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

ETA–23. Memorandum from the Acting Secretary of State to the President¹

Washington, April 8, 1959

SUBJECT

• Suggested Reply to President Betancourt’s Request for Support of Caracas as the Site of the Inter-American Development Bank

On April 1, 1959, President Rómulo Betancourt of Venezuela addressed to you a cable urging support of his Government’s proposal that Caracas be selected as the site for the Inter-American Development Bank. The original Spanish text of the cable was received at the White House on April 2, the same date the working group meeting in this city decided on Washington as the site for the new institution by a final vote of 18 to 3. A translation of President Betancourt’s message was forwarded to the White House on April 4.

I enclose for your consideration a suggested reply to the message from President Betancourt. If you approve, this message will be cabled to our Embassy at Caracas for immediate delivery to President Betancourt. Since the Venezuelan President’s message arrived too late to receive adequate consideration and the final decision by the working group was contrary to his desires, recommend that we take no initiative in making public this exchange of messages.

CHRISTIAN A. HERTER

Attachment

Letter from President Eisenhower to President Betancourt²

Washington, April 9, 1959

Dear Mr. President:

I am most grateful to you for your personal initiative in bringing directly to my attention your proposal to establish the Inter-American Development Bank in Caracas.

Your views and the forthright manner in which you expressed them made a deep impression on me. I truly regret that your telegram did not reach me until after the working group made its decision on Washington as the site for the new institution.

Although this circumstance precluded my consideration of your message before the decision was taken, your Government’s views were well known to our representatives, and I assure you that those views were given most careful consideration.

But after study of all factors, the United States Government felt obliged to conclude that the technical and practical advantages of having the institution located in Washington, at least in its initial stages, would greatly facilitate the successful establishment of this important venture in hemispheric cooperation. In reaching that conclusion, we had in mind the desirability of selecting a site that would be near the New York money market and existing banking and financial institutions, including the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Monetary Fund, and the Export-Import Bank of Washington.³

I know that you share my deep personal interest in supporting measures which contribute to the general welfare of all of the people of this hemisphere. I look forward to the continued association of our two nations in such important projects as the Inter-American Development Bank as a means of achieving the objectives we consider essential to the peace and prosperity of the Americas.

Thank you for making your views known to me in such a friendly fashion; I hope that you will not hesitate to communicate with me in a similar manner in the future.

Sincerely,

Dwight D. Eisenhower

1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 371.814/4–959. Official Use Only; Presidential Handling. Drafted by Carl E. Bartch, Officer in Charge of Venezuelan Affairs, Office of East Coast Affairs.
2. Sent in Department telegram 654 to Caracas, April 9. (371.814/4–959)
3. Department circular telegram 1092 to all diplomatic missions in Latin America, dated March 26, 1959, discussing the location of the Bank, stated that a U.S. site would facilitate the sale of bonds necessary to increase the Bank’s resources in the future. (810.10/3–2659)