274. Memorandum of Conversation1
SUBJECT
- Meeting of President Francisco J. Orlich of Costa Rica with the Secretary Part II—Cuba
PARTICIPANTS
-
U.S.
- The Secretary
- Assistant Secretary Thomas C. Mann
- Ambassador Raymond L. Telles
- Mr. Oliver L. Sause, Director, Office of Central American Affairs
-
Costa Rica
- Francisco J. Orlich, President of Costa Rica
- Daniel Oduber, Foreign Minister of Costa Rica
- Mario Quiros, Minister of Presidency
- Gonzalo Facio, Ambassador of Costa Rica
- Eduardo Lizano, Economic Advisor
- Fidel Tristan, Dean of the School of Economics
The Secretary said that he wanted to repeat to President Orlich the firm pledge of the Government of the United States to assist in any feasible way if Costa Rica were threatened by Castro Communism. U.S. help might take the form of cooperation in mounting coastal patrols and surveillance of arms shipments, cooperation between military forces or any other means appropriate to the occasion. It was firm U.S. policy to keep Castro in Cuba and to make it clear that any effort by him to subvert or to threaten other countries would encounter a prompt reaction.
President Orlich said he was providing some help to Cuban exile leaders.
The Secretary said the U.S. was trying to ensure that no Cuban exile activities originated on U.S. soil. Hit-and-run raids are not very effective since most of the work to overthrow Castro will have to be done inside Cuba. The introduction of people into Cuba is becoming more difficult. Cuban police work is very professional, thanks to Soviet training.
President Orlich asked about the possible whereabouts of new guerrilla activities. The Secretary said this was difficult to judge. He [Page 667] was concerned about arms being smuggled from Panama to Colombia and from Bolivia to Argentina. The Secretary said that control of arms traffic required a great deal of careful organization.
The Secretary then discussed on the impact of the defection of Fidel Castroʼs sister, Juana. He indicated he was very much interested in her remarks regarding the use of Cuban embassies as centers of subversion. Ambassador Facio recalled that when he had visited Cuba in March 1959 in the company of President Orlich and Jose Figueres, Castroʼs sister apologized for the sharp exchanges which took place at that time between Figueres and Castro and remarked to the Costa Rican group that she greatly feared communist penetration of the July 26 movement.
There was general agreement that the increasing number of Soviet trained students from Central America and other areas represented a threat. It was noted that the Costa Rican Government has tried by publicizing names of those taking such training to cut down the flow. The Secretary asked if the Government of Costa Rica had lists of all those who had been trained by communists, and urged that the Government continue to keep an eye on them after their return.
The Secretary then referred to the forthcoming OAS Foreign Ministerʼs meeting in Washington and said that while it appeared there would be sufficient votes on the present version of the Venezuelan resolution, he would appreciate continued Costa Rican efforts to try to influence the two or three nations still opposed to action. President Orlich and Foreign Minister Oduber said that they would continue their efforts. There was also general agreement that the resolutions should not be further watered down. The Secretary said that the recommendations by nations of the hemisphere to nations outside the hemisphere that they cut off commercial relations with Cuba, if approved, would have a very significant impact on European nations now trading with Cuba. The volume of their trade with Cuba is small. They would probably think twice about continuing Cuban trade if it were in any way to jeopardize their much greater trade with the rest of Latin America.
- Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Central Files 1964–66, POL 15–1 Costa Rica. Secret. Drafted by Oliver L. Sause, Director of the Office of Central American Affairs and approved in S on July 14. Part I of the memorandum of conversation on “Economic Assistance,” is ibid.↩