El Macho Comes to Call

It is, of course, unthinkable that on his first trip to Latin America he should arrive in a U.S.-built plane. So the Boeing 707 on which Charles de Gaulle is to cross the Atlantic will be parked at Pointe-a-Pitre in Guadeloupe, and he will fly on to Mexico for a four-day state visit next week in a French-built Caravelle. And what kind of reception will le grand Charles get? Possibly not the thunderous outpouring that President Kennedy received, but a very special abrazo just the same. Wrote Mexico's Politica magazine: "The illustrious visitor comes with the personality characteristic of an independent country that has detached herself from the tutelage of the U.S." In Latin America, so long and so completely dependent on the U.S., De Gaulle is getting to be the image of El Macho, the big boy, who has shown everybody how to deal with those Yan kees. De Gaulle recognized Red China despite U.S. disapproval; he more or less rules the Common Market and all but ignores NATO. He is, in fact, a sort of "respectable Castro" to many Latinos. "In Latin America," said a senior French official in Paris, "it may be either Castroism or Gaullism." Not quite. Nevertheless, in Mexico De Gaulle will make his major speech from the balcony of the Presidential Palace in Zocalo plaza -- a signal honor never before accorded a visiting dignitary --and he is already reported to be practicing Spanish phrases.

Following the Mexican visit there will be a grand De Gaulle tour next fall of Peru, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil.

"Let us get ready to raise our flags," wrote Lima's El Comercio. And in Rio, there were hints that Brazil, too, might recognize Red China. Even Fidel Castro was impressed by El Macho. In a TV interview he said that he "sympathizes" with many things in De Gaulle's policy, also confided that he is studying De Gaulle's memoirs.

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