01082A000600130018-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 20, 2004
• Sequence Number: 18
• Publication Date: January 31, 1974
• Content Type: MF

Approved For Release 200410lM4 .__IAAARDP80M01082A000 -
31 January 1974
SUBJECT: Conferences r Cor7cration Exe
cLt'rjiej-
-
"Latin ~=erica 1574"
1. During the past two days, I joined more than 200 other
7articioants in the third of a series of four Washingtoa policy
seminars sponsored this fiscal year by The Johns Hopkins University's
School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). This was by far
and away the largest attendance to date. It was, however, at the
same time the least rewarding seminar in the series. In part this
resulted from the disappointing caliber of the U.S. government patieli&t:c:
State's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Inter-American Affairs is s. lig:&--
weight, and the Director, Latin American Division, Office of Interna-
tional Marketing, Commerce Department, has no apparent qualifications
for the job other than longevity.
'_. The focus of the seminar was on Mexico, Brazil, and the Andean
Common Market. For some time I have been aware of the rapid economic
strides being made by Mexico, a country which receives no economic or
military aid fiom the United States. I was, however, not prepared for
the eye-opening discussion of Brazil. With a': GDP (Gross Domestic Prodao
of some 66 billion dollars, a population of 105 million, and an araual
growth rate in the range of 10-11 per cent, Brazil's great ._:lation
(15.5 per cent in 1973) is the lowest in 20 years. while its foreign
trade (at 14 billion dollars) rose 50 per cent last year. The consensus
view is that as a new government prepares to take office Brazil's _a?id
economic growth '.ill continue throughout the decade, and that the pre
authoritarian regime will survive, although _:_ere will be a gradual sR?
to a more benign dictator,'-tip. V'at was chilling, was the c taped qt v-
sent.ation of the plethora of eccnc is controls, taxes, tam rebates,
incentives, which govern all economic life and which alter with region
and sector, and which provide lawyers with an especially lucrative liven
hood. I suspect that no other "private enterprise system"--not even
Japan's--is so effectively controlled by the government. In the main,
Brazil's growth is a direct function of its rapidly growing export3,
which in due course will. engender ever-increasing charges by other
county; ^s, including our -.n, of
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_ 111! Conte Er.anL'? -? , i?T%lcl indicates my p14z ? ........... JV,:1r :1r
always Serves as an inter?e_;tl.na conversation piece. The cu'Z rent ~;rcu:,
of businessmen took the initiative to discuss intelligence mare o ?. rlv
.: an had their predeccssc::s. One, in particular, the Latin Amerir n
Director _o a mt ing: ouse Znt r tional, asked ow he cot:
tap into the Agency. It seems that- he puts together rapor is for =i_ggt-
rent on the outlook on a number of Latin countries, based in cart an
reports from the field. He would like to have his conclusions vetted
by a '?roup he believes to }?e even core knowledgeable, f ~-_lv the C ;.--
he disparcges Co=erce, an is suspicious of both State and Treasury.
I have passed this notion along to the D/OF. who, as expected, has
major reservations about serving specific American corporations it this
manner. Nonetheless, from time to time on an ad hoc basis, it may be
possible via '=to work out a quid pro quo to our mutual advantage.
Lastly, my poll of luncheon partners indicates that Commerce's tra'e
promotional activities in the field are of little or no assistance to
them.Since the award by OEM of such slots competes directly writh econo:a
reporting slots for the Foreign Service, I plan to reiterate this per-
ception in my study on economic intelligence.
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Distribution:
--7/6rig - PRG Subject
-2- 1 - Gen. Grahams
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- PRG Chrono
b1 -
71 -
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