And as I have said, I think the welcome we got today is in good part due to your efforts--and I know that you will continue them.

I want to express, on behalf of Mrs. Kennedy and myself, our great appreciation to you, sir, and Madame Betancourt, and also to the people of Venezuela and especially to the people of this city, who have made us most welcome.

Perhaps the most encouraging event of most recent years in the world of freedom has been the closer links which have been bound together and tied together in Western Europe, and which are now being molded in the same effective way here in…

It is, it seems to me, obligatory upon all those of us who believe in freedom to work together to make freedom, as you have said, Mr. President, not merely an abstraction or a phrase, but to demonstrate that under a system of freedom…

We are opposed to tyranny of any kind.

And I hope in this way to give some slight indication of how grateful I am to all of you for making us feel so much at home.

So I come here today to express our warm feeling of friendship, with great sincerity, to the people of this country.

President Kennedy pledged all possible United States support and assistance to enable Venezuela to implement its development program on schedule, complementing Venezuelan efforts to this end.

We believe in freedom--in the United States and in Colombia.

We are for the social justice for our people, because we recognize that we cannot have freedom unless all of our people have an equal opportunity to the advantages of a productive life--homes-education--work.

I hope that in all your work, and wherever you go, in all your contacts, that you will try as much as possible to associate yourselves with the well-being of all the people of Colombia.

We wish you success, and we are joined with you in this effort in the future, as we have on so many occasions in the past.

Those of us who love freedom realize that a man is not really free if he doesn't have a roof over his head, or if he cannot educate his children, or if he cannot find work, or if he cannot find security in his old age.

It is a great pleasure and a source of pride and satisfaction to come here as President of the United States, and to extend once again our hand of friendship to you, and to accept the hand of friendship which you have so generously shown…

I'm more than happy to come to your country on my first visit as President of the United States, to one of our sister Republics in this hemisphere.

The people of my country are committed to the progress of your people and this hemisphere.

Liberty and economic progress go hand in hand, provided the people and the government together are committed to progress for the people.

One of the first goals of the new spirit of this hemisphere must be the elimination of tyranny from the north to the south.

No real progress is possible unless the benefits of increased prosperity are shared by the people themselves.

This is what we want for the people of my country--and this is what we want for the people of this hemisphere.

We will be, in the 1960's, more than good neighbors.

Mr. President, Mrs. Kennedy and I are delighted to be your guests and we are proud to be here among your people.

The United States and Venezuela are bound together.

And I am also proud to be the first President of the United States to visit this country.

I have received your recent letter in which you described so cogently the dangerous condition caused by North Viet-Nam's efforts to take over your country.