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

VE–22. Memorandum of a Conversation, Caracas, Venezuela, March 10, 1959¹

Caracas, March 10, 1959

PARTICIPANTS

• President Rómulo Betancourt
• Ambassador Edward J. Sparks
• Minister-Counselor Charles R. Burrows
• Economic Counselor Harlan P. Bramble

The conversation with the President began with the usual kind of light chit-chat. The President remarked, in response to the Ambassador’s comments concerning redecoration in his office, that he wanted to change some of the portraits on the walls. He said he would prefer to have portraits of some civilians, in addition to the military portraits which are there now, but he can’t forget that the only civilian President Venezuela has had was overthrown.² The President proceeded from here to a brief mention of how, since his days of exile, he always sits in a public place with his back to the wall and facing the door. He mentioned in this connection an assassination attempt against him in Havana in 1952.

Ambassador Sparks introduced the subject of the Bolívar statue dedication and commented that he thought the ceremony had gone off very well indeed. He then handed President Betancourt a letter from President Eisenhower expressing the President’s appreciation for the medal which Betancourt had sent to him by Dr. Uslar Pietri. President Betancourt referred to President Eisenhower’s speech and expressed great satisfaction with its content.³ He asked if we had received the text of this speech here and said that he would like to have a copy of it. He asked that it be sent to him through the Foreign Office. Ambassador Sparks said that this would be done and said that as a matter of fact the full text of the speech had been given to all of the Caracas newspapers but that it was carried only in excerpt t by those papers. President Betancourt suggested that the Embassy develop closer relations with the publishers of the various papers and expressed his opinion that if material of this kind were handed personally to the publishers, he felt sure that the newspapers would carry it. He mentioned specifically Miguel Angel Capriles⁴ in this connection. He also mentioned EL UNIVERSAL as being a newspaper which he believed would be receptive to this kind of approach.

Speaking of the newspapers apparently reminded him of the front page story carried by LA RELIGION today concerning the imminent arrival in Venezuela of ex-President Arévalo of Guatemala. He went to his desk to get this newspaper and indicated his surprise that LA RELIGION, of all papers, would carry such a complete story on Arévalo’s visit. Proceeding from this, President Betancourt opened up the entire field, of discussion concerning Arévalo’s trip to Venezuela. The President said that Arévalo will not be here in any kind of official capacity, but that he has rather been invited to Venezuela by the Central University to deliver “some lectures”. Betancourt will see Arévalo privately he said, and perhaps entertain him in his home but he will extend no official honors to Arévalo and will not receive him at the Palace. The President expressed an opinion to the effect that he sees no reason why Arévalo should not come to Venezuela—that he is not a Communist although he is used by the Communists. President Betancourt expects there will be increasing activity on the part of Venezuelan Communists but he feels that this situation can be handled and that he will soon be able to bring it under control. In later conversation on the same subject, during lunch, Ambassador Sparks observed again that Arévalo is bitterly anti-American and that he is a disturbing element for the Americas in general, but particularly in the Caribbean area. Ambassador Sparks in this connection referred to Arévalo’s visit to Bolivia in 1953 and to a three-hour speech which he delivered in La Paz in which he included innumerable false statements about the United States designed to spread sharply anti-American feeling. Betancourt said that he intends to talk to Arévalo when he arrives, to explain clearly the situation in Venezuela, to warn him that the ambiente here is not conducive to anti-American propaganda, that the Venezuelan Government position is definitely anti-Communist, and so on. Betancourt will make clear to Arévalo that he should restrain his activities in Venezuela or that he will not be able to remain here. President Betancourt in this connection said that Arévalo only has a three-month visa. He admitted that he is a friend of Arévalo but not an intimate one; it was clear from the conversation that they are on first name terms. Betancourt explained Arévalo’s anti-Americanism by saying that Arévalo “discovered” anti-imperialism very late in life, just a few years ago. As Betancourt said, others like himself “discover” anti-imperialism at an early age and then grow away from it. In reply to Ambassador Sparks’ observation that Arévalo had a great deal to do with Arbenz’ accession to the Presidency of Guatemala, Betancourt expressed his doubt that this was true. He referred to a conversation he had with Arévalo in 1953 in Chile at which time Arévalo made clear his lack of admiration for Arbenz.

