Office of the Historian

PE–17. Memorandum of Conversation, by the Officer in Charge of Peruvian Affairs (Pringle)1

Washington, September 25, 1958

SUBJECT

  • Peruvian Desire for Development Loan Fund Assistance

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
  • WST – Mr. Pringle

The Foreign Minister, in discussing the reaction in Peru to the imposition of lead and zinc quotas by the U.S., said that he wished to bring about a greater understanding in his country of the reasons which had led the U.S. to take this action. However, in order to do this and in order [Typeset Page 1054] to demonstrate that the U.S. was still cooperating with Peru, he would have to take something back as concrete evidence of U.S. assistance.

Dr. Porras handed Mr. Rubottom a short memorandum requesting a loan to finance a National Health Plan.2 Mr. Rubottom asked whether the plan had been worked out in detail, and the Foreign Minister gave him a copy of a three-page letter dated July 24, 1958, from Minister of Health Sánchez to Dr. Vintinner, Director of SCISP in Peru.3 The letter describes a national health plan envisaging the construction of numerous hospital and health centers in different parts of the country, the establishment of public health and nursing schools, and the implementation of many other plans for the improvement of public health. The letter requests that the U.S. loan an amount of money sufficient to permit the development of the plan during a three-year period. (Dr. Porras indicated that the sum involved might be in the neighborhood of $30 million.)

Mr. Rubottom said that this matter would be studied but that he must say in all frankness that the DLF was very reluctant to make loans in the fields of public health and housing. He explained that the problems involved in those fields were so tremendous that the U.S. could not possibly afford to finance their solution. He said it had been estimated that a billion dollars could be spent annually on housing in Latin America for a generation without solving the housing problem. For that reason, he added, the U.S. tries to direct its economic assistance loans toward [Facsimile Page 2] productive enterprises so that Latin American nations can increase their productivity and finance the solution of their social problems as their economies grow.

Dr. Porras then mentioned a Peruvian application for DLF assistance for roads which he said had been presented in Lima. Mr. Rubottom said that he had no information regarding this application but that the Department would query Embassy Lima about it.4

Dr. Porras said that he would be at the UN in New York for perhaps a week and that he hoped it would be possible for him to take back a favorable decision on a loan to finance the National Public Health Plan when he returned. Mr. Rubottom said that the request would be studied but that he could give the Foreign Minister no encouragement in his hope.

  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 723.5-MSP/9–2558. Confidential. Drafted September 26.↩
  2. The referenced memorandum by the Peruvian Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance is attached to the source text, but not printed.↩
  3. The referenced letter is attached to the source text, but not printed.↩
  4. The Development Loan Fund authorized a $3.5 million to be supplemented by P.L. 480 funds for highway construction, December 19, 1960. For further information, see Development Loan Fund, Report of Activities During Calendar Year 1960 (Washington, 1961), p. 3 (table).↩