DR. Félix Nieto del Río is Chile's distinguished Ambassador to the United States and its Representative on the Governing Board of the Pan American Union. Since January 27 of this year, when he replaced the Honorable Marcial Mora, he has been representing the government of President Gabriel González Videla in Washington.

Dr. Nieto came well equipped for his new position. It is of interest to note that almost at the outset of his diplomatic life (1918-1920) he was an attaché of the Chilean Embassy in Washington, which he now returns to head. In the meantime he has acquired a store of valuable experience in international affairs, built up in many countries and in many responsible positions. His political gifts and knowledge of international law have found expression at the League of Nations, at the United Nations, and at many interAmerican conferences, as well as in other posts. It should be recalled that it was Dr. Nieto who obtained Bolivian assent to the mediation of the Chaco War.

The Ambassador has also written a great deal on international matters for publications in his own country and outside. For many years he has been a contributing editor of El Mercurio, a leading Santiago daily, and was at one time Director of the Revista Chilena (Chilean Review). He is, besides, the author of Crónicas Literarias, La Independencia del Brasil y el Ideal Republicano, and an essay on History of the Commercial-Political Relations between Chile and Argentina.

Dr. Nieto, now fifty-eight years old, is

a native of Cauquenes, in the Chilean Province of Maule. He studied at the University of Chile and the Catholic University of Santiago, and holds the degree of Bachelor of Laws and Political Sciences as well as an honorary degree from the University of Southern California.

Dr. Nieto entered the diplomatic field in 1915 as Attaché to a Special Mission to Buenos Aires. Two years later he was Attaché to the Chilean Legation in Cuba. From 1918 to 1920, he was connected with the Chilean Embassy in Washington, first as Attaché, later as Secretary ad

interim. During this time he represented his country at the First International Labor Conference, which was held in that capital.

In 1923 he was back in his own country as Secretary to the President of the Fifth International Conference of American States, and two years later went to Vienna as Chilean Consul General. The following year he became Secretary of the Chilean Legation in Brussels and served as Secretary of the Chilean Delegation to the League of Nations.

In 1927 he again returned to Chile as Minister Resident and Director of the Diplomatic Department in the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1929 he served as Minister on Special Mission to Peru, and in 1930 became UnderSecretary of Foreign Affairs in Santiago. As political adviser of the Foreign Affairs Ministry in 1933, Dr. Nieto attended the Conference of Chilean and Argentine Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Mendoza; went to Buenos Aires to negotiate the political aspects of a commercial treaty; and served as Plenipotentiary Delegate of Chile to the Seventh International Conference of American States.

His activities in connection with the Chaco War took place from 1935 to 1938. He went to Bolivia to prepare the mediation as Special Envoy Plenipotentiary. As Plenipotentiary of Chile he met in Buenos Aires with the Mediation Group to terminate the war. Finally, he served as Delegate with the rank of Ambassador to the Chaco Peace Conference in the Argentine capital, being at the same time.

Confidential Ambassador before the Argentine Government. From 1936 to 1939 he was Chilean Ambassador to Brazil and in 1936 was Chilean delegate to the Inter-American Conference for the Maintenance of Peace in Buenos Aires.

Dr. Nieto attended the Third Consultative Meeting of American Foreign Affairs Ministers at Rio de Janeiro in 1941-42, after which he became a member of the Inter-American Juridical Commission (1942-46). In 1943, during a continental tour, he served as Ambassador at large in seventeen American countries. He was Chile's delegate to the Inter-American Conference on Problems of War and Peace at Mexico City in 1945, and became Permanent Delegate with the rank of Ambassador to the United Nations in 1946. That same year he was chairman of the Chilean Delegation to the Second Part of the First United Nations Assembly.

President of the Chilean Institute of International Studies, the Ambassador is on the Board of Directors of the Chilean Society of History and Geography. He is a member of the American Society of International Law and an honorary member of the Argentine and Peruvian Societies. He also has the honor of belonging to the Chilean Academy of History and the Hispanic Society of New York. He has been decorated by seven European countries and nine American republics.

Before her marriage, Señora de Nieto Idel Río was Luz Pérez de Castro. The Ambassador has a son and daughter, Félix Nieto Sarratea and Teresita Nieto de Undarraga, children of his first wife.

ON February 27, the Dominican Republic's 103rd anniversary of independence, Dr. Julio Ortega Frier presented his letters of credence as Ambassador from that country to President Truman at the White House. Succeeding Dr. Emilio García Godoy, who served in Washington for two years, the newly-appointed envoy also represents the Dominican Republic on the Governing Board of the Pan American Union.

A distinguished lawyer, diplomat, educator, and writer, Dr. Ortega Frier is no newcomer to the United States. He received part of his education in this country, where he has many friends, and in 1938 represented the Dominican Republic as Ambassador Extraordinary on Special Mission to Washington during arbitration of the Dominican-Haitian dispute.

The Ambassador was born in Santo Domingo June 30, 1888, the son of Juan Isidro Ortega Montaño and Antonia Frier Troncoso. After receiving his early schooling in the capital, in 1903 he came to the United States, where he was a student at the Twenty-first Street High School in New York City. Later he enrolled at Ohio State University in Columbus, graduating in 1909. Then he returned to his country to begin his professional studies, which culminated in 1922 when he graduated as a lawyer from the University of Santo Domingo with five academic degrees to his credit.

