Economic program designed to improve relations between the United States and its southern neighbors, thereby combating the spread of communism.
Shortly after John F. Kennedy became president in 1961, he appointed Adolph Berle to establish a commission to investigate ways to improve relations between the United States and Latin American nations. This commission recommended expansive economic and social objectives that became the center of Kennedy’s Latin American policy. In August 1961, the United States and the Organization of American States (OAS) signed the Charter of Punta del Este, which formally created the Alliance for Progress. The alliance would provide technical advice and financial assistance to Latin American nations interested in upgrading their economic positions, increasing their agricultural output, and improving their systems of education and health care.
The Alliance for Progress did not realize many of its stated objectives because of Kennedy’s short time in office (he was assassinated in 1963), a lack of financial resources, and growing distrust of the United States by many Latin American nations. In the final analysis, the United States spent $10 billion in an unsuccessful effort to limit the influence of communism in Latin America in the decade following the Cuban Revolution and the Bay of Pigs invasion.
