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  4. Document 336

361/7–1250

Memorandum by the Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations (McFall) to the Secretary of State

[Washington,] July 12, 1950.

We are now engaged in a program of trying to pry loose from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee a host of legislative items that we are hopeful in being able to get through before the session ends. One of the items we are working on is the ratification of the Charter of the Organization of American States.1 The Committee, Senator Connally particularly, has been lukewarm to the Charter and has indicated that its refusal so far to act on the matter may be traceable to the failure of Argentina to ratify the Rio Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance.2 This somewhat obtuse objection is now removed, as Argentina, about ten days ago, did ratify the Rio Pact.3

I think, therefore, that it would be most helpful if you would telephone Senator Connally and say that because it is increasingly necessary that we pursue the cold war on all fronts and that in the development of MDAP, Point IV, Palestine Refugees, ECA, etc., there has been a tendency somewhat to relegate Latin America to the background, you think it would be most desirable if we can show by affirmative action that we stand solidly with the Latin American countries in the battle we are waging and that the ratification of the Charter would be a measurable step forward in conveying to our Latin American neighbors this attitude. I am inclined to think this kind of persuasion would hold considerable appeal with Connally and [Page 640] that it might accomplish the desired result, namely, ratification of the Charter.

Jack K. McFall
  1. Signed at Bogotá April 30, 1948. For text, see United States Treaties and Other International Agreements (UST), vol. 2 (pt. 2), p. 2394. For pertinent documentation, see Foreign Relations, 1948, vol. ix, pp. 1 ff., and ibid., 1949, vol. ii, pp. 419 ff.↩
  2. For text of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, see Department of State Treaties and Other International Acts Series (TIAS) No. 1838, or 62 Stat. (pt. 2) 1681.↩

  3. On June 28. For pertinent documentation, see pp. 691–743, passim.

    In a memorandum of April 5, 1950, to Paul C. Daniels, U.S. Representative to the Council of the Organization of American States, John C. Dreier, Director of the Office of Regional American Affairs, had indicated in part his belief that the Senate would not act on the Charter until several more American states had ratified it. (361/4–550)

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