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

315. Despatch From the Embassy in Mexico to the Department of State¹

No. 119

Mexico City, August 18, 1958.

SUBJECT

• Exchange of Views with Mexican President and President-Elect of U.S.-Mexican Relations

I had an extensive interview with President Adolfo Ruiz Cortines, accompanied by President-elect Adolfo Lopez Mateos, on August 1, and another interview with the President-elect, this time at the residence of former President Miguel Aleman,² on August 4, 1958. Memoranda of both conversations are enclosed.

Highlights of both interviews I would consider to be:

(1) Mexican concern over Presidential visits: at the present time, neither the present incumbent in the Presidency, nor his successor, is in favor of a visit by President Eisenhower to Mexico, but both would like Lopez Mateos to receive an invitation now to visit Washington, which invitation could be accepted for a date after his December 1st inauguration.

(2) The steadfast refusal of President Ruiz Cortines to admit there are any economic problems facing the country now, whereas his successor shows an eager interest in discussing loans or other financial assistance very soon.

(3) The desire of Lopez Mateos to have the United States continue the ICA program in Mexico.

My impressions of the President-elect were that he is, as of now, a cautious, reticent and surprisingly reserved politician, who in two interviews within a period of three days, did not display the open and friendly disposition he had shown on my previous meetings with him, which were, of course, before he was nominated as the candidate of the official party last November 15. On these previous occasions, he was more relaxed and at ease, and had the confident outlook of an experienced political leader, with the personal attractiveness which gained for him such wide support in diverse groups. It should be conceded, naturally, that the meetings covered in the attached memoranda did not present the most ideal circumstances for him to show his true feelings; in both instances, he was clearly at a disadvantage when seen in contrast with the present President and the former President of the Republic.

Lie. Lopez Mateos seemed particularly limited in his views on international relations. Perhaps as a result of the seven-month-long political campaign, he appeared to act his part as the triumphant candidate of the party of the Institutional Revolution, with its strong nationalistic and generally leftist orientation, rather than the future president of an important American nation, about to embark on a six-year term of national leadership. In this sense, a beneficial observation to be drawn from these two meetings with him is that a great deal of careful cultivation on our part will be needed to assure his understanding of the United States, and his effective cooperation.

Robert C. Hill

[Enclosure 1]

Memorandum of a Conversation, Mexico City, August 1, 1958³

PARTICIPANTS

• President Adolfo Ruiz Cortines of Mexico
• President-Elect Adolfo Lopez Mateos of Mexico
• The Honorable Robert C. Hill, American Ambassador to Mexico

A few days ago I received from the Secretary of the Presidency, Lie. Benito Coquet, the information that President Ruiz Cortines would wish to see me to introduce me to a friend. The interview with the President and Lie. Lopez Mateos resulted, and lasted for one hour and 55 minutes. General Radames Gaxiola, the President’s Military Aide, was present as interpreter throughout.

1. Presenting Lopez Mateos: The President said at the outset that he had arranged this meeting in order to introduce me personally to Lie. Lopez Mateos, in his own capacity as President of Mexico and friend of Lopez Mateos. He praised the latter, stating he is a liberal leader, forward-looking and progressive in his policies, but conservative and cautious on matters of importance affecting Mexico. He said that Lopez Mateos is a man of great capacity, in whom he had high confidence; he had himself picked Lopez Mateos as his successor to the Presidency. He hoped that I would continue to deal with Lie. Lopez Mateos as I had with him, with complete frankness and without any alteration whatsoever in present relationships.

The President made it clear at this point that he himself continues to act with full authority and power as President of Mexico until the assigned day for transfer of office, December 1, 1958. He said that he is responsible for the conduct of the Government until that date. He added there will be no changes in the fulfillment of his responsibilities in the interim period, and that under Mexican constitutional processes, there will be no differences in administration in the period between the election and the end of the President’s term of office.

