PRESS CONFERENCE SAMPLER

Whitney A. Shoemaker of the Associated Press: Mr.President, coupling this statement with the one of last week, at what point do you determine that the buildup in Cuba has lost its defensive guise to become offensive? Would it take an overt act? A.: I think if you read last week's statement and the statement today--I've made it quite clear, particularly in last week's statement when we talked about the presence of offensive military missile capacity or development of military bases, other indications, which I gave last week. All these would, of course, indicate a change in the nature of the threat.

William McGaffin of the Chicago Daily News: Mr. President, could you tell us why the Alliance for Progress has not made more progress in the past year on Latin American problems in your judgment? A.: . . . Latin America has been neglected for many, many years. I would hope that a good many Americans who are particularly concerned about Cuba today would also take a very careful look at the very low standard of living in much of Latin America ... I hope that in our concentration on the particular problem [ Cuba ] which I discussed at the opening we will extend our view and realize that what's at stake here is the freedom of a good many countries which are in very dire straits today . . . We are engaged in a tremendous operation with insufficient resources. And I think we are moving ahead since Punta del Este. But there's an awful lot of business left unfinished, and will be for some time. You cannot remake the face of Latin America overnight and provide better opportunity.

Chalmers Roberts of the Washington Post: You said in your opening statement that you now have full authority to act in the Cuban affair. In view of this, do you think there's any virtue in the Senate or the Congress passing a resolution saying you have that authority? A.: No, I think it--no, I think it's--I think the members of Congress would, speaking as they do with a particular responsibility--I think would be useful, if they desire to do so, for them to express their view . . .

Jack Raymond of the New York Times: Mr. President, would you tell us some of your thinking of your request for special reserve mobilization power? Now, the international situation has led you twice to request such legislation. You could call a million reservists if you declared a national emergency. Why don't you do that? A.: Well, I think there are several stages of a possible crisis. The call of a national emergency is, I would say, the near--the final step of a crisis, but there may be increased threats which vould require us to call some reservists, particularly in the air, maybe at sea. possibly on the ground . . .

We have, as you know, of course, increased our Army strength from eleven to 16 divisions in the last year and a half. Now if we need, of course--if we're in a national emergency where the United States is threatened with very serious military action, of course, there'd be no hesitancy in declaring it. But we might be in a situation where the declaration of a national emergency might not be the most appropriate step, and in that case, we might--we would use the power granted to us by the Congress.

Raymond: Mr. President, in that connection your request for only 150,000 reservists would seem to not support the opinion expressed because it seems no stage at all.

A.: Well, I think that . . .

Raymond: You said it strengthened the armed forces.

A.: That's correct. Then we have 150,000 more that we could call. They could be in very critical areas. As I've said, the air and the sea are two. And of course there could be Guard divisions called if the United States were obliged to reinforce its forces any place. The ability to call up needed men would make an appreciable difference. Now. as I say, we always have the final weapon, or nearly final weapon, of a national emergency and the power to call a million men. But the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Secretary of Defense felt that this intermediate step could be very useful during the period when Congress is out of session.

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