868.00/11–1849
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern, South Asian, and African Affairs (McGhee)
| Participants: | Mr. Venizelos, Deputy Prime Minister of Greece |
| Mr. McGhee, NEA | |
| Mr. Dixon |
Mr. Venizelos asked me if I had seen Mr. Exintaris and if he had discussed the Markezinis proposed Papagos Service Government with [Page 459] me.1 I said that he had been to see me and had briefly discussed that subject. Mr. Venizelos said that Mr. Exintaris had been to see him and had tried to point out that it was Mr. Venizelos’ duty to assist in bringing about the Proposed Service Government. Mr. Exintaris had said that he did not believe it would be possible for the Papagos Service Government to assume power unless the movement were supported by the two major parties in Greece. Mr. Venizelos said that he was not in favor of the Papagos Service Government and that he felt elections should be held this winter. I said that while this was an internal Greek matter and that while I did not wish to interfere with internal matters of Greece, nevertheless I felt that nothing should be done there which was unconstitutional. I said I did not believe in the idea of being too flexible about the holding of elections. The United States held elections during the Civil War and also during the last war. In holding these elections the normal processes of Government were not in any way impaired. The idea of providing an interim to allow the quieting down of passions which had been engendered during the civil war did not seem compelling to me. I said that I could not see the necessity for having such an Interim Government. The question of timing elections, if carried to an extreme, could result in the election occurring at such a time as to be able almost to predict the exact outcome of the elections. I said I felt that even an election which occurred within the constitutional period required, should be announced in advance in order to facilitate as normal an expression of the will of the people as possible. Mr. Venizelos said that the elections would probably be held in February. He said that he was going “to be quiet about the civil war” and the political aspects which arose therefrom in his campaign. I told Mr. Venizelos that I believed that Greece would at least have some period of peace while the Cominform trained its guns on Yugoslavia.
Mr. Venizelos said that Eleftheria was the only real democratic paper in Greece. The newspaper in the past had been rumored to be in the fellow-traveler category, but its status as a liberal newspaper was pretty well understood now. However, there had been from time [Page 460] to time many difficulties interposed to prevent it from circulating freely. This was especially true in the provinces of Greece. Not long ago a loan was approved by the Greek Currency Committee for Eleftheria to buy a new printing press from Germany. A subsequent loan was granted in order for the newspaper to build an appropriate building for the housing of the press and newspaper offices. The extreme right newspapers had taken up the matter of the Currency Committee’s approval of the loan and had attempted to portray the action as a scandal. Because of the political pressure created, the Committee’s approval of the loan was submitted to the Steering Committee where it is still under consideration. Mr. Venizelos said he felt that the loan should be granted. He said that if the Americans on the Steering Committee were favorable to the granting of the loans, he felt that would facilitate their being finalized. Mr. Venizelos said he believed that Mr. Tsaldaris was also in favor of granting this loan. I told Mr. Venizelos that those matters came under the cognizance of Ambassador Grady who had all power to decide and act on behalf of the American Government in Athens. I said that I would be in Athens in a few days and that I would be pleased to discuss the matter with the Ambassador.
- In late September and early October, Spyridon Markezinis, the leader of the New Party, published a series of articles in the newspapers Estia and Vima in Athens outlining his proposals for a solution to Greece’s political problems. Central to Markezinis’ program was the postponement of elections and the establishment of an interim government under Gen. Papagos which would carry out needed reforms. Markezinis’ proposals had given rise to much speculation in political circles in Athens. The texts of Markezinis’ articles and a commentary thereon were transmitted in despatch 771, November 7, from Athens, not printed (868.00/11–749). Markezinis’ views, as reported to an officer of the Embassy in Athens during a conversation on October 12, were transmitted to the Department in despatch 719, October 13, from Athens, not printed (868.00/10–1349). George Exindaris, a minister in several Greek cabinets before World War II and Greek representative in Italy, 1945–46, discussed Markezinis’ proposals with officers of the Department of State during a call on October 11 (memorandum of conversation by Dixon, October 11, 1949: 868.00/10–1149).↩