814.504/9–2247
The Ambassador in Guatemala (Kyle) to the Secretary of State
No. 2641
Sir: I have the honor to report that on Saturday, September 20, I called on President Arévalo to ascertain his views in connection with the conversations which he has been holding with officials of the United Fruit Company concerning the application of the Guatemalan Labor Code to that Company.27 Mr. Donovan accompanied me and acted as interpreter during the conversation.
I told the President that Mr. Taillon had kept me informed regarding his conversations and that I had followed them with great interest. I explained that the Department was most anxious that a satisfactory solution of the problems which had arisen be arrived at and I inquired regarding the present status of the matter. President Arévalo stated that, as I knew, he had requested the United Fruit Company to present to him suggestions for amendments to the law which would overcome the difficulties which they foresaw. He said that this had been done and that he had turned over the Fruit Company’s suggestions to trustworthy [Page 713] attorneys (de mi confianza) for study. He said that the report had not yet been rendered by the attorneys in question but that I need not be worried, since the Government did not propose to bring the matter before Congress until a later date. The President remarked that, in addition to the suggested amendments presented by the Company, other amendments had been or would be presented by the Agricultural Association, the labor organizations, and the Chamber of Commerce. All of these would be studied and presented to Congress in such form as to endeavor to obtain at least a certain measure of satisfaction for the several interests concerned. President Arévalo then said that he understood that one of the chief objections on the part of the United Fruit Company was to a provision of the law which provided that agricultural enterprises employing more than 500 workers were not exempt from strikes.
I asked the President whether in his view of the matter he felt that there was discrimination against the Company. He immediately said that he would be the first to admit that there were several articles directly discriminatory against the United Fruit Company and that they were a virtual “machine gun” held against the head of the Company. He went on to say that these provisions had not been included in the original draft of the law presented to Congress and that they had been inserted in the heat of the debates in Congress, apparently without much attention having been paid to them at the time. He added that the laborers on the other hand felt that there were certain provisions of the Code which did not sufficiently protect their rights and that they also had certain justification for their requests for revisions of the Code.
In answer to my query concerning the approximate date of action on this matter, the President said that for political reasons and in view of the present situation, no action would be taken during the present month nor would any action be taken prior to the October holidays in connection with the Anniversary of the 1944 Revolution. He said that the matter might be presented to Congress during the latter part of October or possibly during November. He remarked on the similarity of the situation where so many different interests were endeavoring to obtain modifications of the Code and the situation which has arisen owing to the debate in the National Congress on the suspension of constitutional guarantees. He said that the three parties which support the Government, presumably the PAR, the FPL and PRN, were quarrelling among themselves but that this was only a step in their democratic education and that the differences between the various interests desirous of modifying the Labor Code were not dissimilar.
Respectfully yours,
- A memorandum of conversation, between President Arévalo, W. E. Turnbull, General Manager for Central America, and W. L. Taillon, General Manager for Guatemala, on August. 6, was transmitted to the Department in despatch 2597, August 11, from Guatemala, not printed (814.504/8–1147); on August 13 Mr. Taillon again met with the President and presented to him another memorandum setting forth provisions which the Company considered discriminatory and proposing certain changes (despatch 2605, August 19 from Guatemala, not printed, 814.504/8–1947).↩