In 1960, Gordon helped develop the Alliance for Progress, an aid program designed to prevent Latin America from turning to revolution and socialism for economic progress. The journalist A. J. Langguth noted that many Brazilian nationalists scorned the Alliance as Brazilian foreign aid to America due to the belief that American corporations were withdrawing more money from the country than they were investing. Though Brazil did indeed run balance of payments deficits with the United States during the years of the Alliance, the size of these deficits was well exceeded by the grants and credits provided by the US to Brazil, even before factoring in development loans and military aid. Brazil also enjoyed large overall balance of payments surpluses during the Alliance years.