As a further development of the early conversation on United States Embassy relations with the Venezuelan press, President Betancourt devoted considerable attention to the importance of United States and Venezuela pursuing vigorously a closer cultural and exchange program. He spoke specifically of the contribution which could be made to United States-Venezuelan relations by increased travel on the part of students, professors, labor leaders, etc. He suggested that groups of U.S. students and labor leaders visit Venezuela, with their Venezuelan counterparts visiting the United States. He said that if the United States would sponsor the visits of such groups to the extent of paying their transportation, Venezuela would cooperate by declaring them guests of the nation and handling their maintenance expenses while they are in Venezuela. He suggested that perhaps the same thing could be done with reference to Venezuelan students and labor leaders who might visit the United States. Turning to his suggestion that American professors come to Venezuela to visit the University, Betancourt said he has many professor-friends in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Columbia University who speak Spanish and who know Latin America and who could perform a fine service during brief visits to Venezuela, In this connection he mentioned specifically Ronald Hilton in Stanford University.⁵ He said “don’t be afraid” with reference to both students’ visits and workers’ visits to Venezuela—making clear that he had in mind the experience of Vice President Nixon last year. He said that U.S. students could visit the University here with no trouble and could have a very good effect on the situation here. He said he would see that any workers who came were taken to the Casa Sindical and that here again any contact they had with Venezuelans could be very productive.

President Betancourt suggested that the Embassy explore the possibility of organizing some kind of a cultural exchange committee of younger pro-American professional people, with the emphasis on middle class rather than wealthy good families, to be composed in large part of doctors, lawyers and businessmen who may have studied in the United States and who are friendly to the United States. He said there are many of these people, and he mentioned Dr. Marcel Roche⁶ as an example, who with some organization would be able to make a real contribution to United States-Venezuelan relations. He suggested that this group for example might be able to help select and find professors in the United States or other public figures who might come to Venezuela on visits for study or speaking purposes. The President said that he would speak to the Minister of Education⁷ about this and suggest that he work with the Embassy on the idea. Betancourt said that it would be more productive to develop a program of this kind with the Minister of Education rather than attempt to do it with the University authorities.

With reference to petroleum restrictions the President made it clear that he was informed but not excited about the obligatory program. He recognized the cutbacks in production which have taken place in the United States and he recognized also the importance of explaining correctly to the Venezuelan people what the true situation of the petroleum market is. He spoke of the extreme importance to Venezuela of having a stable market for petroleum and of not having to experience a sharp drop in price. At the same time he said of course it is essential for Venezuela that its overall income from petroleum not be sharply reduced. There was at no time a suggestion that Venezuela would protest the mandatory program but the President obviously trusts that the United States will administer the program in such a way as to avoid any unnecessary hardship on Venezuela. He said that he will work with the Minister of Mines to accomplish a good understanding by the Venezuelan people of this situation and he also said that he will tell the Minister to draft a note for delivery to the United States containing Venezuelan reaction and ideas concerning the restriction program.⁸ President Betancourt said that his Government has no intention of confusing the trade agreement negotiations with the oil restrictions; he said that in his opinion these are two entirely different things.

