202. Memorandum of a Conversation Between the Argentine Ambassador (Del Carril) and the Director of the Office of East Coast Affairs (Boonstra), Department of State, Washington, November 2, 19591
SUBJECT
- Argentine Military Credit Program
Ambassador Del Carril came in at Mr. Boonstra’s invitation and was given a first-person note signed by Assistant Secretary Rubottom which stated 1) that the established fiscal procedures for military sales on credit provide for the deposit of ten per cent with order and payment of the balance over three years in six equal semi-annual installments; [Page 605] and 2) that the United States Embassy in Buenos Aires had been informed by the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the Argentine Government was prepared to make a cash payment of $650,000 for the basic rehabilitation of the first of two submarines, and that it was understood that the credit needs of the Argentine Navy are to be reduced by this amount.2
Ambassador Del Carril indicated that he would inform the Argentine service attachés of these credit terms immediately. He stated his belief that the Argentine Air Force and Navy were prepared to move forward with their programs on these terms, but that he was not yet certain of the Argentine Army reaction.
Ambassador Del Carril asked Mr. Boonstra what the next procedural steps would be if there were Argentine acceptance of these financial conditions. Mr. Boonstra replied that service-to-service discussions would then take place to complete the details of the various transactions. He added that final approval of the over-all transaction by the National Advisory Council still remained to be obtained, but no difficulty was anticipated as the terms were of a standard character.
Mr. Boonstra commented that there had been a delay in informing the Argentines officially of these terms while the matter of available credit facilities had been gone into thoroughly in order to assure Argentina of the most favorable conditions possible. These now turned out to be limited to the standard terms for such transactions. He said that the Department would of course be willing to discuss this matter further with the Argentine Government if it so desired. The Ambassador implied that such discussion would not be necessary. Mr. Boonstra also commented that there had been difficulty in finding the funds to implement the agreement in principle for the Argentine program, in view of Congressional cut-back in military assistance. Mr. O’Connor explained that the making available by the United States Air Force of its own credit to assist the Argentine Air Force, in recognition of the close cooperation between the two, had been most useful and opportune, since the combination of the special Air Force facilities with more general credit availabilities had made possible a viable Argentine program.
Ambassador Del Carril commented that these military acquisitions were of particular importance to the Argentine Air Force, because its present Meteor jets were no longer safe to fly, and to the Argentine Navy, since it needed submarines for training purposes. He indicated that the requirements of the Argentine Army were less demanding, but that some additional equipment was also indicated for that service. He said that this military acquisition program was not viewed enthusiastically by the Argentine Ministry of Economy, but that the desires of [Page 606] the military services had of course to be given attention. Mr. Boonstra remarked that this program was, as military programs went, a comparatively modest one.