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  4. Document 48

IO Files: US/A/C.1/1213

Memorandum of Conversation, by Mr. John C. Boss, Adviser, United States Delegation to the General Assembly

secret
[New York,] October 3, 1949.

Russian Resolution

On the basis of telephoned instructions from Mr. Sandifer,1 I took [Page 94] advantage of seeing General Romulo2 at lunch today to ask his views on the Russian Resolution. I said that in view of the fact that the United States was one of the parties attacked in this resolution, we perhaps did not have the perspective that would help us to a valid judgment. The State Department had accordingly requested us to seek the views of a very few top Delegates, including, in particular, Romulo.

The General said he was glad I raised this question because he had discussed the matter with Padilla Nervo3 yesterday. He had asked Padilla Nervo to take the Russian Resolution and redraft it in a way that would be “helpful to the Americans”. He had asked Padilla Nervo to bring back a redraft in a couple of days. The two of them would go over this redraft and then consult us.

The General said he had asked Padilla Nervo to do this for three reasons: first, “we could count on him”; second, he was the author of the Mexican Resolution last Fall; third, the General considered that it was important to have a Latin American rather than a European (or an Asiatic) to introduce the kind of resolution that would be helpful to us.

I asked Romulo if his action indicated that he had reached the conclusion that it would be better to amend or offer a substitute for the Russian Resolution rather than to kill it outright in its present form. The General replied quite definitely in the affirmative.

Romulo said he would let us know as soon as he got something back from Padilla Nervo.

[Here follows discussion of another subject.]

  1. Durward V. Sandifer, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for United Nations Affairs.↩
  2. Brig. Gen. Carlos P. Romulo, President of the General Assembly; Chairman of the Philippine Delegation; Permanent Philippine Representative at the United Nations.↩
  3. Dr. Luis Padilla Nervo, Chairman of the Mexican Delegation; Permanent Mexican Representative at the United Nations.↩