142. Letter From the Ambassador to the Dominican Republic (Bennett) to the Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs (Mann)1
Dear Tom:
While I would not want to go too far out on a limb, I do feel a certain qualified optimism at the end of this week.
The move of the IAPF into the city has without question provided the personal security for the population at large which has made other [Page 339] forward steps possible. The opening of the banks and the two regular newspapers this week are the longest strides towards normality yet taken.
The failure of the general strike which the communists were trying to organize was a heartening thing. It lends credence to my own conviction that the rank and file of Dominicans want nothing more desperately than peace and a chance to work, notwithstanding the noise made by the extreme left which is all too often pumped up out of proportion by some of our enterprising and not very judicious press reporters. It was also helpful that Bosch spoke out against the strike, and the Secretary General of his party, who lunched with me today, told me that instructions have been sent out to all the PRD branches to fight the communists on the labor front. This is a new and welcome sense of reality on Boschʼs part. I think Garcia Godoy made a mistake in leaving the play, and thus the credit, on dampening down the strike to Bosch. He could have gained some kudos by going on the radio himself, but he chose not to do so. At any rate, any time something bad does not happen means one step forward. Further in the labor field, our own labor movement and the international units to which it is affiliated now have a whole raft of people here. They are moving about actively and have shown some of their muscle both in meetings with the President and in the Labor Ministry. This should be all to the good, although the labor picture here is involved and the fight will not be an easy one.
As for Garcia Godoy, he really seems at last about to move on some of the bad appointments. He has asked agreement of the Uruguayans to receive Attorney General Morel Cerda as Ambassador in Montevideo. We hope to press on to get that accomplished in short order. He seems on the point of moving also on the radio and information sector. There have been other deplorable appointments, but these are the two fields in which the most danger has been done.
Reintegration of the military still remains a major problem and Ellsworth will be pressing on that, with our help there useful. At least Garcia Godoy now accepts the need for people like Caamano to leave the country, (he had already agreed on Montes Arache) and he has talked with them. That will make possible some balancing off with the pressure on the other side in the regular military leadership. My own view is that Caamano should leave first, before any more of the regular military. This will be a delicate operation but it ought to be possible to bring it off. At least the fever is out of the situation for the moment.
On the economic side the Dominicans, despite general disorganization, are pulling together better and we are getting a few things going.
[Page 340]The far right is plotting, as is the extreme left. There could of course be further killings at any time. There was one today, this time perpetrated by the rebel Chief of Intelligence, in a restaurant patronized by our own people. Taking out people like Morel Cerda will go a long way to disarming rightist excitement and we can move forward from there. For the first time I believe we may have turned the corner.
There is hard work ahead, and no solution in this country is likely to be wholly satisfactory, but at least we are perhaps on the way.
With warm regards as always,
Yours very sincerely,
P.S. I have also had a private meeting recently with Balaguer. He and his party continue to urge early elections.