President John F. Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline at a
cornerstone-laying
ceremony for a housing project in Bogotá, Colombia, initiating
the building
of schools through the Alliance for Progress, Dec. 17, 1961.
John Kennedy's Murder Badly Hobbled Latin American Democracy (El
Tiempo, Colombia)
"In Latin America he proposed the Alliance
for Progress and gave financial support under exceptional circumstances. ... The
town of Kennedy is testament to his journey through Bogotá where he was
accompanied by Jacqueline. ... All that was left was awe and mourning for the
democratic spirit and the common people. How much could have been avoided and how
much would we have progressed in terms of democracy if that precious existence
had not been criminally cut short? And more sorrow would soon follow, which his
illustrious brother Robert was also brutally murdered."
The front page of the Miami Herald, days before the assassination of John F. Kennedy, on November 19, 2013, referring to his speech to the Inter-American Press Association.
Outraged as it is over the desecration of the toga-wearing justices of
the Supreme Judicial Council, Colombian opinion is well informed of the
terrible outbreak of corruption in the legal field. So allow me to share a
memory that still pains me today: of the assassination of President John F.
Kennedy fifty years ago.
[Editor's Note: Judge Henry Villarraga
of Colombia's Supreme Judicial Council has resigned to defend himself, after
being recorded accepting a bribe from Army Colonel Robinson González
del Río. Judge Villarraga made certain that del Rio's
"false positives" murder case was heard in a military tribunal rather that a
civilian court, to ensure a more lenient sentence].
Because just 48 hours before we had shaken his hand,
the withering news of his slaughter in Dallas (Texas) hit like a bolt of
lightning to those of us who had the privilege of seeing him at his penultimate stop
on his march to the grave. He had travelled to Miami with his beautiful wife
Jacqueline, for the opening of the new and beautiful Miami Herald headquarters,
a newspaper owned by fervent supporters and [Democratic] Party members the Knight
brothers, and to attend a banquet in their honor by the Inter-American Press Association in the newly-built Americana
Hotel, which has since been demolished and replaced.
There were many rigorous precautions, in every balcony
there was a sentry with a rifle - ready to shoot. It seemed he had left nothing to
chance. There appeared to be nothing that could threaten the life of the prestigious
president running for re-election.
The young president, who was six foot one, delivered a brainy speech, with facts
and figures to back up his thesis. Exhilarated, relaxed and satisfied, he went table
to table, greeting his audience with characteristic kindness. He wore the smile
of a man who knew he had overcome the grave risk of world war and the sickbed. The
future seemed bright. He exuded confidence, even on the eve of his trip to the
heart of the radical right, Dallas, where according to Ted Sorensen, the marriage of Lyndon. B.
Johnson and Adlai
Stevenson was defeated by extremists.
[Editor's Note: The author
refers to conservative Democrats who opposed Adlai Stevenson for the post of
vice president after Kennedy's murder. Stevenson served as U.S. ambassador to
the United Nations for both Kennedy and Johnson.]
He had succeeded in the standoff with Khrushchev by
obtaining the withdrawal of Russian troops and facilities from Cuba, in
exchange for a promise to refrain from invading the island. Calmly and firmly, he
avoided a devastating atomic war and paved the way for the Nuclear Test Ban
Treaty. He also defeated the Soviet encirclement of Berlin, supplying emergency
supplies and equipment by air.
Posted By Worldmeets.US
In Latin America he proposed the Alliance for Progress
and gave financial support under exceptional circumstances. Colombia greatly benefited
from a loan program with minimum interest rates, payable in 40 years. The town of Kennedy
is testament to his journey through Bogotá where he was accompanied by Jacqueline.
At his funeral, it was Colombia President Alberto Lleras
who declared that during Kennedy's unforgettable visit, the global statesman had
evoked the greatest admiration
You can imagine the shock at the Inter American Press
Association meeting in Miami, upon learning the bitter news of President
Kennedy's unforeseen sacrifice. With the exception, which I will immediately explain,
of Alberto Gainza Paz, the eminent director and owner
of La Prensa
of Buenos Aires, one of the delegates that received Kennedy in the great
banquet hall. President Kennedy quipped: “Ultimately, there is nothing to be
done with you Argentines.”
What was the reason for his outrage? President Arturo Illia's
decision to nationalise the oil industry. Kennedy didn't always use
conventional pleasantries.
For the rest of us, all that was left was awe and
mourning for the democratic spirit and the common people. How much could have
been avoided and how much would we have progressed in terms of democracy if
that precious existence had not been criminally cut short? And more sorrow
would soon follow, when his illustrious brother Robert was also brutally
murdered.