Meanwhile, Dr. Ortega was busy with many other activities. From 1909 to 1914 he taught languages and natural sciences.

at the Escuela Normal Superior. The following year he was school inspector for the Province of Santo Domingo. For the next two years he was superintendent of education for the southern and eastern provinces; for the next seven, he was superintendent and Director General of Education.

Ever since 1933, Dr. Ortega has been connected almost continuously with the University of Santo Domingo, first as a member, then as Dean, of the Law Faculty, and finally as Rector of the University, the position he held when he was appointed Ambassador to the United States. The only interruptions in his long

service with the University occurred during the time he was Secretary of Justice (193637); Secretary of Foreign Relations (193738); and President of the Assembly to Revise the Constitution (1941-42 and again in 1946).

Dr. Ortega's long public career has included a number of other posts. To mention only a few, he has served on the National Board of Education; on the Permanent Committee on the Columbus Memorial Lighthouse; on the Dominican Republic's Centennial Committee; on the Mixed Dominican-Haitian Frontier Commission; on the Permanent Consultative Committee of Foreign Relations; and on the Commission of University Reforms. In the cultural field, he has been President of the Dominican-American Cultural Institute, of the Dominican-Brazilian Commission of Cultural Interchange, and of the Dominican-Chilean Commission of Cultural Interchange. He was also at one time Vice-President of the Dominican Commission on Intellectual Cooperation.

As an eminent jurist, Dr. Ortega played a dominant role on the Commission in Charge of Preparing Social Reform Laws. As Secretary of the Commission of Education he helped to prepare the laws of public instruction in use today. And at one time or another he has served on the following: the Special Tax Commission; the Commission for the Revision of Registry of Land Titles; the Commission for Revision of Banking Laws; the InterAmerican Commission for the Codification of International Law; and the Commission of Jurists for the Revision of National Codes.

As chief of delegation, Ambassador Ortega has represented his country at many international congresses and at the inauguration of several Latin American presidents. For example, he was chairman of the Dominican Republic's delegation to the Third Inter-American Congress of the Caribbean and was Ambassador Extraordinary and President of the Special Dominican Delegation which attended the inauguration of General Gaspar Dutra as President of Brazil.

Dr. Ortega belongs to a number of scientific and literary societies both in the Dominican Republic and abroad. At home he is a member of the Bar Association; of the Ateneo, a literary society; of the Dominican Historical Academy; and of the Dominican-German Scientific Institute of Santo Domingo. In other countries he belongs to the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, to the Société de Législation Comparée of Paris, to the Instituto Sanmartiniano of Colombia; and is Honorary President of the Agrupación Pro-Enseñanza de Hechos Históricos of Cuba.

Ever the internationalist, Dr. Ortega has received decorations from Panama, Ecuador, and Haiti, besides three from his own country. He is the author of many books and articles on historical, cultural, and educational subjects, including one in English written at the University of Ohio.

The new Ambassador is now living at the handsome Dominican Embassy on Sixteenth Street in Washington with his wife, Carmita Peña Henríquez, and his son and daughter, Rafael Andrés and María de la Altagracia.

NOWHERE in the world has aviation so vitally affected the every-day life of the people as it has in Latin America. Here industry and agriculture, language and customs, yes, even the existence of entire communities depend to a large extent on air transportation.

If you remember what your geography book said about Central and South America, you can appreciate the reasons for this unique situation. Isolated by natural barriers of mountain or jungle, many of these countries never experienced the normal development of canal boat, railroad, or highway transport. Instead, people who traveled only by muleback and dugout canoe are now enjoying the speed and comfort of modern airplanes. Away from the larger cities, for instance, it isn't at all unusual to find veteran air travelers who have never seen a locomotive or taken a ride in an automobile.

Some economists say that these countries will actually develop faster without the burden of costly and obsolescent ground transportation systems. Whether this is true or not, it is certainly evident that the airplane has a role here entirely different from its role in the United States.

At the present time there are between 60 and 70 air transport companies serving Latin America. While a few large international lines receive most of the publicity and profits, the majority of these organizations go unnoticed in their unglamorous job of bringing daily necessities to hundreds of isolated villages. And if you have ever wondered what happens to airplanes considered too old for service in the United States, you will find them here, stripped

of their plush seats and soundproofing perhaps, but still performing yeoman service.

Just to get an idea of how these small domestic lines operate, the author recently spent a day with AVIATECA, Guatemala's pioneer airline. This company, started with one small airplane back in 1929, now serves the entire country with two Douglas DC-3's, two DC-2's, one Ford Trimotor, and one single engined Norseman. All schedules are fluid, that is, planes are flown to any point where cargo piles up. Luxury items are carried from Guatemala City to any point in the interior for seven cents per pound while staple goods are first shipped to Puerto Barrios by rail, then flown from there at four cents per pound. This system simplifies bookkeeping, of course, and encourages commercial distributors to cover the entire country. Passengers are carried when there is room and, if they are lucky, bucket seats may be installed.

A typical work-day begins at 6:00 in the morning. Mechanics give the plane a final check while gas tanks are being filled and cargo goes aboard. Last minute weather reports are received as the three passengers climb in. Our DC-3, a veteran of the European invasion, is loaded with 21⁄2 tons of Klim powdered milk, Pablum, Campbell's tomato soup, Hinds' Honey and Almond Cream, DDT powder, tires, wagon wheels, and a girl's bicycle. We take off from Guatemala City's beautiful Aurora airport and in ten minutes are over the jungle-blanketed mountains with no signs of civilization visible. The American