Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, The American Republics, Volume IV

S/P–NSC files, lot 61 D 167, NSC 56 series

Memorandum by the Deputy Under Secretary of State (Matthews) to the Executive Secretary of the National Security Council (Lay)¹

top secret

[Washington,] March 18, 1952.

Subject:

• Sixth Progress Report on NSC 56/2, “United States Policy Toward Inter-American Military Collaboration.”²

NSC 56/2 was approved as governmental policy on May 19, 1950. It is requested that this Progress Report as of March 7, 1952 be circulated to the members of the Council for their information.

1. The Mutual Security Act of 1951³ authorized, and the Congress later made, an appropriation of $38,150,000 to furnish grant military assistance to the other American Republics. This assistance, according to a provision of the Act is to be furnished “only in accordance with defense plans which are found by the President to require the recipient country to participate in missions important to the defense of the Western Hemisphere.” The President on December 14 made the finding necessary to authorize the inclusion of eight countries in the military grant aid program for Latin America, paving the way for an approach to be made to the governments of Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay to enter into (a) negotiation of a Bilateral Military Assistance Agreement required by the Act; and (b) to secure their agreement to bilateral military plans related to their performance of missions important to the defense of the hemisphere (generally outside their national territory), and the provision of U.S. assistance in preparation of specific units of their armed forces for that purpose. Bolivia and the Dominican Republic were included in the finding as alternates, while Argentina and Venezuela were included pending the resolution of certain circumstances as indicated below.

The agreements which will be or are being negotiated are similar to those concluded with the NATO countries; and the defense tasks, which are the subject of separate bilateral secret military plans also being negotiated, would, in most cases, involve missions similar to those which the U.S. had to perform in World War II, and which we otherwise would have to perform in the event of aggression against the Western Hemisphere.

Bilateral negotiations to carry out the military grant aid provisions of the Mutual Security Act of 1951 were initiated with Brazil (January 4), Peru (January 7), Ecuador (January 15), Chile and Colombia (January 22), Cuba (January 30), and with Mexico (February 6). Uruguay is the only one of the eight countries approached which has not yet agreed to negotiate, although there is some prospect of initiating negotiations with this country before March 15.

Military Assistance Agreements have now been signed with Ecuador (February 20)⁴ and Peru (February 22).⁵ In each case a Secret Bilateral Military Plan concerning the defense tasks to be performed and the forces which will be readied with U.S. assistance was initiated [initialed].⁶ Negotiations with Mexico were suspended (February 23), and there is no prospect that they will be reopened in the foreseeable future. Although the Mexican Government entered into negotiations after their nature had been fully explained, it soon became apparent that their officials had no intention or desire of actually coming to an agreement which would be acceptable under our statutory requirements. Negotiations are continuing with Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Cuba.

Two important Latin American governments, Argentina and Venezuela, were included tentatively in the President’s finding, but approaches in each case will not be made, pending the clarification of certain circumstances. Based primarily on military considerations, Argentina was included in the finding, but the political situation in Argentina was of such a nature that negotiations with the country on this subject were delayed until a more appropriate time. Venezuela was included tentatively in the list of countries proposed as recipients of grant military aid, pending verification, when the bilateral military staff conversations with Venezuela are resumed, of the ability and willingness of the Venezuelan Government to pay its own way in procuring the equipment required by those forces which it should support in order to carry out vital hemisphere defense missions.

While the specific missions which all these countries will be asked to agree to undertake are based on a current U.S. war plan, the general concept of this plan is reflected in the Common Defense Scheme for the American Continent,⁷ outlined in NSC 56/2, which was developed multilaterally in the Inter-American Defense Board, and is also reflected in the General Military Plan for the Defense of the American Continent Formal approval of the Common Defense Scheme or of the General Military Plan by each of the countries involved, will be a prerequisite to receipt of military grant aid under this program.

2. The General Military Plan for the Defense of the American Continent which was prepared by the Inter-American Defense Board pursuant to Resolution III of the Fourth Meeting of Consultation of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs was approved by the Inter-American Defense Board on November 15, 1951, and has been submitted to the member governments for their consideration and acceptance. To date the following governments have approved the General Military Plan, which was submitted to the member nations of the Inter-American Defense Board on December 12, 1951; other approvals will undoubtedly follow when sufficient time for study has elapsed: Argentina, Honduras and Uruguay.

3. Some of the requirements of Latin American countries for equipment, training and services which are met from U.S. sources will continue to be furnished on a reimbursable basis. The high cost of available equipment and the low priority assigned to Latin America for its allocation continues to make it difficult for the U.S. at present to allow the Latin American nations to procure the many major items of new equipment which are needed, or spare parts and maintenance items necessary for equipment previously received from the U.S. While it is anticipated that the receipt of military grant aid will ameliorate this situation to a certain extent in some countries, a number of Latin American governments show an increasing interest in purchasing substantial amounts of low-cost arms from NATO surplus, and, in some cases, notably Ecuador and Bolivia, from countries behind the Iron Curtain. The Department of Defense has at present under consideration a paper⁸ to consider what action if any should be taken by the U.S. with respect to exports of military equipment by NATO countries to the other American Republics.

The continued purchase, in any large scale, of equipment, either from NATO sources or Iron Curtain countries, would, of course, affect the long-range policy of arms standardization, interfere with the usefulness of the U.S. Service Missions in Latin America, and make it increasingly difficult to achieve effective collective military action in this hemisphere. While under the terms of the Battle Act,⁹ the U.S. is not at present in a position to object to the purchase of arms from behind the Iron Curtain by Latin American countries, if the transaction is based purely on currency payments, it must consider carefully the eligibility of any foreign government to receive further military, economic or financial aid from the U.S., if the recipient country were, in payment for arms received, to export behind the Iron Curtain a strategic material as proscribed under this Act.

H. Freeman Matthews

1. Drafted by Duncan A. D. Mackay on Mar. 7; cleared with the Offices of South American Affairs and Middle American Affairs, the Office of the Special Assistant to the Secretary for Mutual Security Affairs, the Office of Regional European Affairs, the Munitions Division, and the Department of Defense.
2. NSC 56/2, dated May 18, 1950, and approved by President Truman on the following day, is printed in Foreign Relations, 1950, vol. i, p. 628.
3. Public Law 165, approved Oct. 10, 1951; for text, see 65 Stat. 373.
4. For text of the military assistance agreement between the United States and Ecuador, signed at Quito, Feb. 20, 1952, and entered into force on the same date, see Department of State Treaties and Other International Acts Series (TIAS) No. 2560 or United States Treaties and Other International Agreements (UST), vol. 3 (pt. 3), p. 4162.
5. For text of the military assistance agreement between the United States and Peru, signed at Lima, Feb. 22, 1952, and entered into force, Apr. 26, 1952, see TIAS No. 2466, or 6 UST (pt. 2) 2064.
6. For documentation on these plans, see pp. 966 ff. and 1491 ff., respectively.
7. For information on the Common Defense Scheme, aproved by the Inter-American Defense Board, Oct. 27, 1950, and by the Department of State, Jan. 15, 1951, see Secretary of Defense Marshall’s letter to Secretary Acheson, Dec. 16, 1950, Foreign Relations, 1950, vol. i, p. 679.
8. Not found in Department of State files.
9. Reference is to the Mutual Defense Assistance Control Act of 1951 (Public Law 213), approved Oct. 26, 1951, and commonly called the Battle Act, after Representative Laurie C. Battle of Alabama; for text, see 65 Stat. 644.