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

VE–44. Memorandum from the Assistant Secretary of State, for Inter-American Affairs (Rubottom) to the Acting Secretary of State¹

Washington, July 7, 1960

SUBJECT

• Venezuelan Request for American Foreign Ministers Meeting regarding Dominican Republic.

Discussion:

The Venezuelan Government has requested the Council of the Organization of American States to convoke urgently the Organ of Consultation (Meeting of Consultation of American Foreign Ministers) under Article 6 of the Rio Treaty to consider acts of intervention and aggression of the Dominican Government against the Venezuelan Government, culminating in the assassination attempt against President Betancourt on June 24,² and to take measures in defense of Venezuela’s sovereignty and for the maintenance of hemispheric peace and security.

The OAS Council received the Venezuelan request at a meeting on July 6, and decided to meet on July 8 in order to vote on it. While the Dominican representative rejected Venezuela’s charges and opposed the convocation of the Organ of Consultation, the sentiment expressed in the Council was favorable to Venezuela. Also, the Venezuelan representative presented what seemed to be impressive evidence linking the plotters in the assassination attempt with Generalissimo Trujillo and Dominican officials.

It is therefore recommended that the United States at the July 8 meeting of the OAS Council support the Venezuelan request for the convocation of the Organ of Consultation in this case. It is anticipated that the Council will decide on July 8 to act provisionally as Organ of Consultation and will appoint an investigating committee to examine the available evidence, fixing at a later meeting the place and date of the Foreign Ministers Meeting. ARA considers that the first week of August would be the most acceptable date for the latter Meeting. Present indications are that Mexico City or Washington will be proposed for the site of the Meeting, either of which would seem to be acceptable.

The Department is consulting with the other American governments regarding the desirability of convoking another Meeting of Foreign Ministers, to be held at the same place and immediately after the first Meeting, in order to consider the Cuban problem. This matter will be treated in a separate memorandum.

Recommendations:

1. That you authorize the United States Representative on the OAS Council to vote in favor of the convocation of the Organ of Consultation as requested by Venezuela.

2. That you authorize the United States Representative to support the first week in August as the date for the Foreign Ministers Meeting on the Venezuelan case, and to consult further regarding the place of the Meeting, with preference for Mexico City and, if necessary, Washington.

1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 731.00/7–760. Confidential. Drafted by Robert J. Redington, Officer in Charge of U.S. – O.A.S. Delegation Matters in the Bureau of Inter-American Affairs.
2. That morning, Betancourt and his wife left their residence, entered their limousine, and proceeded down Avenida Los Proceres, passing a parked car in which a bomb exploded. The limousine was thrown across the street, killing a military officer sitting next to Betancourt, who suffered severe cuts and burns. The Venezuelan police determined that the assassination attempt was carried out from the Dominican Republic and with the active support of Trujillo.