Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958–1960, American Republics, Volume V

215. Memorandum of a Conversation Between President Frondizi and the Ambassador in Argentina (Beaulac), Buenos Aires, March 29, 1960¹

Buenos Aires, March 29, 1960

I referred to my conversation with the President on March 14.² I asked him if the time had come for him to talk to his advisers about Crowflight.³

The President said that he had already talked to the Secretary of Air (who had left the President’s office as I entered), and the Secretary of Air had no objection. The President recalled, laughingly, that Crowflight had sold some things to the Air Force very cheap the last time, and the Air Force was, therefore, very well disposed toward Crowflight.

The President said the only problem was with reference to such details as free entry, and so forth. When the Crowflight Agreement was signed there was no Congress. Now there is a Congress. However, he thinks this will not be a real problem. He recalled that Crowflight had left earlier than it planned the last time. I said that that was the case.

He suggested that the Embassy present a simple note to the Foreign Office suggesting an extension of the Crowflight Agreement for thirty days. He thought there would be no problem in replying favorably to such a note.

With reference to any public reaction, he said that Crowflight would be out of Argentina before it really developed, if it should develop at all.

I said I understood an advance administrative party would like to come to Argentina between April 10–April 20. The President said he saw no difficulty about that. He thought the agreement with the Foreign Office could be negotiated in three or four days.

1. Source: Department of State, ARA/EST Files: Lot 62 D 430, Military Cooperation (Mission, Pact) 1960. Confidential. Drafted by Beaulac.
2. This conversation was reported in telegram 1452 from Buenos Aires, March 15. (ibid., Central Files, 735.56311/3–1560)
3. Operation Crowflight was a U.S.-sponsored program to detect and monitor foreign nuclear explosions which the United States carried out under the cover of a U.S. Air Force mission to conduct high altitude sampling. The original agreement was concluded by an exchange of notes at Buenos Aires on April 23 and 28, 1958, and was renewed by an exchange of notes at Buenos Aires on April 4 and 8, 1960. For texts of the 1958 agreements, see 9 UST 583. Documentation on Operation Crowflight is in Department of State, Central File 735.5631.