146. Memorandum of a Conversation, Buenos Aires, April 30, 19581
PARTICIPANTS
- President-elect Arturo Frondizi
- Vice President Nixon 2
- Ambassador Beaulac
- Mr. Rubottom
Arrangements had been made for Vice President Nixon to call on President-elect Frondizi prior to the latter’s swearing in, and, according to the Embassy, the Vice President was the only head of delegation to be received by Frondizi before his inauguration May 1. In spite of all efforts to keep the discussions out of the public eye, the Vice President departed from the Plaza Hotel, to which point he had returned following the presentation of credentials to outgoing President Aramburu, among the cheers of a large crowd of people and, since he was accompanied by Frondizi’s secretary, the attempt to keep the discussions secret was not successful. A police escort accompanied the Vice President to the apartment house on Calle Ayacucho.
The Vice President stated that he was delighted to be able to represent President Eisenhower at the inauguration and emphasized his pleasure at being present at such an epoch-making event in Argentine history. The President-elect expressed his pleasure that the Vice President could honor Argentina by coming to the inauguration which was the beginning of a completely new era for the country.
Dr. Frondizi stated that Argentina and the United States had no political problems, and he acknowledged the long period of friendship between the two countries. He stated that Argentina was beset by very serious economic problems and that he was hopeful that the United States would be able to help his country. The Vice President replied that it would indeed be tragic if, after having again achieved democracy and freedom, the Argentine people could not be assured an improved way of life through a solution of the country’s economic problems.
[Page 478]Dr. Frondizi declared that, as a result of the Perón dictatorship, his country had been suffering from an acute shortage of electrical power and a breakdown in transportation. Most of its reserves had been used up and petroleum imports now cost about 1/4 of the country’s annual foreign exchange earnings. Dr. Frondizi referred also to the need of Argentina to develop its iron and steel industry.
Vice President Nixon expressed awareness of these problems and reiterated the desire of the U.S. government and people to assist their friends in Argentina. Obviously, he pointed out, the ability of the U.S. government to help was limited and the tremendous needs of Argentina could best be met by a combination of government loans and the stimulation of a large flow of private investments to develop the country’s resources.
Frondizi acknowledged that this was the case and stated that it was his hope that such loans would provide the stimulus of private investments both from local sources and foreign. He stated that Argentina, insofar as petroleum was concerned, fortunately had unlimited resources throughout the whole length of the country and that it required the means to develop these resources and transport them to the centers of population. He mentioned that Argentina could even obtain petroleum from Bolivian fields, if it had the capital to construct the pipelines.
The Vice President inquired as to what the possibilities were for private investment to assist in the development of the petroleum industry.
Dr. Frondizi expressed the belief that the best way to accomplish this would be for private companies to enter into contractual arrangements in accordance with Argentine law (he never mentioned YPF by name) so as to enable them to make a reasonable profit and at the same time help Argentina to produce the oil which it has. He stated that it would be fruitless to continue the same old discussions of the past several years regarding concessions, that it was simply not acceptable for Argentina to enter into such arrangements. Rather, he urged that those interested in developing Argentine oil negotiate on the basis of a contract acceptable to the Argentine people, and one at the same time fair to the investors, to permit useful cooperative ventures in the petroleum field.
The Vice President agreed that any discussions between prospective investors in the petroleum industry should go forward on a constructive basis that would help to meet the concrete needs of Argentina rather than attempt to continue the discussion of a program which had no hope of fulfillment.
The President-elect stated that he intended to settle quickly certain thorny problems which were under discussion with the Embassy. He did not refer to any specific matter. He expressed hope that a credit [Page 479] for the Rio Turbio coal project might be approved quickly since the French had made a concrete offer which Argentina would have to accept in case the U.S. was unable to do so.
The Vice President stated that he was not an expert on Latin American or Argentine problems but that he knew that Ambassador Beaulac and the Assistant Secretary of State and his colleagues in the Department of State were working closely with the Argentine government in an effort to reach a prompt solution of problems wherever possible. The President-elect said that he had had several discussions with Ambassador Beaulac and that most of the matters pending between the two governments were on the way toward solution.
The country needs urgently additional credits to buy its necessary imports, according to the President-elect. He stated that Argentina was ready to cooperate with the United States in every way to help bring about an era of closer economic cooperation, and that it was up to the United States.
He wants government-to-government credits promptly as a stimulus to large-scale private investment.
The Vice President again assured Dr. Frondizi of the U.S. government’s desire to cooperate with Argentina.
The Ambassador told Dr. Frondizi that the Municipal Workers’ Union had invited the Vice President to attend a barbecue they were giving on Labor Day and that the Vice President had planned to attend it. The Ambassador said, however, that a Mr. Capurro, who said he represented Dr. Frondizi, had suggested, on his own responsibility he said, that the Vice President not attend the barbecue. He had pointed out that the Municipal Workers’ Union was one of the thirty-two unions and that the Vice President’s presence at the barbecue would be resented by the sixty-two unions which are on the other side. He had expressed the opinion that if the Vice President attended the barbecue there would be an unpleasant incident when he departed. The Ambassador asked the Vice President whether he would like to comment on this.
Dr. Frondizi said that Mr. Capurro had correctly interpreted his own feeling in the matter. He said he would not recommend the Vice President attend the barbecue. He said he thought it would increase friction between the two sectors of labor. The Ambassador asked Dr. Frondizi whether the Vice President’s attending the barbecue would cause any difficulties for him, the President-elect. Dr. Frondizi said that it would not cause any difficulties for him.3
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 033.1100/5–658. Secret. Drafted by Rubottom and Beaulac. Transmitted to the Department of State as enclosure 1 to despatch 1693 from Buenos Aires, May 6.↩
- During a good will trip to Latin America, April 27–May 15, Nixon visited Argentina as head of a delegation representing the United States at the inauguration of President-elect Frondizi. Regarding Nixon’s trip, see Documents 42 ff.↩
- Vice President and Mrs. Nixon, accompanied by Beaulac and Rubottom, met with Argentine Vice President-elect and Mrs. Gómez on April 30. A memorandum of their conversation, by Beaulac, was transmitted to the Department in despatch 1693 from Buenos Aires, May 6. (Department of State, Central Files, 033.1100–NI/5–658)↩