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Schools & Land. Before the National Press Club in Washington, Betancourt ticked off some accomplishments. In four years, the number of primary schools has grown by 88.7%. Some 1,500,000 children now go to school, compared with only half as many four years ago; 1,300,000 adult Venezuelans have been taught to read and write, reducing the adult illiteracy rate to 16% of the 8,000,000 population. Through peaceful and legal land reform, Betancourt's government has distributed 3,500,000 acres of land to more than 57,000 farm families and invested more than $100 million in agrarian redevelopment. Industrial development projects are luring in such foreign giants as Ford Motor Co., Container Corp. of America, Owens-Illinois, and Britain's Rootes Motors.
What makes all economic growth possible is the 3,500,000 bbl. of oil pumped each day from the country's vast reserves. Sold mostly to the U.S., the oil produces more than 90% of Venezuela's annual $2.5 billion export income and—through a 67% tax on oil company profits—accounts for about 60% of the government's annual budget. But Venezuelans worry about their declining market in the U.S. And one of Betancourt's major missions in seven hours of talk with Kennedy was to seek a better deal for Venezuelan oil.
Betancourt made it clear that he did "not come asking for contributions from U.S. taxpayers." He wanted reconsideration of the policy that imposes quotas on U.S. oil imports from overseas but exempts oil shipped in overland from Canada and Mexico. Last December, when the Kennedy Administration tightened quotas, Betancourt foresaw a loss of close to $40 million worth of exports a year. He personally telephoned Kennedy in Palm Beach to protest—and got a promise that the problem would be reviewed.
A Fair Share. At the White House, Betancourt argued that Venezuela should be on an equal footing with Canada and Mexico. At the very least, he insisted, it should be consulted before U.S. oil policies are drastically revised. Kennedy agreed "in principle" that the quota system discriminates against Venezuela, promised to see to it "in practice" that Venezuela gets its fair share of the market. On Cuba, the two men had no argument. Said Betancourt: "The government that I head and I personally have taken a position toward the Communist regime in Havana and toward international Communism that is free of equivocation, half-tones, or balancing on a tightrope." During the Cuba missile crisis, Venezuela contributed two destroyers to the U.S. blockade and approved the use of anti-Castro armed action, if necessary.