The President’s words and attitudes were strong and clear on the foregoing points. Lie. Lopez Mateos indicated his assent, but gave me the impression of uneasiness throughout this phase of the conversation.

2. Visit of President Eisenhower to Mexico? President Ruiz Cortines referred to his friendship with President Eisenhower, but went on to say any invitation to President Eisenhower to visit Mexico is not recommendable because of the altitude. He said he was referring to newspaper articles speculating that he might come if invited. I pointed out that President Eisenhower might well wish to see President Ruiz Cortines himself before the latter ends his term of office, but I did not have any information in this regard. The President said relations between the United States and Mexico are excellent, in fact he could recall no time when they have been better than now.

3. Question of Visit of Lopez Mateos to the United States: I pointed out that in my recent visit to Washington, the matter of an invitation to the President-elect had been discussed at the Department of State. Lopez Mateos said that he would wish to be invited, as the absence of an invitation would be misinterpreted in Mexico. He said Presidentelect Kubitschek of Brazil had been so invited before his inauguration, and the Brazilian Vice President had also gone to the United States on invitation. He repeated with emphasis that failure to invite him in the present period would likely be misinterpreted by the Mexican people. The President himself nodded in agreement.

Lopez Mateos said he did not wish to be presumptuous but would like to suggest that an invitation might be extended by President Eisenhower informally, perhaps by a statement at one of his regular press conferences. The President could say, in reply to a reporter’s question as to whether he intended to invite the President-elect of Mexico to visit him in Washington before his inauguration, that official notice had not yet been given of the outcome of the election; when official notice is received, he, President Eisenhower, would be pleased to extend an invitation for an informal visit to Washington, on the same basis as similar invitations to other presidents-elect of Latin American countries, and that he would hope the President-elect would be able to accept. Thereupon, a statement would be issued by Lopez Mateos in Mexico City, expressing his appreciation of the President’s suggestion, but pointing out it would not be possible for him to accept the invitation before his taking office on December 1, 1958, due to pressing matters in Mexico and a possible constitutional obstacle to his leaving the country in this period. He would go on to say he would be very happy to accept the invitation, for a date agreeable to President Eisenhower afterthe inauguration.

Lopez Mateos added that the handling of the matter in this way is extremely important. He referred to White House Press Secretary James Hagerty as a good friend of Mexico, and thought it would not be difficult to work out the arrangement of using the President’s press conference as indicated, if agreeable with Washington. I replied that I would report the matter promptly to Washington.

4. Economic Problems: President Ruiz Cortines asked whether I had any further talks with Treasury Minister Carrillo Flores since our previous interview, ten days before. I said I had not. The President said that on leaving office he would turn over to his successor a balanced budget, progressive economic development, and solid relations with the other nations of the Americas. He showed pride in the state of the economy, as he believes it now exists and will remain until the end of his term. He denied that the tourist trade has slackened off, and criticized articles by Rodrigo de Llano in Excelsior to this effect, saying I should not believe them, as this publisher has had personal viewpoints contrary to those of the Government in other matters as well, which may be reflected in his presentation of the tourist situation. I replied that I would be less than candid with the President if I did not say that, according to my information, higher prices in Mexico are affecting the tourist trade, and will affect it even more so in the future. Reliable reports received by the Embassy indicated that Mexico City and Acapulco are becoming known as too expensive for the tourists that come to Mexico.

I took the occasion to mention that in the attempt to raise $35,000,000 of additional revenue, by increasing tariffs, the Government of Mexico was running a risk of losing the tourist business to competing countries. The President said that he was aware of profiteers who are responsible for the rise in prices, but stated it was difficult to control them.

The President did not concede that there was any problem with regard to the balance of payments, or exports of cotton, any more than with the tourist trade. He did concede that the mining industry is depressed as a result of the falloff in minerals prices.

