165. Letter From the Deputy Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs (Dillon) to the Director of Central Intelligence (Dulles)1
Dear Mr. Dulles: As you are aware, the May 4, 1958 elections in Laos are of vital concern to the United States, since for the first time the Communist-controlled Pathet Lao will contest these elections as a legal political party with a country-wide overt and covert apparatus. If the Pathet Lao win a significant number of the 21 National Assembly seats at issue, the Communists would be well on the way toward achieving their objective of taking over the entire country; if, on the other hand, the Government succeeds in the great majority of districts, the Communists would suffer a serious setback from which they would require a long time to recover.
To assist the conservatives in these elections, we believe [1 line of source text not declassified] that we should undertake an emergency program of village-level political impact projects to increase the villagers’ awareness of 1) the Royal Government’s concern with their problems and 2) the reality of American aid. Such a program would do much to counter the expected vigorous Communist campaign in the villages and the growing criticism that American aid benefits the few in the cities and fails to reach the rural population.
Examples of the projects envisaged are the drilling of wells in drought areas, bulldozing of simple roads linking villages, construction of school buildings, repair of pagodas, and the addition of two Operation Brotherhood teams. Each project would be examined in terms of its immediate and tangible political advantages in a particular situation, would make maximum use of local resources and labor, and would be relatively inexpensive. While the primary emphasis would be on the enhancement of conservative chances in the May elections, the program would continue for a sufficient period after the elections to insure a lasting favorable effect on the public mind.
[3 paragraphs (29 lines of source text) and footnote (3 lines of text) not declassified]
Sincerely yours,