JFK APPOINTS NEW VENEZUELAN AMBASSADOR
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On May 2, 1961, President John F. Kennedy issued a statement announcing his appointment of Teodoro Moscoso* to the post of Ambassador to Venezuela.
The statement read...
The statement read...
"Ambassador Moscoso has a brilliant record as Administrator of the Economic Development Administration of Puerto Rico in carrying out..."Operation Bootstrap**," that dramatic effort...that...(has) brought a high degree of social benefits and...economic returns to our fellow citizens on that island."
The President expressed the confidence that the new ambassador would be "warmly welcomed" in Venezuela as his personal envoy.
*Jose Teodoro Moscoso Mora (1910-1992) was born in Barcelona & educated at the University of Michigan. He was called "the architect of Operation Bootstrap." After serving JFK as ambassador to Venezuela, JTMM returned to Puerto Rico.
**Operation Bootstrap attempted to transform the Puerto Rico into an industrial & developed economy. That effort was hampered by numerous problems including unemployment. Today PR exports 86% of its products to the U.S. while 69% of its imports come from the U.S.
SOURCE
"Statement by the President Upon Appointing Teodor Moscoso of Puerto Rico as U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela, May 2, 1961," Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, January 20 to December 31, 1961, United States Government Printing Office, Washington, 1962.
Teodoro Moscoso
The White House
November 14, 1961
Photo by Abbie Rowe
JFK Library Image
