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

PE–16. Memorandum of Conversation, by the Officer in Charge of Peruvian Affairs (Pringle)¹

Washington, September 25, 1958

SUBJECT

• Peruvian Reaction to U.S. Imposition of Lead and Zinc Quotas.

PARTICIPANTS

• Dr. Rául Porras Barrenechea, Foreign Minister of Peru
• Dr. Juan Bautista de Lavalle, Peruvian Ambassador to the OAS
• Sr. Miguel Grau - Minister Counselor, Embassy of Peru
• ARA – Mr. Rubottom
• WST – Mr. Siracusa; Mr. Pringle

Foreign Minister Porras² said that resentment against the U.S. was very strong in Peru as a result of the imposition of quotas on lead and zinc. He said that newspapers and labor organizations were urging him to leave the U.S. immediately and return home. The resentment extended to the very top of the government. He emphasized that President Prado had cooperated closely with the U.S. since the beginning of his first term of office (1939–45) and that this cooperation had been outstanding during World War II. More recently, however, the President had felt disillusioned with the United States and had noted its coldness toward Peru. Dr. Porras said that other Latin American countries had received much more consideration and aid from the U.S. than Peru and that the time had come for the U.S. to demonstrate its friendliness by helping Peru to solve certain problems. He said Peru was suffering a political crisis, due largely to social discontent arising from the economic situation, fanned by Communist agitation, and that some military plotting was taking place. After speaking of the democratic nature of the Prado Administration, he said he assumed that the U.S. considered it in its best interest to have Peru governed by a democratic president rather than a military dictator, to which Mr. Rubottom indicated firm assent. Dr. Porras then said that he did not want to go back to Peru empty-handed, that, politically, he must take back some concrete demonstration of continued U.S. friendship and cooperation. (Here the Foreign Minister brought up the Peru-Ecuador boundary dispute and the Development Loan Fund, which are the subjects of separate memoranda.)³

Much later, Mr. Rubottom reverted to the subject of lead and zinc, saying he wished to talk frankly about the matter, as was his custom. Mr. Rubottom pointed out that the U.S. Tariff Commission had found four years ago that the U.S. lead and zinc industry was being injured by foreign imports and had ratified this finding only this year. During all of this period, the U.S. had refrained from increasing tariffs or imposing quotas. It had spent many millions to stockpile these minerals, as well as additional sums in bartering surplus agricultural commodities for them. It had presented a bill to Congress proposing subsidies as a means of assisting the domestic industry with a minimum of adverse effect on foreign producers, but the bill had failed. The Administration had engaged in discussions in Washington and London directed toward a multilateral solution, but such a solution had not been arrived at. Mr. Rubottom pointed out that, in a democracy, the Administration could not ignore the pressures of public and Congressional opinion. To do so would prejudice many other aspects of its international policies. The President had finally decided to take action very much along the lines of that which Peru and Mexico had favored at the London conference. The President had assured the Presidents of both countries that his decision was subject to review and that he hoped a multilateral solution could be arrived at.

Mr. Rubottom then expressed his regret that some of the foregoing explanations of the imposition of quotas by the U.S. had not been brought to the attention of the Peruvian people. He said he did not feel it fair for the press and public in Peru to talk as if this action by the U.S. marked the end of all U.S. efforts to cooperate with and assist Latin America. He added that he did not feel that the U.S. deserved to become the subject of threats because of its action on lead and zinc.⁴

Foreign Minister Porras said that he and the Peruvian Embassy in Washington were aware of the background and the political factors which Mr. Rubottom had outlined. He said that he personally would help to explain the U.S. action and to make it understood in Peru, but that he needed something to take home with him as a concrete demonstration of the fact that the U.S. was still cooperating with Peru.

Mr. Rubottom mentioned the recent $40 million Eximbank loan as a very concrete demonstration. He said that the loan constituted one more example of the fact that the U.S. was always ready to consider appropriate and well-documented Peruvian requests for assistance.

(Subsequent to the above conversation, Minister Grau asked Mr. Pringle to assure Mr. Rubottom that all of the officers of the Peruvian Embassy in Washington fully understood the U.S. reasons for imposing the quota, that their position was an awkward one in view of the very strong reaction in Lima, but that the Embassy’s very close working relationship with the Department would be in no way affected.)⁵

1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 411.236/9–2258. Confidential. Drafted September 26.
2. Foreign Minister Porras was in Washington for the Informal Meeting of American Foreign Ministers, September 23–24; for further information, see Document PA–8, footnote 5.
3. The memorandum of conversation on the boundary dispute is in file 622.233/9–2558; the memorandum of conversation on the Development Loan Fund is printed as Document PE–17.
4. According to a memorandum of conversation in Washington on October 15, Foreign Minister Porras mentioned to Assistant Secretary Rubottom a tentative Czech offer to buy Peruvian lead and zinc. In commenting on this offer, Rubottom pointed out that “the Soviet Bloc was a net exporter of lead and zinc and that any purchases would be for political purposes.” (411.236/10–1558)
5. In telegram 138 to Lima, September 30, the Department of State reported that on September 29 Ambassador Berckemeyer described to Assistant Secretary Rubottom “his efforts to influence sober Peruvian reaction to lead-zinc quotas rather than emotional, unreasoned attitude adopted to date.” The Department instructed the Embassy on explaining the quotas to President Prado and the Peruvian press. (411.006/9–3058)