Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957, American Republics: Central and South America, Volume VII

52. Memorandum of a Conversation, Department of State, Washington, April 2, 1957¹

Washington, April 2, 1957

SUBJECT

• Guatemala: Guatemalan Request for Further Defense Support Aid

PARTICIPANTS

• Colonel Jose Luis Cruz Salazar, Guatemalan Ambassador
• ARA—Acting Assistant Secretary, R.R. Rubottom, Jr.
• MID—Mr. Bayard King, Guatemala Desk Officer

The Ambassador handed Mr. Rubottom a note which he said was an official request of the Guatemalan Government for further defense support aid funds for the fiscal year 1958. He said that a similar note was being delivered, at the same hour, to Ambassador Sparks by the Foreign Office in Guatemala.² He said he hoped that this request would receive sympathetic consideration by the United States Government. [Comment: In an earlier informal conversation with an officer of the Department, the Ambassador indicated that the Guatemalan Government considered it would need a final $15 million in additional grant aid funds from the U.S. before essential development programs in Guatemala were completed.]³

In accepting the note, Mr. Rubottom said the Guatemalan request would receive the careful consideration of the Department. There were, however, he said, three important factors to be borne in mind in any consideration of further defense support aid for Guatemala: 1) the level of Guatemala’s actual needs; 2) the needs for aid in other countries of the hemisphere; and 3) the attitude of the U.S. Congress which appropriates the funds for foreign aid. He mentioned the current drive to reduce the United States budget, and commented that it was the view in some quarters that such a reduction could be achieved by cutting foreign aid.

The Ambassador said that the year 1957 was a crucial one for the Guatemalan Government and that the programs now underway in Guatemala, such as highway construction, land reform, and agricultural development, as well as other programs envisaged, could with the requested additional grant aid bring real benefits to the Guatemalan people. He said that the realization of the aspirations of the Guatemalan people for a better life could be brought about by these programs, and that Guatemala could show the rest of the hemisphere that progress could be achieved in a country without having an extremist government. He remarked that he thought the U.S. Government and Congress were pleased with the way the aid money had been spent, and with the way Guatemala had, during the past two and a half years, “pulled herself up from nothing.”

Mr. Rubottom agreed that U.S. aid money had been constructively spent in Guatemala. However, he hoped that the Guatemalan Government realized that it could also obtain funds for economic development through loans from such organizations as the IBRD and the Export-Import Bank. The Ambassador said that while he realized loans on favorable terms could be obtained, accepting any further foreign loans presented a grave political problem for the Guatemalan Government. He said the contracting of these obligations by the Government made a very poor impression on the Guatemalan people and aroused their resentment against the government.

1. Source: Department of State, Guatemala Files: Lot 60 D 647, ICA–Grant Aid. Official Use Only. Drafted by King.
2. In a letter to King, April 5, Sparks wrote that on April 2, Guatemalan Foreign Minister Jorge Skinner Klée presented a note requesting grant aid for fiscal year 1958. Sparks stated further that he discussed the note with President Castillo on April 3. (Ibid.)
3. Brackets in the source text.