In the three years of planning for the United Nations conference on development held last month in Monterrey, Mexico, U.S. negotiators steadfastly insisted that the conference was not about more public aid. U.S. negotiators argued that aid had, at best, a mixed record, and that the benefits of international trade revenues now dwarf any conceivable level of public aid. But what was the big announcement from the Bush Administration in Monterrey? More aid.