Editorial Note
The National Security Council at its 174th meeting on December 10, 1953, discussed United States objectives and courses of action with respect to Latin America in light of the second progress report on NSC 144/1 (NSC Action No. 980–a) and noted the President’s statement that he had sent communications to appropriate departments and agencies of the Executive branch regarding implementation of Dr. Milton Eisenhower’s report on United States–Latin American relations (NSC Action No. 980–b). The Council also noted President Eisenhower’s desire that the Department of Defense investigate the feasibility of accelerating deliveries of military equipment to the Latin American republics (NSC Action No. 980–c). A memorandum of discussion at the 174th NSC meeting, dated December 11, 1953, is in the Eisenhower Library, Whitman file, NSC records.
On February 4, 1954, the NSC’s Executive Secretary, James S. Lay, Jr., circulated to the NSC a memorandum by the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, H. Struve Hensel, to the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs, Robert Cutler, dated February 2, 1954, p. 169, detailing the steps taken to accelerate deliveries of military equipment to the Latin American republics. At its 184th meeting on February 11, 1954, the NSC noted the action taken to accelerate deliveries (NSC Action No. 1038).