Office of the Historian

ETA–37. Memorandum from the Counselor of the Department of State (Achilles) to the Assistant Secretary of State for Economic Affairs (Mann)1

Washington, July 9, 1960

SUBJECT

  • New Latin American Program

Not knowing how much opportunity Mr. Dillon had to give you his thinking on preparation of the new program before his departure,2 I am putting on paper at the risk of repetition what he told me this noon.

1.
He wants you to prepare the program.
2.
It is to be ready for presentation when the Senate reconvenes August 8.
3.
The figure of $500 million should be used, of which some $150 million would be intended for Chilean reconstruction.
4.
During the August part of the session we should seek authorizing legislation but not appropriations. He anticipates little difficulty in obtaining authorizing legislation.
5.
The “soft window” of the I.A.D.B. should be the primary instrument. Since grants as well as loans will be necessary and the I.A.D.B. should not make grants, some $50 million of the total should go to I.C.A. for grants for purposes of the program.
6.
The program should be presented to Congress neither as “one shot” nor “annual”. Future authorizations and appropriations will naturally be required but we should not present it as an annual program.3
  1. Source: Department of State, ARA Files, Lot 62 D 302, “Latin American Program (Prior to Bogotá Conference).” Confidential. Copies of this memorandum were sent to Rubottom and Smith.↩
  2. Between July 9 and 24, Undersecretary Dillon made a five-nation tour of Europe. Documentation relating to his trip is in Conference Files, Lot 65 D 559, CF 1715–CF 1725.↩
  3. A task force was established under Assistant Secretary Mann’s leadership to prepare the program and to secure interdepartmental agreement. The task force included representatives from the Bureaus of Economic Affairs, Inter-American Affairs, and Congressional Relations, the Policy Planning Staff, the Office of the Coordinator for Mutual Security, ICA, and the DLF. Papers generated by the task force are contained principally in ARA Files, Lot 62 D 302, “Latin American Program (Prior to Bogotá Conference),” and ARA/REA Files, Lot 63 D 210, “Latin American Social Economic Development Program July–Sept 1960.”↩