GT–36. Memorandum of Telephone Conversation, Prepared in the Office of the Secretary of State1
The Secretary telephoned the President in Augusta to say that he has been in a huddle with Allen Dulles and our Latin American experts on Guatemala.2 The Secretary said the situation looks very serious; that our information is still a little scattered but it looks as though the rebels had control of Puerto Barrios on the coast and it looks as though the Cubans have a hand in this. The Secretary said if the Cubans are planning actual assistance to the rebels on the coast by either ship or air, we having a feeling perhaps we could get from Guatemala, Costa Rica and Nicaragua a request that we give them assistance against such a move by the Cubans. The Secretary said he had talked to Secretary Gates,3 and that Admiral Dennison has been briefed, and Defense has been alerted to the possibility of putting ships off Guatemala to interdict this.
The President said he thinks this is what we have to do. The President said his paper morning did not give a correct report on the situation in Guatemala.4 The Secretary said we are having troubles communicating; that [text not declassified] we are sending messages down right away. The President asked as a matter of fact whether we would need a request from all three countries, and the Secretary said [Typeset Page 725] we would not need it but it would be much stronger. The President agreed and said this would particularly be so if each country says there is external aggression. The President asked what we would do about the OAS, and the Secretary said the requests would also have to go to the OAS but the requests can be made both individually and collectively.
The President said he approved in every respect. The President asked that the Secretary make a little note of the matter and send a report down to the President.5
- Source: Eisenhower Library, Herter Papers. “Phone Calls & Miscellaneous Memos, November 1960–January 1960.”↩
- Regarding Secretary Herter’s meeting with Allen Dulles, see footnote 3, below.↩
- A memorandum of a telephone call by Secretary Herter at 9:10 a.m., Monday, November 14, reads as follows: “Telephoned Secretary Gates to say he was now meeting with Allen Dulles and others on the situation in Guatemala and understands Admiral Dennison has been briefed on the situation there. Secretary said we are considering getting Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Guatemala to ask for help to interdict any help from Cuba and this would obviously involve naval forces. Secretary asked how far Gates can go in the services on what might be necessary and also asked what they had in that area. Gates said he would alert the services and said he assumed we had forces in that area in view of the situation in Cuba.” (Eisenhower Library, Herter Papers, “phone Calls and Miscellaneous Memos, November 1960–January 1961”)↩
- The intelligence item concerning Guatemala reported to President Eisenhower on November 14 read as follows: “President Ydígoras remains in control in the capital following coordinated insurgent attacks on military installations in Guatemala City and two key provincial capitals on 13 November. The attackers, however, apparently withdrew from their Guatemala City objective with a quantity of military equipment and were joined by an unknown number of defecting soldiers. Ydígoras, faced with the most serious threat of his nearly three years in office, immediately declared a state of siege throughout the country. Preliminary reports indicate that the insurgents are led by a coalition of expediency composed of a rightist faction and a Communist front political party which has ties with the Castro regime in Cuba.” (Memorandum by Lt. Col. John S. D. Eisenhower, Assistant Staff Secretary, White House Office, November 14, 1960; Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, “DDE Diaries”)↩
- Reference presumably is to the memorandum from Herter to Eisenhower November 16, see Document GT–42.↩