341. Memorandum of Discussion at the 414th Meeting of the National Security Council, Washington, July 23, 19591
[Here follows discussion of matters unrelated to Cuba.]
Mr. Dulles said that most of the developments in Cuba had been fully reported in the press. Certainly the Communists had been helped by the removal of President Urrutia. The rally scheduled for this weekend, he predicted, would probably provide the occasion for Castro’s announcement that he was again going to resume his office of Prime Minister.
[Here follows discussion of matters unrelated to Cuba.]
[Page 568]The Attorney General referred to Mr. Dulles’s remarks about Cuba and pointed out again the problem which would be occasioned for the U.S. if Batista managed to get into this country. Mr. Rogers inquired whether it would not be a good idea to forestall such a possibility by stating clearly now that we would not let Batista in. He pointed out that Batista had already applied for a visa.
The President commented that the Batista problem was not only political but personal. He had had an anguished appeal from Batista’s eleven year old son and Mrs. Eisenhower had had an appeal from Batista’s wife.
Secretary Dillon pointed out that despite the affinity of dictators for one another, Batista was on very bad terms with Trujillo. Actually, Batista fears for his life while he remains in the Dominican Republic. Secretary Dillon added that the State Department was preparing a paper for the President dealing with the whole problem.
The President asked why we could not send Batista to Spain. Mr. Dulles replied that Spain was rather doubtful about accepting Batista. To make matters worse, a good many people who had worked with Batista or were still working with him, were very good friends of the U.S. and we must avoid estranging them. A notable instance was Portuondo. The President expressed agreement with Mr. Dulles’s point with particular reference to Portuondo and went on to inquire what kind of a dictator Batista had been. Was he a Peron? If not, what variety was he?
Mr. Dulles replied that Batista’s record at the beginning of his dictatorship had been pretty good, but it had turned very bad at the end with notable evidence of corruption. The Attorney General confirmed the point about the corruption, saying that Batista had amassed a fortune amounting to five million dollars through corrupt practices. The President replied that he was certainly opposed to permanent asylum for Batista and Mr. Rogers pointed out that it was extremely hard to get rid of people such as Batista once they had succeeded in getting into this country.
Secretary Dillon suggested that before taking any action, we await the State Department’s study of the Batista problem which would be ready in a few days.2
[Here follows discussion of matters unrelated to Cuba.]
- Source: Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, NSC Records. Top Secret. Prepared by Boggs.↩
- See Document 344.↩