5. United States Loan Policies: Lie. Lopez Mateos said that he believed the United States could assist Mexico further by showing more flexibility in its policies on government loans. He thought such flexibility could be made applicable to all Latin America. I replied that as far as I knew, Mexico enjoys an exceptional position on loans. President Sam Waugh of the Eximbank had publicly stated that Mexico has the third highest total of Eximbank loans in the entire world. Lopez Mateos said that he had expressed his opinion to President Eugene Black of the International Bank in his recent visit to Mexico.

6. Mexican-U.S. Relations: Responding to the President’s estimate of cordial present relations, I expressed my appreciation that the United States had not been made a campaign issue in the recent elections. Lopez Mateos immediately said that there was no reason why it should be. I pointed out that this happy result had not always been the same in the past. I thanked the President for the cooperation extended by the Ministry of Foreign Relations in the recent discussions with the representatives of the U.S. Department of Labor, in setting procedures concerning braceros. I also referred to the cooperation of the authorities earlier in the week in preventing any hostile demonstration in front of the United States Embassy by a group of students under Communist auspices, who wished to attack us for our action in the Lebanese crisis. The President appeared to be pleased by both of these references and remarked that the demonstrators had gone past the Embassy to make their manifestation in front of the Ministry of Foreign Relations instead.

I closed the conversation by thanking the President and Lie. Lopez Mateos for the opportunity to have this pleasant and profitable interview.

General Gaxiola accompanied me to the car and expressed his opinion that the meeting had been successful.

My observations:

(1) It was obvious that President Ruiz Cortines wanted to introduce me officially to the President-elect.

(2) It was also obvious that he desired to stress that Lopez Mateos was his hand-picked candidate, and that he would have influence in the new government.

(3) It was also obvious that Lopez Mateos was uncomfortable at being placed in this position.

(4) As I left, the President-elect indicated he hoped to see me again soon. It was clear he was referring to the meeting to take place at the residence of former President Miguel Alemán three days later.

[Enclosure 2]

Memorandum of a Conversation, Mexico City, August 4, 1958⁴

PARTICIPANTS

• Lic. Miguel Aleman, Former President of Mexico
• Lic. Adolfo Lopez Mateos, President-elect of Mexico
• Ambassador Robert C. Hill, American Embassy
• Minister C. W. Gray, American Embassy
• Counselor R. G. Leddy, American Embassy

This interview at the house of Lie. Miguel Aleman was arranged by Melchor Perusquia, a mutual friend of the two Mexican leaders and myself, at the request of Lie. Lopez Mateos. Señor Perusquia accompanied us to the meeting at 6:00 p.m. but excused himself after the first greetings; later, he said he thought we could talk more freely in his absence, as he occupies no official position.

The conversation began at 6:00 p.m. and terminated at 7:35 p.m. when Lie. Lopez Mateos departed, saying he had another engagement. We talked informally with Lic. Alemán for about 20 minutes more after his departure, but only with reference to airline developments in Mexico, in which he is of course strongly interested because of his interest in Aeronaves de Mexico, S.A. Lic. Aleman followed closely the conversation with Lie. Lopez Mateos, with whom the following matters were discussed.

1. Continued Cooperation: After Lic. Aleman had said that Lie. Lopez Mateos was anxious to have this meeting with me because of the reports reaching him of my demonstrated friendship for Mexico, I said it would be the purpose of the United States Government to continue with the President-elect, after his inauguration, the same cooperative relations which now exist, and that frank and open discussion, even criticism, was the best way to assure this, as between mature men representing friendly nations. Lopez Mateos replied that he agreed fully; the door will remain open to frank discussion, because it already prevails and it should be kept that way. I said that if we had any problems between the two countries, as should be normally expected to arise, we could dispose of them if we brought them up and talked about them. He replied by quoting a proverb in Spanish, to the effect that understanding is furthered by talking between people (“hablando se entiende la gente”).

