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

DR–5. Memorandum of a Conversation between the Secretary of State and the Dominican Foreign Minister (Herrera)¹

Washington, November 7, 1958

SUBJECT

• Termination of Military Agreements with the Dominican Republic²

PARTICIPANTS

• The Secretary
• Mr. Rubottom – Assistant Secretary, ARA
• Mr. Little – Deputy Director, CMA
• Dominican Foreign Minister Porfirio Herrera Báez
• Dominican Ambassador Manuel A. de Moya

Foreign Minister Herrera Báez opened the conversation by stating that his Government has traditionally followed a policy of close and friendly cooperation with the United States and that it wished to continue these policies in the future. He continued by saying that his present visit to the United States and the purpose of his call on the Secretary related to the military agreements between our two countries. His Government had decided, he stated, that it wished to terminate the Military Assistance Agreement of 1953 and the Naval Mission Agreement of 1956, since his Government believed that the purposes of those two agreements had been achieved. He said that his Government hoped that it would be possible for our two governments to agree mutually that these agreements be terminated in lieu of a unilateral denunciation by the Dominican Republic, reiterating that his Government did not wish, by its position on these agreements, to indicate any change in its traditional policies toward the United States to which he had referred. The Minister then handed the Secretary a memorandum embodying this request, which is attached³ Mr. Rubottom asked the Minister how the desire of the Dominican Government to terminate the two agreements related to the agreement for the Missile Tracking Station. The Minister replied that neither that agreement nor the one covering the Loran station would be affected by this proposal. Later in the conversation the Minister said that, if his Government in the future requested technical aid and equipment, it was hoped that arrangements could be made for such assistance even though there was no military agreement. It was apparent from the context of this remark that the reference was to military aid and equipment, although this was not specifically stated by the Minister.

The Secretary told the Minister that the Dominican Government’s request would be studied carefully and said that he appreciated the comments of the Minister regarding the attitude of his Government toward cooperation with the United States. He stated that it would be fruitless to deny that in the recent past there have been points of disagreement between our two governments. He said that some countries in the world take certain actions with which we agree to a greater or lesser degree, whereas others sometimes do things that we cannot approve. The United States Government’s attitude is that other countries, being sovereign nations, may do as they wish in conducting their internal affairs and that we will respect their sovereignty, but nevertheless we do have opinions on their actions. The Secretary alluded to the fact that some of the things the Dominicans have done in the past have had a poor public relations reaction here in the United States, mentioning specifically the letters of the former Minister of Commerce⁴ which were critical of certain Congressional figures in the United States. The Secretary stressed that the public reaction in the United States to acts of others was beyond our government’s control and was a fact of life which must be accepted. Nonetheless, the Secretary added, the United States Government believes that our two governments should work together to resolve our mutual problems. Mr. Rubottom commented at this point that, as Ambassador de Moya was fully aware, a number of problems affecting relations between our two countries have arisen in recent months and that our government’s effort has always been to deal with them in a way which would meet the objectives of both of our governments.

Turning to another subject, the Foreign Minister said that he thought Ambassador Lodge’s meeting on China with the Latin American delegates to the UN General Assembly in New York was very timely and useful. In response, the Secretary briefly described his trip to Taiwan to see President Chiang and some of the issues raised by the division of China by communism.⁵

Before the Minister rose to leave, the Secretary said that he had one comment he would like to make. He wished to tell the Minister, and asked him to pass on his thought to his President and to the Generalissimo, that the United States appreciates the important role played by the Dominican Government in the development of the Caracas anti-communist pact.⁶ The Minister expressed his appreciation for the Secretary’s statement and said he would transmit the Secretary’s comment to his government.

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It was agreed during the conversation that no publicity would be given to the Dominicans’ intention to terminate the two military agreements and as the Minister left the Secretary’s reception room he explained to waiting newsmen that he had come to Washington only to pay a courtesy call on the Secretary. After leaving the Secretary’s office, the Minister stated to Mr. Rubottom that he hoped to be able to meet later with Mr. Rubottom to learn the reaction of our government to the Dominican request prior to returning to Ciudad Trujillo. Mr. Rubottom replied that we would wish to discuss the matter with interested officials of the Departments of State and Defense and suggested the possibility of a meeting Saturday morning. The Minister agreed and Mr. Rubottom said that we would advise Ambassador de Moya later in the day if such a meeting could be worked out.

1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 739.5-MSP/11–758. Confidential. Drafted by Edward S. Little on November 7.
2. In a memorandum dated November 6, 1958, Assistant Secretary Rubottom informed the Secretary of several subjects which Foreign Minister Herrera might want to discuss, including U.S. military assistance programs, an expression of U.S. appreciation for Dominican friendship and cooperation, and the Dominican desire for greater access to U.S. markets. Rubottom also recommended positions for the Secretary to take on these issues. (611.39/11–658)
3. Not declassified.
4. Juan O. Velázquez, Minister of Industry and Commerce.
5. Dulles was in Taipai, October 21–23, 1958. For documentation on this visit, see Foreign Relations, 1958–1960, vol. XVI, East Asia-Pacific Region; Cambodia; Laos.
6. Reference is to Resolution XCIII, titled, “Declaration of Solidarity for the Preservation the Political Integrity of the American States Against the Intervention of International Communism,” approved on March 28, 1954 at the Tenth Inter-American Conference which met at Caracas, March 1–28, 1954. For the text of the resolution, see Tenth Inter-American Conference: Report of the Delegation of the United States of America with Related Documents (Department of State Publication 5692, Washington, 1955), pp.156–158.