111.12 Braden, Spruille/8–1646
The Ambassador in Argentina (Messersmith) to the Secretary of State
Dear Mr. Secretary: …
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There is no doubt that I started my mission with a tremendous handicap for there was, of course, great resentment here on the part of the elected government for the attitude assumed by then-Ambassador Braden during the electoral campaign. I will not go into this specifically, but whether then-Ambassador Braden acted under his [Page 303] own initiative, or whether he had the approval of the Department does not make much difference because the fact remains that he was considered in the Argentine, both by the adherents of now-President Perón and those opposed to him, as the leader of the opposition to Perón. Mr. Braden and the Embassy became specifically identified with the electoral campaign, and no matter how correct the activities of Mr. Braden may have been and no matter how much they may have had the support of our Government or not, both sides in the Argentine consider that we were intervening in an internal electoral situation, and in every one of the other American countries they consider that Mr. Braden, if not we as a Government, did intervene, and they do not like it and have not forgotten it. The question is not who was right or who was wrong or the motivation behind the activity of Mr. Braden or any approval of our Government, but the question is that every one considers that we did intervene. The consequence is that the adherents of President Perón who were successful in the election hold it against us and those who were against Perón do not like us any the more because they lost.
I have had, therefore, to overcome this handicap which you will appreciate is a very real one, but I have, I think, to a very considerable extent succeeded in doing so, but because I have established friendly contact with the President and the Argentine Government which has been constitutionally elected, there are reasons to believe that from some sources in the State Department information is being given out to at least a part of the press and to certain commentators that I am “selling out”, that I am “toadying” to Perón, that I am sacrificing principle, etc., and that this is being done is obvious from some of the newspaper articles and radio comment in the last month. All this, of course, is perfectly ridiculous because I have been doing my obvious duty which is to establish friendly contact with the constitutional government so that an atmosphere can be created in which we can really talk frankly about the problems at issue and find a solution, and this is what I have been doing.
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With all good wishes [etc.]