331. Memorandum of a Conversation Between President Eisenhower and the Mexican Ambassador (Carrillo Flores), White House, Washington, May 18, 19591
SUBJECT
- Call of Ambassador Carrillo Flores of Mexico on the President
After the exchange of greetings the Mexican Ambassador told the President that he wished to present him with a copy of the color and sound film made while the President visited Acapulco, Mexico, last February. He said that the film had already been shown to a number of the President’s friends, including Secretary of Agriculture Benson and Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson. The President thanked the Ambassador, said that he was delighted to have the film and would show it tonight.
The Ambassador then handed the President a letter from President Lopez Mateos,2 explaining that it had been written some time before and that, because its contents covered a number of current matters affecting United States-Mexican relations, a copy had been made available to the Department of State in advance. The President accepted the letter but did not open the envelope.
[Page 873]The President declared that frequently he finds there are legislative restrictions which impose barriers to the accomplishment of his objectives. Cotton is a good example, he added. He remarked on how, in discussions with Prime Minister Macmillan and Secretary Dulles, they had agreed that notwithstanding the genius which was inherent in the United States’ system of checks and balances, maybe some new approach would eventually be required in order to permit the Executive branch of the Government to carry out its responsibilities for the conduct of foreign affairs. Ambassador Carrillo Flores nodded agreement and said that he had observed, in his study of the United States, that this problem does exist.
The Ambassador then informed the President of the conversations which he and Secretary of Agriculture Rodriguez Adame had had with the President’s brother, Dr. Milton Eisenhower, and with Acting Secretary Dillon and Mr. Rubottom on the subject of cotton. The President told Mr. Rubottom that he had just received a letter from his brother respecting this matter and that he presumed Mr. Rubottom had seen it since he had sent it promptly to the Department. Mr. Rubottom said that Dr. Eisenhower had telephoned him but that he had not yet seen a copy of the letter.3
The Mexican Ambassador said that they were hopeful that the United States would heed the Mexican suggestions regarding cotton exports. They considered them to be clear-cut and designed to help the United States whose problems regarding this commodity, including the political ones, they fully understood. The Ambassador turned again to the letter, saying that several of the matters raised by his President had taken a favorable turn since the letter was written. He referred to the recent meeting in New York on lead and zinc where the Canadians had shown a disposition to be more cooperative.
[Page 874]The Ambassador said that President Lopez Mateos principally was desirous of confirming his invitation to Dr. Milton Eisenhower to visit Mexico. The President said that he was pleased to have this information and that his brother had already indicated that he would be able to go, preferably in August. The President said that if this time should not be satisfactory to the Mexican President, then he would ask his brother to go whenever President Lopez Mateos found it convenient. The Ambassador said that he thought the latter part of the summer would be quite satisfactory for Dr. Eisenhower’s trip.
The Ambassador said that his President had also asked him to convey his deeply felt sentiment about the illness of former Secretary Dulles. The President thanked the Ambassador and said that Secretary Dulles had been, among all the men he had known, one of the few truly great ones and that he had been a tower of strength for the free world.
The President asked the Ambassador to thank President Lopez Mateos for his letter, adding that he would be replying to it in due course, but that his answer would require careful preparation and consultation with his advisors. As the Ambassador rose to depart the President told him that he was looking forward to the return visit of President Lopez Mateos. He added that he was not pressing the Mexican President respecting the timing of the trip but that he would be welcome any time. The Ambassador thanked him and bid him goodbye.
- Source: Department of State, Presidents’ Memoranda of Conversation: Lot 66 D 149. Confidential; Limit Distribution. Drafted by Rubottom and approved by Major Eisenhower on May 25.↩
- In this letter, dated April 27, Lopez Mateos discussed the international cotton production situation. (Ibid., Rubottom Files: Lot 61 D 279, Mexico, January–June 1959)↩
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In this letter, May 13, Milton Eisenhower reported on his meeting that day with Ambassador Carrillo Flores and Rodriguez Adame, Mexican Secretary of Agriculture, who informed him about the forthcoming conference between a delegation of representatives from all the cotton-producing nations of Latin America with Acting Secretary Dillon and Secretary of Agriculture Benson. The letter continued in part as follows:
“They unanimously will make a proposal which seems to me to be fair to the United States. In briefest possible form the proposal is that Secretary Benson announce that he will:
- “1. Limit the payment of the announced 8¢ subsidy to five million bales of cotton (which represents the United States historic share of the world market);
- “2. Decrease the amount of the subsidy gradually as the five-million bale goal is approached.
“It seems to me that this would give stability to the cotton market, while helping the United States and other countries to sell their cotton; would induce purchasers to buy our cotton early, and would induce other cotton producing countries to limit their current offers with the hope of selling part of their cotton at higher prices at a later date.” (Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, Name Series, Eisenhower, Milton S., 1959)
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