306. Letter From Secretary of State Dulles to Chief of State Franco0
My Dear General Franco: I have not forgotten my visit to Madrid of last December or the conversation, both agreeable and useful to me, which we then had. At that time I recall that Your Excellency mentioned various aspects of our relations where you thought improvement possible, in terms, for example of our counterpart arrangements, the magnitude of our economic assistance, and as to studying the implications of modern weapons upon the location of our joint bases in Spain.
I asked my associates to follow up on these matters and I think that some satisfaction is being given to your desires. I realize that these desires will not be fully satisfied; but our own capabilities under the applicable laws and appropriations of the Congress and our world-wide commitments do not give the Executive unlimited resources or discretion.
As Foreign Minister Castiella has been informed by Ambassador Lodge, there is a planned change, in Spain’s favor, in the counterpart arrangements which will be applicable to the fiscal year 1959 Defense Support program.1 We hope that, from one source or another, the economic aid will be substantial, although below the figure you mentioned to me. But it should be adequate, assuming there are corresponding Spanish internal measures. Our military people have, I believe, given your military people information which should enable your Government to quiet any popular apprehensions as to the location of the bases. We all live dangerously. But the scope of the danger is such that slight shifts do not appreciably reduce the danger. On the contrary a courageous stand may surmount difficulties, as your own conduct over the years so well exemplifies.
I recall that we also talked about relations between your country and Morocco, and France and North Africa. I am glad that since then some progress seems to have been made in finding a solution acceptable to both you and the Government of Morocco for part of the problem between you and that country. When I passed through Morocco on my way to the Baghdad Pact meeting,2 I strongly urged on the Foreign Minister that Morocco should not take an uncompromising position. Since then, we have continued to urge moderation on Rabat. Despite recent [Page 705] difficulties with the turnover of the Southern Zone, I hope that you will remain convinced, as we have been during our efforts in Rabat, that moderate elements within the Government of Morocco continue to desire peaceful settlements of outstanding problems and that these elements should be encouraged and supported to the extent possible.
I see no good future for North Africa, or for that matter for Western Europe, unless North Africa can be kept out of the zone of Communist influence and maintains the historic ties—cultural and economic—which have so long united North Africa with Western Europe. Spain has always had a proud record in this respect, and I hope that it can be maintained. The problems of France are, I judge, even more difficult and a greater cause of concern.
From the above comments you will note, my dear General Franco, that I have not forgotten the views you expressed to me so ably in Madrid, and that they have gone into the fabric of our policy thinking.3
With best wishes, I am
Sincerely yours,
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 110.11–DU/4–1758. Secret. Drafted by Dulles on April 16 and cleared with Reinhardt, Elbrick, Torbert, and Palmer.↩
- See footnote 1, Document 305.↩
- Dulles visited Marakesh January 22, on his way to the meeting of the Baghdad Pact in Ankara, January 24–26.↩
- In a reply dated April 28, Franco expressed appreciation for the steps taken by the United States, but noted that the bases near Madrid and Zaragoza were a matter of public concern due to their proximity to Spanish cities. The letter was delivered to Dulles on May 20 by Ambassador Areilza. No copy of the letter has been found in Department of State files, but it is summarized in a memorandum of Areilza’s conversation with Dulles, May 20. (Department of State, Secretary’s Memoranda of Conversation: Lot 64 D 199)↩
- Printed from a copy that bears this stamped signature.↩