Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957, Vietnam, Volume I

102. Telegram From the Secretary of State to the Embassy in Vietnam¹

Washington, April 6, 1955—5:15 p.m.

4362. Deptel 4361.²

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1. US has encouraged and will continue encourage Government Free Vietnam to participate in consultations about elections scheduled for July 1955 by Geneva Accord. US recognizes that Free Vietnam not bound by Geneva Accord, believes it would be beneficial to domestic political strength Free Vietnam and international position of its government if Free Vietnam entered into scheduled negotiations about elections with the Vietminh. US believes Free Vietnam and the Vietminh should be the only principal parties in the negotiations.

2. US believes central question is whether or not Communists will agree to conditions which will allow elections to be a genuinely “free expression of the national will” as called for in the Geneva Agreements. US understands that Free Vietnam will insist on Communist agreement to conditions which will guarantee genuinely free elections. The US fully supports this position. If the Communists will not agree to such conditions the US believes it would be dangerous for Free Vietnam to be drawn into discussion of other questions of detail regarding elections, since fundamental condition for the holding of elections would not have been met, and negotiations on electoral details might tend establish assumption that elections would be held even if the conditions for free elections were not present. US believes that unless conditions for genuinely free elections are established the result could only be fraudulent elections in Communist-controlled North and a resultant Communist victory in elections throughout all Vietnam. None of the Western allies could give approval to fraudulent elections which would result in abandonment of millions of free people to Communist control, including hundreds of thousands who have already left their homes to seek refuge in the South from Communist oppression.

3. US believes that conditions for free elections should be those which Sir Anthony Eden put forward and the three Western powers supported at Berlin in connection with German reunification. US will therefore support Free Vietnam insistence that elections be held in conditions of genuine freedom; that safeguards be agreed to assure this freedom before, after, and during elections; and that any Supervisory Commission have full powers to act to ensure free elections and to guarantee against prior coercion or subsequent reprisal. Likewise there must be adequate guarantees for, among other things: freedom of movement; freedom of presentation of candidates; immunity of candidates; freedom from arbitrary arrest or victimization; freedom of association and political meetings; freedom of expression for all; freedom of the press, radio, and free circulation of newspapers, etc. . .;³ secrecy of the vote; security of polling stations and ballot boxes. End text.

Dulles

1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 751G.00/4–655. Top Secret; Priority; Limit Distribution. Drafted by Stelle and cleared for transmission by Sebald. Repeated for information to Paris.
2. Supra.
3. Ellipsis in the source text.