Munoz Condemns Nationalist Trend

"For the larger tasks now confronting mankind, nationalism is obsolescent," Governor Munoz Marin of Puerto Rico asserted last night. Speaking before a sparse but enthusiastic audience in the first of three Godkin Lectures at Sanders Theatre, the Governor said that nationalism has produced a politics at variance with the realities of the world.

Applying to the case of Puerto Rico his idea that political growth has not stopped with nationalism, Munoz stated, "Puerto Rico has by-passed the political emotions of nationalism on its way out of colonialism. Puerto Rico does not want obsolescent colonialism, nor does it want obsolescent nationalism. Puerto Ricans are anti-colonialists, and still not nationalists."

The ideal status, he indicated, would be a large, loose federal structure, or series of structures, such as the one that now links Puerto Rico and the United States. "The mind of mankind must get much more accustomed to the idea of a bigger federalism," Munoz said.

"The great enemy of mankind today is nuclear power. Our finger is on the trigger all the time. The possibilities of destruction are measureless," the Governor asserted. "In the battle of nuclear power and man, nuclear energy has the upper hand." Nationalism is a danger because it is the means by which the nuclear power may be triggered, he added.

Addressing himself to the present situation of tension between the two great national states of the world, Russia and America, Munoz asserted that fear in the Soviet Union that Americans are trying to destroy them, has driven the Russians to absorb the neighboring states as buffers against possible frontal attacks by the United States. The West then answered with a policy of containment and developed a defensive ring around the "Russian-Chinese giant."

Containment Dangerous

"If we just contain and contain, and keep this tension we take the chance everyday of someone making a mistake. If we just keep containment we are in constant danger of mistakes," the Governor said. He voiced the opinion that the United Nations was merely an instrument of this containment, and in the long run would only prolong the era of nationalistic tensions rather than allow them to be submerged in a system of world-wide federalism.

The prepared speech was followed by a vigorous question period in which the Governor was called upon to discuss in specific terms some of the broader principles which he had touched upon.

In answer to a question by Carl J. Friedrich, Eaton Professor of Government, on errors in United States policy toward Latin America, the Governor maintained that the United States should not intervene in the internal affairs of any Latin country. The U.S. should have "friendly official relations" with all, but should be "friendlier towards some than others" lest those people under dictatorships get the mistaken impression that the United States condones the rules of dictators.