Open Throttle

Construction on the Pan American Highway to Panama, which has been sputtering along on a lean budget, got a high-octane boost last week. On the recommendation of Vice President Nixon, who toured Central America in February, President Eisenhower asked Congress to accelerate the U.S. contribution for completing the 3,200-mile Laredo-to-Panama road. Earlier, the President had budgeted $5,750,000 for the highway for the next fiscal year; now he wants $75 million for the next three years. Matched by half that sum from Central American countries, the stepped-up appropriation would be enough, Ike thought, to close the gaps in the road (notably a 134-mile stretch in southeastern Costa Rica--TIME, March 14) and pave the dirt and gravel sections.

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