583. Memorandum of a Conversation Between the Deputy Director of the Office of Middle American Affairs (Stewart) and Romulo Betancourt, Department of State, Washington, December 21, 19561
SUBJECT
- Romulo Betancourt Discloses Future Plans of Venezuelan Opposition
Romulo Betancourt, exiled Venezuelan political leader whom I have known for many years, visited me in my office on December 21. Without any prompting Betancourt denied that he had been involved in a recent plot to kill President Perez Jimenez of Venezuela. He said all reports emanating from Venezuelan Government sources to this effect were untrue and had been “prefabricated”.
Betancourt stated that Accion Democratica had no plans afoot to overthrow the Perez Jimenez Government nor to assassinate Perez Jimenez or other government officials. The AD people are fully aware, he said, that any movement from without Venezuela to overthrow the regime would have no success. He recognized that an overthrow would only be successful if elements in the Venezuelan Armed Forces took energetic action. He said that there was discontent in the Venezuelan Army, especially among the younger officers but that in view of the promise of Perez Jimenez to hold elections [Page 1151] next year these officers were biding their time, but were strongly in favor of having honest balloting. He said the younger officers were receiving good pay but that they were not being cut in on graft, which was going to the older, higher ranking officers, especially those stationed in and around Caracas. This feature necessarily did not make the older officers holding posts outside the Caracas area completely happy but he was not aware that this was going to cause any overthrow movement to develop in the Armed Forces. He said that the tactics of AD at this time were to make plans to unite with other opposition parties like URD and COPEI to present a single presidential candidate in the promised elections. A likely candidate, he said, would be Eugenio Mendoza, wealthy and prominent Caracas businessman. It is AD’s idea that the candidate should be a businessman or industrialist generally respected in the country and not affiliated too much with any political party. But Betancourt stressed that the unified opposition would make no pacts with the Communists.
Betancourt declared that the United States could be helpful in laying the groundwork for the elections by urging the Venezuelan Government to end its “reign of terror”. In this manner the preelectoral political scene in Venezuela would be somewhat tranquilized. He also thought that the United States could use its influence by gently urging Perez Jimenez to stage honest elections.
Betancourt said that he was living quietly at a beach house near San Juan and was completely satisfied with the security arrangements provided for him by the Puerto Rican Government. He stated that he was being scrupulous in remaining completely out of Puerto Rican politics so as not to embarrass Governor Munoz Marin in any way.
Following his Christmas holiday vacation in Washington at the home of a friend, he plans to spend a few days in New York and will take a plane from there on January 4 for his return to San Juan. It is interesting that Betancourt plans to be away from Puerto Rico during the inauguration ceremonies of Governor Munoz Marin. While he did not say so I gathered that the trip to the United States by Betancourt was timed so that he could be absent from Puerto Rico during these festivities.
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 731.00/12–2156. Confidential. Drafted by Stewart.↩