Basic HTML Version
16
The
PLAIN TRUTH
April-May, l 970
and is equipped with some of the most ultramodern weapons.
While the majority of Japan's ncighbors are concerned
about this gradual rebirth of the Japanese military machine,
United States officials cautiously welcome it. To Wash–
ington, it indicates Japan's willingness to share a defensc
burdcn in Asia, a burden which has been shouldered almost
entircly by the United States.
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e
World Getting Better?
How far has the underdevcloped world come in the
past two decades? Tbe real facts are shocking.
According to former Defcnsc Secretary Robert S.
McNamara, now president of the World Bank, "There are
100 million
more
illiterates today than thcre were 20 years
ago, [ and] one third of the world's population suffers hunger
or nutritional deprivation ...."
During a conference on international economic develop–
ment at Columbia University, McNamara suggested that the
1970's may bring doser a world revolution of the have-not
nations. The gap between the per capita incomes of rich and
poor nations is not narrowing but rather widening- now
standing at more than S3,000 at thc extremes. The gap may
widen to a $9,000 gulf by the end of the century.
lncredible as it may seem, countries who can afford it
thc least are some of the biggcst military spenders, propor–
tionate to national income. Arms spending among the less
developed countries is rising at the rate of 7.5 percent a
year, as against the world average of 6 percent.
Growing infant mortality rates and increased unemploy–
ment are additional distress sigmls Mr. McNamara envisions
for the 70's.
Following the same general theme, Secretary-General
U Thant recently dedared that "the next 10 years will Jind
the number of neglected childrcn increased by millions."
Thant's conclusions were part of a comprehensíve report
prepared with the cooperation of various U. N. agencies.
Calling the situation "tragic," Thant noted that three
quarters of the world's children - nearly a billion - Jive
in dcvelopmg countries.
"Such high rates of population growth over such vast
regions," he asserted, "are unparalleled in the history of the
world and have important implications for developmcnt
prospccts."
Thus the specter of growing world instability, far sur–
passing the chaotic eruptions of the 1960's, is haunting
world lcaders.
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e
Latin Americe Faces Bleak Future
Latín America has entercd the 70's with the prospect
of impending social and economic chaos. Just how deep
these problems go is revealed in the per capita income which
ranges from an appalling low of $80.00 a year in Haití to a
high of only $850.00 in oil-rich Venezuela.
Galo Plaza, Secretary General of the Organization of
American States, outlined a number of Latin America's prob–
lcms before a World Affairs Council meeting in Los Angeles.
The challenges to be confronted in the 70's induded:
l.
Massive unemployment - In sorne countries only
onc fourth of the labor force has fu..ll-time work.
2. Poor housing- Thc prescnt ratc of building is 2.5
hotJSCS pcr thousand people per year- discouragingly low.
This ratc must be more than tripled in order to stay even
with burgeoning population growth.
3. Migration to the cities - It is predicted that two
thirds of l atin Americans wíll be living in cities by 1980.
Unless housing is improved, this means rapid expansion of
wrctched slum suburbs alrcady ringíng nearly all of Latin
America's large cities.
According to Mr. Plaza, the Alliance for Progress has
fallen far short of expectations. "No one should,'' concluded
Mr. Plaza, "harbor the illusion that prosperity is just around
the corner in latín Amcrica."
For an in-depth report on the future of one region of
South America - thc vast Amazonian arca - rcad thc
article beginning on pagc 25.
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e
Oil Flows Through Israel
Working in temperaturcs as high as 104°, Israelí work–
men have nJShed to complction a
1
60-mile oil pipcline
through their country.
The continued closure of the Suez Canal led Israel to
build this oi..l bridge between the wells of Asia and the
markets of Western Europe. Constructed under a cloak of
secrecy, the pipeline stretches
f
rom Eilat on
the
Gulf of
'Aqaba to the Medíterrancan port of Ashkelon.
On February 14, the first crude oi l began flowing into
storagc tanks on thc Mediterranean through thc 42-inch
pipeline, one of the biggest of its kind in the world. The
pipeline, placed underground
f
or maximum security, trans–
verses some of the world's most dcsolate territory.
It
is
rcgarded as the greatest economic venture in lsrael's recent
history.
latest reports are that construction plans for a rival
pipeline by Egypt from thc Gulf of Suez to the Mediterranean
port of Alexandria havc collapsed. Even though Nasscr has
declared that "oil must becomc thc principie source of our
incomc," warfare along thc Suez Canal apparently has prc–
vented surveys by engineers for the fine.
One interesting question regarding the pipeljne is simply,
what is the source of thc oil flowing through the new line?
Israel has not identified the oil companíes using its pipeline,
but it is believed sorne of thc oil is coming from Jran, the
only major non-Arab producer in the area.
Europe depends upon the Arab states in the Middle
East for oil.
1f
Israel can become a major factor in thc oil
supply picture, her voice will be heard more emphatically
in continental capitals.