772.00/11–2453
The Consul General at Tunis (Hughes) to the Department of State1
No. 100
Subject:
- Reporting Conversation with the Director of the Resident General’s Cabinet
Mr. Pierre Fourier-Ruelle, new Director of the Resident General’s Cabinet, in a conversation with the reporting officer on November 18, confirmed that there would be no announcement regarding Resident General Voizard’s future program for Tunisia until after the Presidential elections in France. He stated that the Resident General would proceed to Paris after the new French President is installed in office for further consultation with the Metropolitan Government at which time he would submit his recommendations regarding a program for Tunisia. Such a program, of course, must be approved by the French Government before it can be implemented by the Resident General. Fourier-Ruelle implied that disclosure of France’s future plans for the Protectorate would probably not be made until the early part of January, 1954.
When asked if he could give any indication of the nature of the recommendations which Mr. Voizard would carry to Paris, Fourier-Ruelle replied in the negative. He said that the Resident General’s recommendations had not yet been finalized and that at the present time he was continuing his conversations with local Tunisian and French political groups in an effort to forge agreement among them on a common program. He stressed that this undertaking required the utmost in tact and diplomacy on the part of Mr. Voizard and involved “give and take” by all the various political groups concerned. The Resident General is working closely with the Bey whom he consults on all matters of importance before taking any action thereon. He believes that the majority of Tunisians look to the Bey to represent their interest, as he is the focal point of Tunisian political thinking.
When asked if the Residency had any apprehension that the delay [Page 872] in announcing Mr. Voizard’s program might result in impatience on the part of the Tunisians and thus lead to resumption of acts of terrorism, Fourier-Ruelle replied quite emphatically that it was inaccurate to say that the Resident General was delaying action at the present time. Adverting to the political discussions mentioned in the preceding paragraph, he stressed that these discussions were absolutely essential and represented constant progress on the problem. After stressing the delicate nature of the discussions, and the amount of patience and tact they required of the Resident General, he observed that, while he personally had had several years’ experience in the diplomatic field, it was not until after his arrival in Tunisia that he had come to appreciate the meaning of “diplomacy”. He commented that even if the Resident General had returned from his ten day trip to Paris in early November with an approved program for Tunisia, it would have been psychologically wrong for him to have announced it at that time. Such a plan, regardless of its substance, would have been unacceptable to the Tunisians as a program “hatched in Paris.” He confirmed that Mr. Voizard is intensely concerned with economic and social problems and believes that the neglect of these problems which has been in evidence during the past two years has been a major contributing factor to the present political situation. The Resident General is personally reviewing and studying each of the Protectorate’s economic problems in an effort to find solutions thereto and believes that economic and political progress must go hand in hand. The Director stated that the Residency did not anticipate any disorders or trouble between now and the time that future plans are announced.
Fourier-Ruelle confirmed the falsity of recent press reports that Habib Bourguiba was insane and had been removed from La Galite. He stated that following the appearance of these reports he had sent a personal representative to see Bourguiba who was found to be in good health and perfectly sane. He added that, of course, Bourguiba was a fanatic and that one had to remember this in commenting on the state of his mentality. When asked if Mr. Voizard had had any contact with Nationalist leaders, he replied that, of course, we knew that he had seen former Prime Minister Chenik (actually the Consulate General has no previous knowledge of such a get-together); he added that there was no contact with the element considered responsible for the disorders, and cited Hedi Nouira as the type of responsible nationalist with whom the Resident General felt he could deal. He stated that there had been no further progress on a solution to the Hached murder, which remained a “complete mystery”. No trouble is anticipated in connection with the announcement by the UGTT of plans to commemorate on December 5 the first anniversary of Farhat Hached’s assassination. The UGTT has asked all workers to consecrate this day by observing 5 minutes of silence from 8:15 to 8:20 in the morning and [Page 873] by attending in full force inter-union meetings organized on that day by all regional district unions.
Fourier-Ruelle concluded the conversation by expressing the appreciation and thanks of the Residency for the position which the United States had taken on the Tunisian question in the United Nations. He was of the opinion that as a result of the recent vote in the UNGA the Tunisians would now be convinced that they could no longer look to the UN for assistance, and that they thus would be better disposed toward working with France toward a solution of present problems. This in turn, of course, would facilitate Resident General Voizard’s task here.
Comment: It is clear from the remarks of Mr. Fourier-Ruelle that the Resident General is working quietly and determinedly, through the Bey, and with the Tunisians and the French in an effort to formulate a compromise program for presentation to Paris which will have the prior support and approval of the various dissident political groups in Tunisia. If he is successful in achieving this difficult objective before returning to Paris he will have crossed what, at this juncture at least, appears to be the major obstacle to further progress on existing political problems. While many more obstacles remain to be surmounted before a solution to the Tunisian problem is achieved, the refreshing and experienced manner in which Resident General Voizard is approaching the problem is most encouraging.
- This despatch was repeated to Paris, Algiers, Rabat, Cairo, Tangier, Tripoli, and Rome.↩