821.24/2–1649

The Ambassador in Colombia ( Beaulac ) to the Secretary of State

confidential

No. 110

Sir: With reference to previous correspondence concerning Colombia’s desire to receive arms from the Government of the United States in order to equip its expanded army, I have the honor to enclose a memorandum of conversation with the Foreign Minister, Dr. Eduardo Zuleta Angel, oil the subject.

The Department will observe that while I agreed with the Foreign Minister that Colombia’s army did not constitute a threat to Colombia’s democracy, I said I considered that the Government’s economic policy, which has resulted in increasing the already dangerously high living costs in Colombia, does constitute a threat to Colombia’s democracy.

Respectfully yours,

Willard L. Beaulac
[Enclosure]

Memorandum of Conversation, by the Ambassador in Colombia (Beaulac)

confidential

Subject: Armaments to Latin American Republics

Participants: The Foreign Minister, Dr. Eduardo Zuleta Angel
The Ambassador

Dr. Zuleta told me of a report from the Colombian Ambassador in Washington2 of an alleged conversation among the Ambassador, Dr. Lleras Camargo,3 certain other Latin American diplomats, and Mr. Paul Daniels,4 during which Mr. Daniels asked for opinions concerning [Page 604] the effect of arms transfers from the United States to the other American Republics. Mr. Daniels was interested in the effect of such transfers on 1) domestic peace and 2) international peace.

All Latin Americans present agreed that the arms transfers did not have a disturbing effect on domestic peace. Revolutions and coup d’etats took place before the United States ever sent arms to Latin America and would continue to take place. In certain Latin American countries the people would fight with tanks and cannon, or with pistols and machetes, or with sticks and stones.

With reference to the international aspect of the matter, Dr. Lleras Camargo made what Dr. Zuleta thought was a very important statement. He said that international peace among the American Republics depended almost entirely on whether or not the United States really intended to support the Rio Pact.5 If it did, then the question of arms transfers had no importance. If it did not, arms transfers might encourage aggression by one country against another.

Mr. Daniels is reported to have replied that the United States intended to support the Rio Pact 100%.

This conversation, plus the Colombian Ambassador’s understanding that the United States was no longer giving military aid to China, led the Ambassador to suggest to Dr. Zuleta that the time might be ripe to again request that the Government of the United States furnish arms which Colombia needs to equip its expanded army.

Dr. Zuleta said that he was authorizing the Colombian Ambassador to raise the question of armaments once more with the Department of State. He spoke to me of Colombia’s democratic tradition and said that there was no possibility that increased armaments would lead to political disturbances in Colombia. On the contrary the lack of proper armaments might encourage such disturbances.

I told Dr. Zuleta that I had some time ago presented the matter of armaments for Colombia to the Department with considerable urgency. I asked him whether any arms at all had been received. He said that none had been received. I said that I would communicate once more with the Department in the matter.

I told Dr. Zuleta that I did not foresee any danger that the Colombian army would become a menace to Colombia’s democracy. What I was afraid of was that the Government’s economic policy, which was resulting in still higher living costs, was helping to create another situation of social tension which might explode at any moment. I thought [Page 605] that from the point of view of internal peace, the Government was following a dangerous course.

Dr. Zuleta said that the only solution to that problem was increased production. I said that I had noticed that the 25% increase in the price of domestically manufactured cigarettes following the prohibition against the importation of American cigarettes had aroused general indignation even among people who were well off. The Minister said that he did not understand all the details of that matter but that he understood that the Government was trying to ensure that the tobacco producers would be paid more for their product (the price of leaf tobacco has been increased by 15%).

  1. Gonzalo Restrepo-Jaramillo.
  2. Alberto Lleras Camargo, Secretary-General of the OAS.
  3. Director of the Office of American Republic Affairs.
  4. Text in Department of State Treaties and Other International Acts Series (TIAS) No. 1838, and 62 Stat. (pt. 2) 1681.