166. Memorandum From the Secretary of State
to the President1
Washington, October 17,
1956.
SUBJECT
- Letter from the President of Panama2
I have given careful thought to the note sent to you by President de la
Guardia and I agree that it raises a serious new aspect of an old
problem with which the Department of State has kept in close touch. A
suggested reply is enclosed as you requested.
President de la Guardia’s letter as well as the proposed reply must, of
course, be considered in the context of our present delicate relations
with Panama. A background memorandum setting forth the most significant
recent developments is also enclosed.
The suggested reply has been prepared with this background very much in
mind and the phrasing carefully chosen to best promote our long-range
policy objectives.
[Enclosure 1]
4
SUGGESTED REPLY
Dear Mr. President: I wish to acknowledge
receipt of your letter of October 4, 1956 and to say how much I
appreciate your generous expressions regarding our mutual friend,
Nelson Rockefeller. I
fully share your evaluation of him. I am confident that Ambassador
Harrington and the other
officials of the United States dealing with matters between our two
Governments have the same friendliness toward Panama and warm
interest in her welfare that you so rightly attribute to Mr.
Rockefeller.
I have read your statesmanlike inaugural address which reflected your
optimism regarding the future course of our relations. I believe
that much has been accomplished during the past few years. I well
recall that when I assumed office there were pending before each of
our Governments a number of requests made in good faith and with
sincerity by the other. The recent revision of the treaties between
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our countries has
eliminated or established the basis for eventual elimination of many
of the problems to which these requests relate. On the part of the
Government of the United States, the draft legislation necessary for
the implementation of those provisions of the 1955 agreements which
are conditional upon Congressional authorization will again be
submitted at the forthcoming session of the Congress. You may be
assured that problems which arise in our relations will be given
prompt and effective consideration.
I cannot conclude this letter without expressing to you again the
great satisfaction and inspiration which I, and I am sure every
other President, derived from our historic meeting in the capital of
your lovely country. I am particularly happy to have met you
personally at that time and I take this opportunity to express to
you my best wishes for your success and happiness during the term of
office upon which you have just entered.
Sincerely,
[Enclosure 2]
5
CURRENT STATUS OF UNITED STATES–PANAMA RELATIONS
President de la Guardia was inaugurated on October 1 for a four-year
term as President of Panama. He has indicated a desire to improve
the state of relations with the United States, and for this reason
the Department and other interested agencies of this Government are
seeking to strengthen his position in all appropriate ways. Our
policy is guided by your directive that we should be generous in all
small administrative details but hold fast to the basic principles
and purposes of the treaties with Panama. Pursuant to this policy,
the Panama Canal Company announced on October 13 an average nine
percent wage increase for locally recruited labor in the Zone as
tangible evidence of our desire to cooperate with his
administration.
While there is reason to hope, therefore, that the advent of the de
la Guardia Administration may bring an improvement in our relations
with Panama, President de la Guardia will first have to arrest a
dangerous drift in Panama away from its traditionally cordial
relations with the United States. The extremely generous treatment
accorded Panama in the agreements signed on January 25, 1955 has
failed to elicit from Panama a new attitude of appreciation and
cooperation. Before the ink was dry on these agreements, high
Panamanian officials were stating publicly that the agreements did
not satisfy Panama’s aspirations and a deliberate campaign was
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launched to expand, by
unilateral interpretation, many of the concessions made to Panama in
these agreements. While inspiring a public belief that the United
States is failing to comply with its treaty commitments, the
Government of Panama has not hesitated to refuse to honor its own
treaty obligations and has declined to cooperate in several recent
requests of this Government, including an adamant refusal to make
available under Article II of the 1936 Treaty two sites for radar
installations requested by this Government for the defense of the
Canal and which would serve as well for the defense of Panama
City.
These problems are recent developments over and above the usual
attempts at encroachment upon our jurisdictional rights in the Zone.
The Suez controversy has given a new focus to these problems. In her
attempts to fish in troubled waters, Panama has openly displayed her
sympathy with the Egyptian position in the obvious hope of
establishing precedents favorable to her own long-term ambitions
regarding the Panama Canal. She was the only American State to
endorse Nasser’s call for a conference on the Suez, separate from
the London meetings.
Ex-President Ricardo Arias,
in an unprecedented speech, summarizing the accomplishments of his
Administration at the inauguration of his successor on October 1,
not only made only incidental reference to the Meeting of Presidents
in July and failed to mention priority assistance given Panama by
the United States in obtaining Salk vaccine, but also went out of
his way to excoriate the United States and to charge the United
States with failure to comply with its treaty obligations. His
criticism of the United States has been enthusiastically endorsed by
a resolution passed by the National Assembly. Despite this, Panama
has requested agrément for Arias as next Ambassador to the United States. We
expect to recommend that agrément be granted after a delay of
sufficient length to make plain that his remarks have not gone
unnoticed.
In contrast, de la Guardia in his inaugural speech expressed
confidence that the spirit of justice which moves the American
people will result in the resolution of problems with the United
States in a manner “favorable to Panama’s interests”. The reasonable
and conciliatory attitude which de la Guardia thus far is displaying
affords a basis for the hope that United States-Panama relations
will be restored to their traditional cordiality.
