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

22. Memorandum From the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Rubottom) to the Deputy Director of Intelligence and Research (Arneson)¹

Washington, February 27, 1959.

SUBJECT

• Counterintelligence School for Latin American Armed Forces Officers

With your memorandum of February 12, 1959 to Mr. Murphy you submitted a memorandum from General Willems,² Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence for the Army, directing General Collins to proceed with the establishment of a comprehensive program to assist appropriate agencies in Latin America to set up effective internal security measures against Communist penetration and subversion. Although we appreciate that this directive was furnished by General Willems as a matter for information only, it would appear advisable for the Department to point out, in the channels through which this memorandum came, that the program envisaged by the Army appears to be, in several respects, in conflict with existing programs and procedures:

(1) The problem of internal security in Latin American states is coordinated in the Operations Plan for Latin America dated May 28, 1958³ and in particular in the Overseas Internal Security Program Annexes for Bolivia, Brazil, Chile and Guatemala (dated January 17, 1958).⁴ These documents specify the roles of the various overt Government agencies in the general effort to improve internal security in Latin America and to counter Communist subversion. Under the program, for instance, ICA has undertaken a number of training and demonstration activities in the area and is contemplating new programs and projects in several Latin American countries.

(2) A number of problems arise with respect to the conflict of jurisdiction between various Government agencies in the implementation of the courses of action outlined by General Willems. For instance, item 5(c), which requires consideration of the “immediate establishment of a mechanism as well as the development of inducement for the appropriate exchange of information between all countries of the Western Hemisphere on Communist personalities, techniques, plans, objectives and operations in Latin America,” overlaps and is possibly in conflict with the responsibilities of the Department of State for the implementation of the Resolution of the 10th Inter-American Conference held in Caracas in 1954 which requires such exchanges.⁵ In practice, the Department has met with a considerable number of political difficulties in trying to implement this Resolution.

(3) Another Government agency also has responsibilities and programs in this sphere, which may conflict with those proposed in the directive.

(4) It might be desirable, therefore, for the Army, before proceeding to the development of a plan for its activities in this field, to consult with the appropriate committees of the Operations Coordinating Board as well as with the Department.

1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 711.5220/2–2759. Secret. Drafted by John C. Hill.
2. Copies of these memoranda, February 12 and January 23, 1959, respectively, are ibid., Intelligence Files: Lot 58 D 776, Latin America.
3. Document 3.
4. None printed.
5. Reference is to Resolution 93, entitled “Declaration of Solidarity for the Preservation of the Political Integrity of the American States Against the Intervention of International Communism.” For text, see Tenth Inter-American Conference, Caracas, Venezuela, March 1–28, 1954: Report of the Delegation of the United States of America With Related Documents (Department of State Publication 5692), Washington, 1955, pp. 156–157.