Office of the Historian

956C.61/4–1354

No. 266
Memorandum by the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Drumwright) to the Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs (Merchant)1

secret
[Washington,] April 13, 1954.

Subject:

  • Requests for interviews on behalf of the “Republic of the South Moluccas”

The President, the Secretary, and certain officers of the Department have been approached to grant interviews to Karel J.V. Nikijuluw on behalf of the “Republic of the South Moluccas”. Lawrence Griswold, an American free-lance writer, has acted as intermediary on occasion. Their request for appointment with Acting Secretary [Page 419] Webb was refused in February 1952,2 and their recent request to see the Secretary was also turned down.

The “Republic of the South Moluccas” is an insurgent group which led an unsuccessful revolt on the island of Ambon against the Republic of Indonesia in 1950. It has continued through correspondence and publications to seek support for the alleged Republic. The Department has refused to answer correspondence from persons identifiable with it. The Indonesian Embassy has on several occasions protested over Nikijuluw’s presence and activities in the United States. It has asserted that he and the group he represents menace the security of Indonesia by smuggling arms and persons into the islands of eastern Indonesia via Netherlands New Guinea.

The Department has no evidence which would positively identify Nikijuluw or the “Republic of the South Moluccas” with the actions which Indonesia alleges. However, as the group is an insurgent one inimical to the interests of the Republic of Indonesia, I have recommended against granting interviews to Nikijuluw or other persons identifiable with the “Republic of the South Moluccas” since to do so might embarrass U.S.-Indonesian relations and seriously hinder the achievement of our objectives with respect to that country.

  1. Copies were also sent to Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern, South Asian, and African Affairs Byroade, Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs Holland, and Assistant Secretary of State for United Nations Affairs Key.↩
  2. Further information is in telegram 909 to Djakarta, February 20, 1952. (756C.13/2–2052)↩