242. Letter From the Ambassador in Costa Rica (Willauer) to the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Rubottom)1
Dear Dick: Because of the great interest of Figueres and his party in the success of Fidel Castro, we are getting a wealth of information about Cuba which is being reported separately.
There is one item, however, which I would like to call particularly to your attention and to the attention of the persons to whom I have sent copies of this letter. Yesterday, at a social occasion I had a long talk with ex-president Figueres. I opened by asking him what he thought of Fidel Castro. He replied that Castro was a question mark. I stated that it would be a tremendous blow to Latin American prestige and to the cause of democracy in the hemisphere if either Communism or a new dictatorship emerged in Cuba. I asked Figueres what he thought the chances were. He replied that he hoped things would go along well but if they went badly he believed they would go in the direction of another dictatorship rather than in the direction of Communism. He pointed out that from the anarchy after the overthrow of Machado a dictatorship resulted in Cuba. He admitted quite candidly that there a tremendous vacuum in Cuba, particularly in the labor field, and that the Communists were certainly being very active in that field. (Luis Alberto Monge, former head of ORIT and close advisor to Figueres, has just returned from an investigation of what is happening in labor in Cuba and we are forwarding a copy of his confidential report2 which states that Communism has made great inroads in labor, although he believes the eyes of the 26th of July movement are being opened.)
At this point I stated, “It seems to me that those of you such as Munoz Marin, Romulo Betancourt, yourself and others who have been supporting and sponsoring the Fidel Castro movement, have a tremendous moral responsibility to see that things come out right in Cuba.” I also added that for obvious reasons there was little that the United States could do at this point.3 Figueres replied, “I agree with [Page 386] you and I think we are going to be able to do something. I personally am going to visit Cuba after the inauguration of Betancourt on February 13th.”
I also remarked to Figueres that I felt that the success of Fidel Castro demonstrated very strongly the falseness of the commonly stated accusation against the United States that we keep dictatorships in power because we furnish them with arms. Since Batista had “the works” by way of arms and yet was overthrown, I said that from now on I felt that we in the United States were entitled to consider that dictatorships continued because of lack of action by the peoples of the countries concerned rather than by the furnishing of arms by the United States. I took the occasion to point out to him that one of the basic motives for furnishing arms was to avoid a vacuum into which the Iron Curtain countries might move.
I do not know whether my ideas, as expressed to Figueres, are original but since they seemed to make a big impression on Figueres and in view of his importance as part of the anti-dictatorship team, I suggest that the Department consider how these ideas can be put to further use. For instance, I do think that Munoz Marin, Figueres, Betancourt, etc., are in a position to do something about the future of Cuba and since they purport to be anti-Communist I think it should be made abundantly clear to them that their own reputations are at stake if things go in the direction of Communism or dictatorship in Cuba, and that everything possible be done to continue to imbue them with a sense of responsibility for the situation.
Best personal regards.4
- Source: Eisenhower Library, Herter Papers, Letters 1959. Confidential; Official-Informal. Copies were sent to Herter, Murphy, Wieland, Stewart, and Dreier. The source text was attached to a brief covering letter of January 27 from Willauer to Herter.↩
- Not found.↩
- I am sure you fully understand that I do not really feel there is nothing the United States can do. Very much to the contrary! I was talking in the sense of “direct” pressure or persuasion of the kind I feel lies within the power of Figueres, Betancourt, etc. [Footnote in the source text.]↩
- No reply to Willauer by Rubottom has been found. In a letter to Willauer, January 29, Herter thanked him for sending a copy of the letter he had written to Rubottom. (Eisenhower Library, Herter Papers, Letters 1959)↩
- Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature.↩