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

UR–14. Memorandum of a Conversation¹

US/MC/33

Montevideo, March 2, 1960

SUBJECT

• Various

PARTICIPANTS

• United States

  • The President
  • Mr. Hagerty
  • Secretary Herter
  • Major Eisenhower
  • Ambassador Woodward
  • Lt. Col. Walters (Interpreter)

• Uruguayan

  • President of the National
  • Council of Government,
  • Sr. Benito Nardone
  • Councillor Victor Haedo
  • Councillor Faustino Harrison
  • Councillor Martin R. Echegoyen
  • Councillor Justo M. Alonso
  • Councillor Pedro Zabalza
  • Councillor Ledo Arroyo Torres
  • Councillor Hector A. Grauert
  • Councillor Cesar Batlle Pacheco
  • Secretary Manuel Sanchez Morales
  • Minister of Foreign Relations, Homero Martinez Montero
  • Aide to President Eisenhower, General Enrique Magnani

President Nardone opened the discussion with a short explanation of the nature of the National Council of Government, stating that this body, with the Minister of Foreign Relations present, constituted the Government, which welcomed the President of the United States as a representative of the cradle of democracy and as a defender of all the democratic institutions of the world.

He called attention to the function of the minority in cross-checking the acts of the Government, to Uruguayans’ pride in their democratic processes, and to the democratic transfer of authority when the previous Government was defeated at the polls after a long tenure in office.

Uruguayans are devoted to peace, he said, as a matter of national conscience, believing that only in peace is it possible to make just solutions of the problems of the people. Uruguay has economic and financial matters to work out but wishes to do this within the pattern of continental collaboration and welcomes the discussions in the Americas which have resulted in creation of the Inter-American Bank and other institutions.

President Nardone, on behalf of the whole council, then invited President Eisenhower to express his views on international political problems.

President Eisenhower responded that he would be pleased to speak from his experience both in the armed forces and as a statesman. War is absurd and peace is imperative in the present circumstances, he said, when a great city such as Montevideo could be converted to dust in seconds. The Soviet Union on one side and the U.S., Great Britain and France on the other have such destructive power that even a surprise attacker would himself be destroyed. The President repeated that with nuclear weapons a general war would be absurd. He went on to say that there is reason for hope for the future but the cost of maintaining deterrent power to prevent aggression is tremendous. It necessarily involves difficulties for the maintenance of living standards, education and well-being of our people. While the smaller nations cannot participate in this military activity, all the Western countries must be firmly united spiritually. The President warned that the Soviets, recognizing this situation, are going to try to lull the West into a false sense of security and will resort to propaganda, subversion and infiltration to seduce other peoples to deliver up their sovereignty and freedom. He pointed out that the countries in the greatest danger are those on the Asian and European periphery, mentioning specifically Laos, Cambodia, India, Formosa, Viet-Nam, Korea and Iran. We must furnish a great deal of assistance to prevent the development of movements of disintegration in the western world and among free peoples.

The President said it is indispensable to give the peoples in Asia and Africa, living in misery unknown in the Americas, the hope and the opportunity to improve their living conditions through the type of assistance which will enable them to attain this objective. At present the U.S. is spending 45 billion dollars a year, 60 per cent of its budget, for military purposes to assure our protection and maintain the shield behind which our people may work. This year, he said, we are requesting our Congress to provide $4.2 billion for programs of technical assistance, economic aid, and defense support. The capacity to carry out this program depends upon the maintenance of fiscal stability and the value of our money, without resorting to inflation. The U.S. has many internal problems but the most important is to maintain a healthy economy and prove to the world that we are assuring financial responsibility. The U.S. will never refuse to aid, nor will abandon, a friend who is sincerely working, making an effort to secure his livelihood and to improve the living conditions of the people. In such cases, within the framework of its world responsibilities and within the limitations of its resources, the U.S. will do everything possible to assist that friend.

President Eisenhower reiterated his conviction that the free world will have the necessary strength to assure its own security, and concluded by saying he would be pleased to try to answer any specific questions which the Councillors might wish to ask.

After President Nardone thanked President Eisenhower for his remarks, the latter said it would be useful to him, on the eve of the new conferences in Europe², if he could know if the Councillors had any objection concerning what the United States was trying to do, if the U.S. is mistaken in its policies or should modify them. He said that one of his purposes in visiting Latin America before going to Paris was to obtain the opinions of these countries. He requested that such views be expressed to the U.S. Government through official channels.

President Nardone’s statement that the Council shared and wished to strengthen the policies that are being carried out by the U.S. to defend democratic principles was seconded by Councillors Arroyo Torres and Batlle Pacheco of the Opposition. Councillor Haedo commented that, in this case, he agreed with the Opposition. He went on to say that the reception given to President Eisenhower would have been duplicated if he had come as a private citizen. Councillor Batlle Pacheco joined in this sentiment, saying that the President interprets exactly the North American nation and its glorious past.

President Nardone then expressed Uruguayan thanks for the collaboration of the United States which had restored optimism to their spirits in the difficult period of the floods,³ and concluded the meeting with the presentation to President Eisenhower, on behalf of the NCG, of a medal as a memento of the occasion.

1. Source: Department of State, Conference Files, Lot 64 D 559, OF 1607. Official Use Only. Drafted by Jackson W. Wilson, and approved in the White House on March 24. Information on the source text indicates that the conversation took place in the Session Room; Government House, at 4:30 p.m.
2. Reference is to the forthcoming meeting of Chiefs of State and Heads of Government, scheduled to be held in Paris during the week of May 16, 1960. Documentation on the subject is printed in Foreign Relations, 1958–1960, vol. IX, Berlin Crisis, 1959–1960; Germany; Austria, Chapter 2.
3. Reference is to severe floods that Uruguay experienced in mid-April 1959. The Government of Uruguay declared a state of emergency on April 16, 1959, and the United States provided some medicines, emergency rations, and water purification tablets, and diverted the U.S., Edisto, an icebreaker carrying two helicopters, then returning from the Antarctic, to assist the Uruguayans in rescue operations. At the end of May, the United States sent a Bailey bridge to replace the vital railroad bridge over the Queguay River, which had been washed out by the flood. The temporary installation reopened the only rail line to the hardest hit northwestern area of Uruguay. Documentation concerning the subject is contained in decimal file 833.49.