President Betancourt spoke of the problem of military expenditures and said that he is anxious to accomplish a number of things for the Armed Forces that will represent an expenditure additional to the regular budget. He made clear that what he has in mind is not an expenditure to improve the lot of the officers, and he made reference to the Circulo Militar when he said that the Venezuelan people already think that the military fare very well, but that he would like to improve some of the barracks for the soldiers, to move a transport unit now located in Caracas outside the city and so on. He estimates that the things he has in mind might cost 10 million dollars. In order to accomplish these expenditures without increasing the budget he hopes that it may be possible to acquire some of the normal materiel by means other than by direct purchase at full price, as under the Credit Arrangement with the United States for example, If he can arrange this normal acquisition at a lesser price he perhaps will be able to use the money thus saved for these other improvements which he has in mind. The President said that his military officers have told him that other Latin American countries, specifically Colombia and Brazil, are able to make purchases of materiel in the United States on the basis of more or less token payments. He is not familiar with the arrangements these countries may have with the United States but he made clear that he is interested in learning more about those arrangements. He explained that he is not complaining at all and that he realizes the Perez Jimenez Government made much of its alleged ability to pay cash for all of its extravagant purchases. The situation is quite different now and his Government is prepared to admit its problems; he hopes that the United States may be able to help him in some of the solutions.

With reference to other governmental programs, he spoke of his plans for public beaches on the Litoral, of a public park in the east of the city and another on the site of the old hipodromo (with baseball fields, basketball courts and other facilities), of moving people from the ranchitos in Caracas back to the countryside and helping them to set up in small scale agricultural endeavors. With specific reference to this last point, President Betancourt said that 3,000 families have already indicated their willingness to move from Caracas back to the country.

The Foreign Minister had spoken to President Betancourt about the Jerusalem vs. Tel Aviv conflict for the location if diplomatic missions in Israel. The President showed knowledge of this situation and of the United Nations resolutions on the subject and indicated that Venezuela’s decision will probably be in favor of Tel Aviv. He suggested that the previous decision to locate the Venezuelan Legation in Jerusalem had been made by the former Foreign Minister who had perhaps been influenced in that decision by the fact that he is Jewish.

President Betancourt made a strong statement in support of locating the new Inter-American Bank in Caracas. He said that this would be an opportunity to lessen the North Americanization of inter-American institutions and said that he thought it would be an excellent idea from the point of view of the United States as well as Latin America for this bank not to be located in Washington or New York. He said he felt that Caracas was a reasonable compromise as a location for the bank and he hopes very much that this will be the final decision.

President Betancourt referred briefly to the Dominican Republic and Venezuela’s problems with Trujillo, stating very definitely that Venezuela will present the problem of the Dominican Republic for consideration in the OAS within the next few weeks.

With reference to Puerto Rico and his friend, Mufioz-Marin, President Betancourt said that the Governor will be coming to Caracas for a visit in about six weeks. Betancourt said that he intends to meet the Governor on his arrival in Maiquetia and that Muñioz-Marin will be his personal guest in his home during his visit to Caracas.⁹

1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 731.11/3–1159. Confidential. Drafted by Burrows. Information on the source text indicates that this conversation took place at a luncheon. The memorandum was transmitted to the Department of State under cover of despatch 775 from Caracas, March 11, 1950, which noted that the enclosed memorandum was “somewhat in the nature of a basic document to which reference will be made by the Embassy on various occasions in the future.”
2. Reference is to Romulo Gallegos, President of Venezuela, 1948.
3. For text of the dedicatory speech, see Department of State Bulletin, March 16, 1959, p. 373.
4. Proprietor and editor of the Caracas newspapers, La Esfera, El Mundo, and Ultimas Noticias.
5. Professor of Romance Languages and Director of Hispanic-American Studies.
6. An atomic scientist.
7. Rafael Pizani.
8. The Venezuelan Government did not vigorously protest the mandatory restrictions program. However, in a memorandum dated April 24, 1959, the Government of Venezuela did protest to the U.S. Government about the proposed modifications of the mandatory imports program which would exempt Canadian and Mexican petroleum imports. (ARA Files, Lot 61 D 318, “Oil-U.S. Legislation”)
9. At the request of Assistant Secretary Rubottom, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, William P. Snow, excerpted some of the statements recorded in this memorandum and sent them to the Acting Secretary of State. (Memorandum from Snow to Herter, March 18, 1959, ARA Files, Lot 61 D 319, Oil Imports Program.”)