164. Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Rubottom) to the Secretary of State 1

SUBJECT

  • Substantive Discussions with Argentine President Frondizi

Discussion:

As I indicated in my memorandum of January 82 on President Frondizi’s state visit beginning January 20, there has been no official word from the Argentine Government that Frondizi desires to raise particular problems or engage in detailed discussions while here. Informal [Page 528] indications have been to the contrary and suggest that he views his trip to the United States as primarily protocolary in nature insofar as government-to-government relations are concerned. He is of course interested in contact with the American business community for reasons of investment-promotion, and his schedule has been drawn up with particular attention to that purpose. Following his visit to Washington, he will have opportunities to make his Government’s economic views known, and to communicate with individual businessmen, in Chicago, Detroit, New York, and Miami.

President Frondizi will obviously be prepared, of course, to exchange general views with you and with President Eisenhower. In considering what topics might come up during your call on Frondizi at the President’s Guest House at 10:00 a.m., January 21, I have given particular thought to the fact that U.S.-Argentine relations at the present time are primarily economic in nature, and that the Frondizi Government has solved, or put substantially on the way to solution, those economic problems which most concern us. These include Argentine petroleum and fiscal policy, compensation for the properties of the American and Foreign Power Company expropriated during the Perón era, the operating conditions of U.S. meatpacking interests, and Argentine discrimination against U.S. air carriers. While the last two matters have not yet been fully settled, I consider that they are far enough advanced toward solution to require no affirmative discussion on your part with President Frondizi about them. I believe that there is, in fact, a distinct political advantage to be gained from your forbearing to discuss Argentina’s remaining economic delinquencies with Frondizi. Such forbearance would be a courtesy to him as a state visitor and would serve to demolish the myth, which is given currency in Argentina as elsewhere, that our foreign policy is primarily aimed at the protection of American business interests.

Assistant Secretary Mann and I will of course take appropriate opportunity to bring up these still-pending problems with the Argentine Minister of Foreign Relations and Minister of Economy, who are members of the visiting party.

I would suggest that the matters to be raised by you with the Argentine President during your meeting might be limited to four. In the first place, you might make congratulatory reference to the Frondizi Government’s publicly announced decision to put its economic house in order in realistic terms. Argentina’s efforts to help itself economically, along lines agreed upon by the Argentine authorities with the International Monetary Fund, made possible the recent extension of $329 million in financial assistance by the Department of the Treasury, the Export-Import Bank, the Development Loan Fund, private U.S. banks, and the International Monetary Fund itself. Argentina’s stand in this regard could well serve as a salutary example to [Page 529] some other nations which continue to look to the United States to solve their economic problems for them. At the same time, your congratulations should probably be accompanied by some expression of hope that Argentina will find it possible to carry through the stabilization program upon which it has courageously embarked. It involves austerity for a hitherto easy-living nation and naturally poses political problems for Frondizi. There have already been some indications, although not serious ones, of a tendency to backslide. We of course want to cast any admonitions to Frondizi to carry through his program in terms of its being in Argentina’s own interest to do so. Embassy Buenos Aires has reported that it is an expected tactic of the opponents of the Frondizi Government to play upon nationalistic sentiment by charging that Argentina was subjected to foreign pressure to take the steps which it has. It is therefore in our interest to emphasize, both publicly and to Frondizi, that we recognize his Government’s economic decisions to have been its own, arrived at independently with the advice of the International Monetary Fund as an impartial technical organization.

In the second place, you will probably want to express the hope that Argentina will continue to support U.S. policy to the maximum extent possible in meeting the Communist challenge, both within its own borders and internationally. Its record in this regard has not been bad, but could be better. Given Argentina’s geographical position and tradition of neutrality, the Soviet menace is not one which impinges on its national consciousness too forcefully. Incidentally, Mr. Allen Dulles of the Central Intelligence Agency is scheduled to call on President Frondizi at the President’s Guest House at 4:00 p.m. on the same day as your meeting, and will presumably use the opportunity to treat the question of Communism in some detail.3

Thirdly, and in a related field, you may wish to make passing reference to the overlapping Mikoyan visit,4 underlining that the Soviet Deputy Premier is self-invited and that the U.S. Government has taken steps to minimize its impact on the visit by Frondizi, who is President Eisenhower’s special guest.

Finally, you may wish to use a portion of your time with the Argentine President to give him a summary of the current world situation. I believe that he would be appreciative of receiving your direct views in this regard. Our interest in the 1960 Law of Sea Conference could be mentioned.

[Page 530]

The briefing book5 being prepared for your use in connection with the Frondizi visit contains general background material and specific papers bearing on the two first topics referred to above, as well as on other aspects of U.S.-Argentine relations which would appear to be the most likely subjects for some reference by the Argentine President. These include: a possible bilateral military pact; Perón’s activities directed against the Frondizi Government from the Dominican Republic; our surplus agricultural disposal program; Latin American regional economic matters, including “Operation Pan America” and the proposed inter-American development institution; U.S. technical cooperation with Argentina; the restrictions on the importation into the United States of fresh Argentine meat; and the Antarctic question. President Frondizi may also refer to the recently-announced financial assistance program, but probably only to express gratitude.

Recommendation:

That you limit the matters to be raised by you with President Frondizi during your meeting with him to congratulatory comment on recent Argentine economic steps, an expression of hope for Argentine cooperation in the anti-Communist field, comment on the Mikoyan visit, and a briefing on the current international situation; and leave the choice of other topics to the Argentine President.

  1. Source: Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1192. Confidential. Drafted by James F. O’Connor.
  2. Not printed. (ibid., ARA Files: Lot 61 D 386, President Arturo Frondizi’s visit to the United States 1/1/59–1/14/59)
  3. No memorandum of this conversation has been found in Department of State files.
  4. Anastas Mikoyan, Soviet Deputy Premier, made an unofficial visit to the United States January 4–20.
  5. A copy of the briefing book is in Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1192.