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

NI–4. Letter from the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Rubottom) to the Ambassador in Nicaragua (Whelan)¹

Washington, April 7, 1958

Dear Tom:

The always thorny question of a visit by President Luis Somoza to the United States arose last Thursday at lunch with Guillermo who took the initiative, both in the invitation and in the subject matter we discussed. I sat on him rather hard at first, saying that the visit was simply out of the question in the foreseeable future for a variety of reasons, several of which he knew. He looked quite unhappy and, having given him the medicine, I proceeded to sugar-coat it as much as possible for the next half hour. Actually, we discussed the kind of letter that I would write to you on this subject, so I suppose that this goes back to earlier conservations which the two of you have had in Managua.

Luis has won commendation from all of us who are interested in Latin American affairs in Washington, and he has done surprisingly well in obtaining the respect and good will of most of his neighbors. However, most of the publicity media in the United States still tend to lump him with the other “dictators” of Latin America and the same treatment is accorded him throughout most of South America. In that continent, especially in Colombia, Venezuela, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile, the current against anything smacking of state control is very strong indeed, and Luis’ family name hurts him no matter what he does. I do not cite the above as reason for not inviting him to the United States, but it is an aspect of the problem which has to be considered. It seems to us in the Department that the following points should be given weight in any consideration of this problem, since they indicate both that Nicaragua and President Somoza are well regarded by the United States and also that there are reasons other than the one listed above for going slow on an invitation to him; (1) The treatment accorded President Tacho Somoza following his shooting and at the time of his death clearly revealed the extent of United States friendship toward Nicaragua (and has been used to our detriment by some elements);² (2) The President’s brother, General Tachito Somoza, was invited to the United States last year and accorded full honors during his trip, including a chance to see the President briefly albeit on the golf course; (3) You have been left in Nicaragua as Ambassador now for seven years, and this has been interpreted widely as United States support of the Somoza family, including President Luis, because of your well publicized and quite understandable affection for them; (4) Any invitation to President Luis prior to the complete settlement of the Honduran-Nicaraguan boundary dispute would immediately be interpreted as moral support of the Nicaraguan side of the issue no matter what we might say, unless the Honduran President were invited at the same time, and this we simply cannot do; (5) The schedule for state visits is crowded to overflowing and represents one of our most difficult problems in dealing with our colleagues in the Department and those in the White House who are responsible for such planning; the schedule is tight for an indefinite time ahead as well; and (6) The visits of Presidents-elect on an informal basis is a completely different kettle of fish from that of an official visit by a President, involving infinitely more detailed planning, more time of our highest officials, more expense, and more problems resulting from the inferences drawn by those Presidents who have not been able to get invitations.

Guillermo specifically alluded to the spot that President Luis would be on should we invite President Villeda Morales or President Lemus. You can rest assured that we do not contemplate inviting President Villeda Morales in the foreseeable future. Our plans with respect to President Lemus are not that definite, but we will face that problem if and when it arises.

I realize that this is a subject which will continue to plague you, and me, too, but it is not the only tough one in the book. I know that we can count on you to handle your side of it in your usual Whelan-style diplomacy, which is as good as any I know.

With best regards and looking forward to seeing you in June,

Very sincerely yours,

R.R. Rubottom, Jr.

PS: Two letters have just arrived on my desk from you bearing on the above. The one of March 31³ mentions the less secure position which Guillermo now holds in Nicaragua. I certainly agree with your estimate of his cooperative attitude here and personally would dislike seeing him transferred. Frankly, I cannot imagine that Luis would be contemplating such a move although I don’t doubt that certain Nicaraguans might be sniping at Guillermo. I certainly hope that he is ordered home for consultation during Dr. Eisenhower’s visit in June,⁴ but I doubt that we should make a request for such action. This, incidentally, brings up a point (7) which I should have included in the body of my letter in paragraph 2, i.e., the fact that Dr. Eisenhower is visiting Nicaragua should take some of the heat off Luis (and Guillermo) to have a visit to the U.S. While Guillermo hardly deserves credit for arranging the Eisenhower visit, although I believe he has spoken to Dr. Eisenhower several times about it, certainly no one else can take credit away from him for the idea.

On the basis of my contact with Vice President Nixon and my knowledge of his tight schedule,⁵ Irving Davidson would have to pull something besides rabbits out of the hat to arrange for the V.P. to visit Managua. This is in response to your other letter of March 31 which arrived today.⁶

1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 601.1711/3–3158. Confidential; Official-Informal. The source text is an unsigned carbon copy.
2. Documentation on the assasination of President Anastasio Somoza in September 1956 and the U.S. response is in Foreign Relations, 1955–1957, vol. VII, American Republics: Central and South America, Chapter 6.
3. A copy of Whelan’s letter of March 31, dealing with Sevilla-Sacasa’s position, is in file 601.1711/3–3158.
4. For Milton Eisenhower’s Latin American trip see Documents ETA–7; CO–1; CR–6–9; ES–2, 5–6; GT–8; HO–3; NI–4, 7–9; PM–3; PA–7.
5. For Vice-President Nixon’s trip to Latin America see Documents BL–5–9, 12; CH–5; CO–9; EC–3, 7; NI–4, 7; PA–1; PE–5–6; UR–2–3; VE–9–10.
6. A copy of Whelan’s March 31 letter concerning the possibility of Nixon’s visit to Managua is in File 601.1711/3–3158.