721.5 MSP/6–1952
Memorandum of Conversation, by Maurice M. Bernbaum of the Office of South American Affairs
Subject:
- Outstanding Military Problems with Colombia
- Participants: Sr. don Cipriano Restrepo-Jaramillo, Colombian Ambassador
- Sr. don José María Bernal, Colombian Minister of War
- UNA—Mr. John Hickerson, Assistant Secretary for UNA
- ARA—Mr. Edward G. Miller, Jr., Assistant Secretary for ARA
- OSA—Mr. W. Tapley Bennett, Deputy Director, OSA
- OSA—Mr. Maurice M. Bernbaum, Officer in Charge, NWC
The above officers of the Department were invited for luncheon at the Colombian Embassy to discuss, among other things, the acquisition of military equipment by the Colombian Armed Forces, the manner in which the recently signed Bilateral Military Pact is to be implemented, and reimbursement for the logistical support furnished Colombian Amed Forces in the Korean theater.
The Ambassador stated that conversations already held by Minister of War Bernal at the Pentagon had been most satisfactory. As a result of these conversations and with the assistance of appropriate officers of the Pentagon, the Colombian Embassy had prepared a request list of military equipment valued at approximately $3 million which was to be presented to the Department the same afternoon. This list represented a boiled down version of a previous list from which, as a result of the conversations at the Pentagon, non-available items had been deleted.1
The Ambassador stated that the Pentagon was extremely anxious to have the Department’s approval on the Colombian purchase order by Tuesday in order that the matter be taken up by the Allocations Board meeting the following day. He conveyed the impression that assurances had already been given by the Pentagon that the matériel requested would be furnished subject to approval by the State Department. The Ambassador was most emphatic regarding such assurances and requested the Department’s cooperation in getting the list to the Pentagon before the deadline.
The Ambassador then inquired regarding the military equipment to be made available to Colombia under the recently signed Bilateral Military Pact. He wanted to know the kind of equipment which was to be furnished in general as well as the exact composition of the initial [Page 775] shipment to be made in the near future. Mr. Miller stated that available information would be furnished him as soon as possible.
The Ambassador then stated that he and the Minister of War had taken advantage of their recent visits to the Pentagon to discuss the question of logistical support for the Colombian Armed Forces units now serving in Korea. He expressed himself as completely satisfied with the understanding attitude displayed by the unnamed high-ranking officers in the Pentagon who stated that they would give the most sympathetic consideration to Colombia’s problem.
Both the Colombian Ambassador and Dr. Bernal repeatedly emphasized throughout the luncheon the urgent character of Colombia’s requirements for the requested military equipment. Dr. Bernal stated that the question of internal security was of paramount importance to the Colombian Government which transcended in significance its operations in Korea and its preparations to collaborate in hemispheric defense. He described the anarchy now prevalent in many sections of Colombia as a result of guerrilla activities and stated that until this problem was solved the Colombian Government could give no assurances that it would be in a position to collaborate in hemispheric defense. He repeatedly emphasized, as did the Ambassador, that the guerrillas had no real political significance and were, as a matter of fact, being stirred up in their own activities by the small but forceful Communist minority which was interested only in the fomentation of disorder. The situation was such that anybody venturing into the territory now covered by the guerrillas would do so at the risk of his life. All efforts made by the Government to solve this situation through conciliation had thus far been unavailing. As a result, only military force could be counted upon to do the job. It was for this reason that Dr. Bernal was now visiting the US in the hope that he would, by his presence and through the first-hand knowledge imparted, be successful in expediting the purchase and sale of the necessary military equipment.
Dr. Bernal stated in response to queries from Messrs. Miller and Bernbaum that the guerrillas were not well equipped. Available evidence indicated that they were in possession of only rifles, most of them of a poor quality, hunting pieces and machetes. Only in the Eastern part of the country close to the Venezuelan border had there been found any machine guns. Guerrillas were apparently being supplied from Venezuela and Panama. They apparently enjoyed the cooperation in Venezuela of left-wing sympathizers among whom he named Jóvito Villalba, leader of the URD. He remarked that the Venezuelan Government had only recently suggested that it would take measures necessary to stop the traffic of arms from Venezuela into Colombia in return for Colombian cooperation in preventing similar traffic from the Colombian Guajira Peninsula into Venezuela.
- At this point on the source text there appears the following handwritten notation initialed by Mr. Bennett: “Pentagon informed Mackay availability not involved in the list—it was merely a ‘suitable’ list in line with Colombia’s needs.”↩