2. Presidential Visits: Reference was made to the rumor of the possibility that President Eisenhower might come to Mexico. I replied that President Eisenhower had a warm consideration for Mexico and President Ruiz Cortines, but knew of no travel plans to Mexico. The question regarding an inaugural delegation arose, and I said it was premature to consider the United States delegation to the inauguration of Lic. Lopez Mateos as President next December 1, but I knew that our Government was anxious to send a top delegation of United States officials of very high rank.

Lic. Lopez Mateos said that President Eisenhower would always be welcome in Mexico; it is never necessary to extend a special invitation, as he has a permanent invitation to visit this country. Nevertheless, it would be imprudent on the part of Mexico to have him come now, considering that his physicians have recommended against his travel to Denver, Colorado, which has an altitude of 5,000 feet, whereas Mexico City is approximately 7,500 feet high. I pointed out that the President might consider some other part of the country of less altitude, just as President Roosevelt had come to Monterrey; President Eisenhower has been strongly interested in Mexican history from his boyhood and possibly would enjoy a visit to some typically Mexican area such as Veracruz. Lopez Mateos said that a visit to Veracruz would be ideal, due to the combined development of agriculture (coffee) and industry (petroleum and sulphur); the famous ranch of Justo Fernandez at Jalapa, with an altitude of only about 4,500 feet, would be an ideal place to visit. I agreed with this reference, stating that I had stayed with Justo Fernandez myself, and added that other areas of the country would be of possible interest to the President, such as Acapulco on the Pacific Coast, if he was contemplating a trip. Lopez Mateos said that it would be very good indeed if the President could see the projects of port development at Ensenada and Mazatlán, as well as Acapulco.

He then interjected that legally speaking, he himself is not yet “President-elect” of Mexico, and will not be until the Electoral Commission makes a formal report to the Congress after it convenes in September. He would be President-elect in September, and between that time and December 1, he will have too many things to do (selection of Cabinet, plans for new administration, etc.) to permit him to go to Washington if invited by President Eisenhower. It must be very clearly understood, in advance, that this will be his situation, in order that there be no misunderstanding in the United States. I thereupon asked Mr. Leddy to inform Lic. Lopez Mateos of the draft we had made of a message to Washington, outlining his position in this regard (Embtel 293, Aug. 4).⁵ The point was reached during this discussion that, on publication of President Eisenhower’s possible press conference reference to such an invitation, Lic. Lopez Mateos would state in Mexico that certain obstacles would prevent him from accepting before his inauguration; at this point Lopez Mateos interrupted to say that he would be very glad to accept after the inauguration. It was then explained to him this had been made clear in the draft, by reference to a “mutually acceptable date for both parties”.

3. Development of Tourism: The United States is greatly interested, I said, in maintaining and even increasing the tourist traffic of Americans to Mexico. It presently numbers about 600,000 tourists a year. The number of border crossings is, of course, even greater; it has been reported as 25,000,000 persons per year at Ciudad Juarez and 15,000,000 at Tijuana, for a total of 40,000,000 at these two ports of entry alone, all of which signifies a very high level of trade, and particularly dollar income for Mexico. I have been informed by Dr. Francisco Villagran, Director of the Mexican Tourist Bureau, that the gross dollar income for Mexico from both sources is about $600,000,000 a year. It is very important for both countries that this source of income for Mexico should be maintained, as it is the essential factor in the balance of payments, making up the difference between the amount Mexico buys from and sells to the United States. Lopez Mateos said that the tourist income is, at the least, a great help.

The increase in prices in Mexico, particularly in drinks in public places, could discourage this tourist trade, I added: the American vacationist is only interested in enjoying himself for a few days or weeks, and his estimate of his vacation is liable to be affected by high cost of such items as drinks. I suggested that it would be helpful to lower rather than increase prices, because of the great asset at stake. It is well understood, as Treasury Minister Carrillo Flores had explained to me, that tariffs had to be increased at least temporarily in order to realize $35,000,000 in increased revenue for the Government this year, and taxes on luxury items such as liquor may appear to be the easiest way to obtain this increased revenue. However, it should be foreseen that in seeking $35,000,000, the Government is running the risk of losing some part of the gross dollar income of $600,000,000 for tourism.

