58. Editorial Note
President Kennedy attended a summit of the Presidents of Central America and Panama in San Jose, Costa Rica, March 18-20, 1963. The meeting had been suggested by President Miguel Ydigoras Fuentes of Guatemala the previous July. The Kennedy administration viewed the meeting as an opportunity to promote the Alliance for Progress, stimulate Central American economic integration, and consolidate support for the diplomatic isolation of Cuba.
President Kennedy opened the summit on March 18. The following day he flew to El Bosque, outside San Jose, to visit a housing project being built with Alliance for Progress funds. On March 20 he addressed students at the University of San Jose before returning to Washington. Under the terms of the Declaration of Central America, signed by the Presidents on March 19 and released publicly on March 20, President Kennedy pledged $6 million for a survey to determine the quality and timing of U.S. aid to Central America. The text of President Kennedy’s remarks during the summit as well as the text of the Declaration of Central America are in Department of State Bulletin, April 8, 1963, pages 511-520, and American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1963, pages 231-238. Documentation on the San Jose Conference is in Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 66 D 110, CF 2228-2233.