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

Conference files, lot 59 D 95, CF 412

Memorandum by the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Holland) to the Under Secretary of State (Hoover)

secret

[Washington,] November 10, 1954.

Subject:

• NSC Consideration of Position for Rio Economic Conference

There are indications that dissatisfaction with the positions we intend to take at Rio is broader than purely a State–FOA–Treasury matter.¹ Defense has shown a great deal of interest in the Conference and has sided with FOA in their views on the positions for the Conference. CIA, to a more limited degree, has similar views.

In the meantime, Andy Overby has handed me a rough draft of the address Mr. Humphrey plans to make at one of the early Plenary sessions of the Conference (Tab A).² I understand from Mr. Overby that this draft was prepared by the Treasury staff and has not as yet been seen by Mr. Humphrey. Nevertheless, the tenor of the speech is not as forthcoming as our position and would not adequately reflect the views we wish to present at Rio.

In light of these factors, it seems to me very important that:

1. Treasury be put very clearly on the record regarding their approach to the Conference.

2. We allow the reactions of FOA, Defense and other agencies to have full play against the Treasury position.

3. We avoid getting this Department into a position where we are attacked from both sides.

I believe that the Department’s spokesman should not open discussion of the Rio Conference in the NSC. If the presentation were made by Treasury the opposing agencies would direct their comments to Treasury. Our position would then be put in the most reasonable light as a follow up to the views of the extreme elements. We should utilize the forthcoming OCB and NSC meetings to get the positions for the Conference thoroughly discussed by the interested agencies and to bring into the open any centers of resistance in the Government, which, if allowed to exist, may later plague us at Rio.

You informed us in our meeting Saturday that you expect to represent the Department at the NSC meeting on Monday, November 15, when an oral report on the preparations for the Rio Conference is to be given. The OCB minute³ indicates that “the Chief of the U.S. Delegation to the Rio Conference is scheduled to brief the NSC … on the position to be taken by the U.S. Government”. I understand that the NSC has no preference as to which Department makes the presentation.

Recommendation

I recommend that you call Mr. Humphrey to suggest that he, as Chairman of the Delegation, make the presentation to the NSC in accordance with the OCB minute.

If you approve this course of action and are successful in having Mr. Humphrey make the presentation, Mr. Bowie will notify the NSC so that the agenda can be arranged accordingly.⁴

1. In a memorandum to Acting Secretary Hoover, dated Oct. 13, 1954, Operations Coordinator Radius stated in part that “FOA is aggressively pushing particular proposals which go further than State feels it desirable to go while, on the other hand, the Treasury Department is unwilling to take even the minimum steps which the State Department considers desirable. The real problem is how to secure a middle-of-the-road program between the Treasury and the FOA positions.” (S/S–OCB files, lot 62 D 430, “Rio Conference”)

   In a memorandum to Mr. Hoover, dated Nov. 9, 1954, the Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of State, Max W. Bishop, noted the strong feeling in FOA and the Department of Defense that the United States had not gone far enough to meet the desires of the Latin American countries for economic cooperation, and he stated in part the following: “I am informed that some of the ‘heat’ in Defense and FOA comes from the bureaucratic belief that Mr. Holland did not utilize interdepartmental coordinating machinery sufficiently to allow such agencies as FOA to air their views completely.” (S/S–OCB files, lot 62 D 430, “Rio Conference”)

2. Not attached to source text. For the text of Mr Humphrey’s address as delivered to the second plenary session of the conference on Nov. 23, 1954, see USDel Report: Quitandinha, Appendix 5, or Department of State Bulletin, Dec. 6, 1954, pp. 863–869.
3. Reference is to the OCB meeting of Oct. 13, 1954; the record of the minutes of the meeting is in S/S–OCB files, lot 62 D 430, “Minutes”.
4. S/P concurred in the recommendation. The source text bears the following unsigned, handwritten notation: “No action required.”