Lopez Mateos nodded in agreement, but laughingly said that the tourists are responsible for the increase in prices.

The success of American resorts, such as those in Florida, in increasing vacation patronage in the off season by offering “package tours” for the average person was something, I said, which Mexico might consider adopting in order to keep the flow of tourists at a higher average throughout the year, instead of bulking up so large in the summer season. The favorable all-year-round climate of Mexico would make this easily feasible. Lopez Mateos said that Mexico City has a benign climate both in winter and summer but it would not seem likely that people accustomed to the hot temperature of summer in the United States would wish to come to the warm areas of Mexico at that time. As he did not seem to grasp the point about the “package tours” for people of modest circumstances, I cited to him the number of visitors I had seen in Miami only in June, whereas in past years the Miami hotels were deserted in the summertime.

4. Economic Conditions: From talks which I had had with the Minister of the Treasury, Lic. Carrillo Flores, I understood that Mexico might face some economic problems in the near-term future, particularly with reference to balance of payments. Lopez Mateos said, “We are good payers and pay our interest on time”, and laughed. He added firmly, “We shall certainly have to talk about this very soon.”

5. Petroleum Development: We had a brief discussion regarding petroleum. However, nothing fruitful came of the discussion.

6. Foreign Investments: Citing the history of the development of the United States with the assistance of foreign investments, I said that we all admired the great progress made by Mexico in recent years and the role which foreign investments had played. It would be highly undesirable for any conditions to be created which would hinder this flow of foreign capital into Mexico, as the country has not attained the level of development Where it can afford the luxury of dispensing with foreign sources of capital. Lopez Mateos said that Mexico does not indulge in luxuries, it certainly welcomes foreign capital, but on terms of fair treatment and conformity to its laws, with which I agreed as a necessary condition.

I went on to say that some recent interests nevertheless gave the impression that restrictions were being enforced, as in the limitation on the number of automobiles which could be assembled, in spite of the country’s great need to increase automotive transportation and utilize to the maximum its splendid road system, the finest in Latin America. I cited also the difficulties which have been recently faced by some of the sulphur producers, and the DuPont project for a plant in Tampico. He made no reference to these cases and did not seem to be familiar with them. I reiterated our belief that free enterprise is the best form of economic development and that within the free enterprise system, private capital must play a part predominant over that of government loans or participations. He did not allude to this point.

7. U.S.-Mexican Relations: Current Matters: Concluding, I said that our meeting was most pleasant for me, because it gave me the opportunity to bring up many matters of interest to both governments, and to emphasize again our desire to talk things over on an intimate and friendly basis. We have the Point IV mission in Mexico, and will continue it or discontinue it depending on the wishes of the Mexican Government and the United States Government. Lopez Mateos immediately said that it should be continued; under no conditions would he wish it to be dropped. I referred also to the desirability of exchanging information on Communist activities. He did not reply, but I am not sure that he fully grasped my reference. He did say that a frank and open discussion would always be welcomed by him and he thought that this meeting had contributed very much to this end.

1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 712.11/8–1858. Secret. Drafted by Hill.
2. Alemán was President of Mexico, 1946–1952.
3. Secret. Drafted by Hill.
4. Secret. Drafted by Hill.

5. In telegram 293, August 5, Hill reported on his conversation with Ruiz Cortines and López Mateos on August 1. Regarding the question of Eisenhower’s invitation to López Mateos to visit the United States, the telegram reads:

   “When President Eisenhower’s statement is reported, Lopez Mateos would then announce his pleasure over President’s statement but add that it will not be possible for him to accept before December 1, due to Mexican internal matters, including possible constitutional obstacle; he will be, however, most happy to come to Washington at a mutually agreeable date after inauguration.” (Department of State, Central Files, 712.00/8–558)