737.39/10–1948
The Chargé in Cuba (Mallory) to the Secretary of State
No. 843
Sir: I have the honor to report that during a call on the Minister of State this afternoon at his request, he referred to the Cuban attitude towards the Dominican Republic. He also referred to the visit of Ambassador Butler last Thursday, October 14, at which time a brief statement was left with the Minister of the attitude of the United States concerning tension in the Caribbean, and said that at that time he had not been prepared to make known his views. He wished to make them known to me at this time. He said that his firm position, which he believed was fully shared by the President, was that Cuba would not permit the formation or departure of armed expeditions from Cuba. He stated that no arms would be turned over by Cuba. He said that there were no sizable quantities of arms held in unofficial hands [Page 191] and that were there any sizable amounts they would be seized. He said, however, that there might be scattered arms over which the Government would not have control. Likewise, should someone load and depart with a small vessel from some Cuban port without the knowledge of the Cuban Government, naturally they could not control that. He emphasized their determination to prevent any official participation in activities against another country. He then stated that this did not mean, however, that Cuba was not ideologically opposed to dictatorships of whatever form. He said it is not proper to criticize dictatorships in other parts of the world and to condone them in nearby waters. He also said that there were economic reasons as well; that, for example, Cuba with its high sugar wage costs, and even the United States with its higher wage costs meet what may be termed disloyal competition in a dictatorship country where wages are held at very low levels. He inferred that statements of policy or press announcements might be made from time to time against dictatorships of whatever form.
I congratulated the Minister on the attitude of his Government in not participating in any trouble in this area and took occasion to hand him a copy of the address made by Mr. Paul Daniels at the laying of the cornerstone of the new Administration Building of the Pan American Union.1 He said that he would read it. I said that a statement such as he had just made to me would be very useful in quieting certain fears and wondered whether it might be possible for him to announce it publicly or to make it known through some of the inter-American organisms. The Minister replied that he had made a statement to the local representative of the Associated Press on Saturday last but had not seen its use. (A subsequent check with the Associated Press representative reveals that it was used out of New York on the A circuit, the most important of the American newspapers.) The Minister said that he was also formulating a statement of policy but this would take him a little while to prepare. I told him I hoped to receive a copy.
I took occasion to inquire of the Minister on a personal basis of the possible progress of the “direct negotiations” between the Dominican Republic and Cuba. The Minister said that he was not in favor of the “direct negotiations” because they were on a false basis. He said that the Dominican Republic in making its appeal had endeavored to preclude any accusations from Cuba while at the same time itself making an accusation. He said that this was not tenable and could not be accepted by Cuba. He added, almost as an aside, that President Prío was not happy with Ambassador Belt’s actions in this matter in having let such a situation slip by him.
[Page 192]The Minister was entirely friendly, was very frank, and obviously wished to state his position as soon as possible after taking office.
Respectfully yours,
- For Mr. Daniels’ address of October 12, 1948, see Annals of the Organization of American States, vol. i, no. 1, 1949, pp. 247–249.↩