714.00/6–2954
Memorandum of Telephone Conversation, by the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Holland)1
- Participants: Ambassador Peurifoy, Guatemala
- Mr. Holland
Ambassador Peurifoy called from Guatemala to say that the bombing continued, and wanted to know if there wasn’t some way to get word to Armas to stop it. The Ambassador stated that the new people were being greatly embarrassed and were in a “flap”. He didn’t know what was going to happen.
Mr. Holland said this development was what he needed. He asked the Ambassador to get the new people to authorize us to call the Council of American States together and advise them that the new Junta has requested the United States and El Salvador to lend their good offices to accomplish two ends:
- 1.
- First, an immediate cessation of hostilities.
- 2.
- A meeting of the heads of the two groups in El Salvador to try to work out a settlement.
Mr. Holland said that if they will authorize us to do that, then we can openly send people to this fellow to tell him they have got to stop this. Ambassador Peurifoy stated at this point that “they will authorize that”.
Mr. Holland said that he was going to call the OAS and say that through the Ambassador the Junta had called upon El Salvador and the United States to lend their good offices to bring about an immediate [Page 1196] cessation of hostilities and that we are proposing to send a mission from Tegucigalpa and urge that this be done. The Ambassador agreed.
Mr. Holland asked the Ambassador if he had sent out the cables2 he had requested a while ago. The Ambassador said yes, that they had agreed to send three cables. Mr. Peurifoy urged Mr. Holland to act with great rapidity, and the latter promised he would.
Mr. Holland asked that they immediately cable3 the Department, advising that they are requesting that we and El Salvador use their good offices to try to achieve this and the stoppage of hostilities immediately. Ambassador Peruifoy said he would do this.
Mr. Holland said he had talked with McDermott.4 McDermott had spoken with President Osorio,5 and the President said he would be glad to have the meeting in El Salvador.
Mr. Holland said that he would call the Council immediately stating that this had come from the Junta through Peurifoy and is being confirmed in writing, and that we will move also right away.6
Mr. Holland said, in response to a question of the Ambassador, that he had spoken with Willauer at Tegucigalpa about this matter.
Mr. Holland concluded with the request to the Ambassador that he get out the three cables (which he enumerated).
- The conversation took place at 3 p.m.↩
- Not identified.↩
- Telegram 1148, from Guatemala City, dated June 29, 1954, not printed, contains the translated text of a letter from the Guatemalan military junta received at the Embassy on June 29, requesting the United States to use its good offices to bring about a meeting between Colonel Monzón and Castillo Armas aimed at ending hostilities in Guatemala. (714.00/6–2954).↩
- Michael J. McDermott, U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador.↩
- Lt. Col. Oscar Osorio, President of El Salvador.↩
- In a memorandum of telephone conversations which took place at approximately 3:30 p.m. on June 29, 1954, dated June 29, Assistant Secretary Holland stated that he had called Ambassadors McDermott, Willauer, and Thomas E. Whelan, Ambassador to Nicaragua, to request that they try to establish contact with Castillo Armas to urge him to declare an immediate suspension of hostilities, and that he had also called Salvadoran Ambassador Héctor David Castro, President of the Council of the Organization of American States (COAS), to ask him to convene an extraordinary meeting of the Council so that Mr. Holland could appear before it and report the Guatemalan junta’s overture (714.00/6–2954). A meeting of the Council was called for 5:30 p.m. on June 29.↩