Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958–1960, Cuba, Volume VI

52. Memorandum of a Conversation, Department of State, Washington, April 22, 1958¹

Washington, April 22, 1958

SUBJECT

• Visit of New Cuban Ambassador, Nicolás Arroyo

PARTICIPANTS

• Ambassador Nicolás Arroyo, Cuban Embassy
• Mr. Mario Nuñez, Minister Counselor, Cuban Embassy
• ARA—Mr. Rubottom
• MID—Mr. Leonhardy

Ambassador Arroyo recalled his last visit with Mr. Rubottom last fall in connection with his trip to Washington to consult with the Army Map Service. He reviewed briefly the fruits which his efforts at that time have since borne. He stated that a good portion of Cuba had now been mapped photographically and that the entire project would be finished sometime next year. He said that Cuba will be the first Latin American country to be entirely mapped by aerial photographs and this will be a tremendous boon to economic development especially in the fields of mining and petroleum. The maps will also serve to help the Cuban treasury collect land taxes.

Mr. Rubottom asked the Ambassador how he viewed the political situation in Cuba and the Ambassador replied that he personally was not nearly as alarmed during the last few weeks as the U.S. press on the situation in Cuba. He said he thought that the press in this country had exaggerated considerably the situation there but apparently it is beginning to realize that the Castro threat was not as ominous as depicted by its reporting staff. He said that those that advocated terrorism in Cuba constituted a very small minority and that the Government was offering free elections with every type of guarantee the political opposition wanted and he thought Cuba would now be able to go ahead with preparations for elections. He said that the opposition would have a chance to show whether it had a majority of popular support or not at the polls. He referred to the support for elections by Dr. Grau San Martín and Dr. Marquéz Sterling and commented that those who opposed the elections know that they cannot win, otherwise they would take the easy road to success.

Mr. Rubottom said he was certain that the vast majority of the Cuban people wanted a peaceful solution in Cuba. He said that in our own country—while he did not support and condone many of the things that have been said about Cuba in recent months in the U.S. press—the fact had to be faced that the American public was not convinced that the Government intended to hold free elections in Cuba. He added that some Cubans apparently were not convinced either of this fact. He said that he felt that the Ambassador had two major functions to perform here: one being to try to gain acceptance in the eyes of the American public, press and Congress of his Government’s intentions to hold elections which would be acceptable to a majority of the Cubans, and two, to keep his Government apprized of the attitudes within the United States towards Cuba. He remarked that this was certainly a difficult task, he realized, but he thought that the Ambassador with his ability and his knowledge of English could be successful. Mr. Rubottom opined and the Ambassador concurred, that any attempt to criticize the U.S. press for its statements on Cuba would be counter-productive. With respect to U.S. Congressional opinion on the Cuban situation, Mr. Rubottom referred to his recent testimony before several Congressional Committees in which the Department came in for heavy criticism on U.S. policy towards Cuba. The Ambassador said he was very much aware of this testimony and had read all the releases on the subject even before he was named Ambassador.

The matter of Cuban exile activities in this country, particularly in Florida, came up for discussion. The Ambassador said that it was not safe for a Cuban who was not opposed to the Government to visit the Miami area because of the gangster-type activities of the many irresponsible Cuban elements who repeatedly violate our laws. He remarked that he advised his wife to cancel her plans to visit friends in Miami for the present. He referred, in this connection, to the case of the attack on Congressman Rolando Masferrer. Mr. Rubottom said that the Cuban exile activities the Ambassador referred to were a matter of serious concern to the Department and that we have taken the matter up with the state and local Florida authorities. He also mentioned his personal conversation with the Governor of Florida on this subject.

With respect to the assault on Congressman Masferrer, he asked Mr. Leonhardy to summarize the latest information the Department received on this case and said that the Department had immediately gotten in touch with the Miami police officials on learning of this matter and they were doing everything possible to apprehend and prosecute those responsible. He added that he hoped that once peace reigned again in Cuba these exiles might return to their country and then end such abuses of our laws. He referred to our constant surveillance of illegal arms traffic by Cuban exiles and said this would continue. The Ambassador said that Cuban exiles historically had behaved themselves very well in the U.S. but not this new group. He mentioned that President Batista and his followers when they were here never were accused of violating our laws and respected the asylum we had given them.

Mr. Rubottom mentioned the recent emergency law decree passed by the Cuban Government relating to activities of the press and expressed the hope that in the administration of this law the Government would not suppress the activities of the U.S. press. The Ambassador replied that his Government was alert to adverse publicity which could result from curbing activities of the U.S. press and he was certain that the new legislation would be administered with this in mind and that no harm would come to our press representatives.

On the subject of arms shipments to Cuba, the Ambassador said that he was reluctant to bring this matter up in the personal visit but thought he ought to mention that the Cuban Government was encountering difficulty in obtaining reimbursement for the 1,950 rifles on which shipment had been suspended and the order cancelled. Mr. Rubottom promised to take this matter up with the Department of Defense immediately with the hope of obtaining reimbursement or a credit which could be used in the purchase of other items. He mentioned in this connection that we had approved recently for export to Cuba, a number of non-combat items. The Ambassador then mentioned the Cuban desire to purchase some unarmed light naval craft in the sub-chaser category which the U.S. Navy had available for sale. The Ambassador said that these craft would later be armed, of course, but were being also purchased by private individuals for non-combat purposes. Mr. Rubottom mentioned that in keeping with the Cuban Government’s desire not to purchase any materials from us now which could cause any controversy, he was suggesting that this order be dropped and expressed the hope that later conditions in Cuba would improve and thus permit a reconsideration of the entire matter of arms shipments. The Ambassador was in agreement and said that Cuba would drop its discussion with the Navy on these vessels. He said he was sure that within several months conditions in Cuba would return to a state of normalcy which would permit a renewal of shipments of this type.

1. Source: Department of State, CCA Files: Lot 70 D 149, Cuba Jan.–June 1958. Confidential. Drafted by Leonhardy on April 23. Ambassador Arroyo presented his credentials to President Eisenhower on April 16. In a memorandum of April 21 to Rubottom, Wieland listed five topics that Rubottom might wish to discuss with Arroyo. Rubottom marked the memorandum, requesting background information prepared on two of the topics. He wrote a question mark next to two other topics and crossed out the fifth, which read: “State that Department would consider renewing shipments combat equipment when there was evidence that Cuban Government was taking steps toward peaceful solution acceptable to Cuban people”. In a memorandum of April 22 to Rubottom, Wieland provided background on the two topics selected by Rubottom: “U.S. Interest in a Peaceful Solution in Cuba” and “New Emergency Law—Decree No. 5 Announcing Penalties for Press for Reporting News Unfavorable to the Government”. Both memoranda are ibid., Ambassador Arroyo.