49. Memorandum of conversation, March 23, 1961, between Rusk and Ambassador Sanz de Santamaría1

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SUBJECT

  • United States Military and Financial Assistance to Colombia

PARTICIPANTS

  • The Secretary
  • Dr. Carlos Sanz de Santamaría, Ambassador of Colombia
  • Dr. Bernardo Rueda Osorio, Economic Counselor, Colombian Embassy
  • E.A. Gilmore, Jr., WST
  • Sam Moskowitz, WST/CO
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1. United States Military Assistance to Colombia.

By appointment, under instructions from President Lleras Camargo, Ambassador Sanz de Santamaría called on the Secretary. The Ambassador presented a memorandum to the Secretary, which he said was extracted from President Lleras’ instructions to him, containing the Colombian President’s views on the internal security assistance requirements of Colombia. The Ambassador said this assistance was needed urgently because: (1) the Colombian Armed Forces and police were inadequately equipped to meet present and potential internal security threats, and (2) after 12 years of civil war and rural violence, many Colombian peasants have been trained in guerrilla warfare to the point where they can effectively resist the poorly equipped Armed Forces. He said these guerrilla-bandits are armed and are receiving additional armaments through the flourishing contraband arms traffic into Colombia along its considerable stretches of uninhabited and unguarded coasts. (In response to a direct question, he confirmed to the Secretary that some of the arms are coming from outside Colombia). The Ambassador said that with the exception of the Communists and leftist-extremists, all political parties support the Government so that the political climate is now appropriate for the receipt of the requested military assistance from the United States. However, with elections for a new government scheduled early next year, the internal situation might become unfavorable toward United States military assistance, thus making Colombia’s democratic government vulnerable to subversive attempts by extremists aided from abroad.

2. United States Financial Assistance to Colombia.

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The Ambassador briefly discussed the background of the $70 million line of credit earmarked for Colombia by the DLF and Eximbank. He said that President Lleras felt that the technical requirements set by the lending institutions and terms of credit were inconsistent with the social development objectives of the Colombian Government. President Lleras desired greater flexibility in the conditions of use of DLF credit, particularly as regards feeder roads, colonization, and housing. Also, President Lleras believed that the Eximbank terms of credit were too commercial and altogether inappropriate to the essentially social character of the contemplated projects they were to finance. Colombia, he said, would prefer to use the credit under conditions which would give the Government greater freedom of action and which would also have the added advantage of serving Colombia’s balance of payments requirements. The Ambassador said that President Lleras’ term of office would end in August, 1962 and that it would be most unfortunate for him not to be able to initiate a broad program of social development before then. He asked that the United States trust the Colombian Gov[Typeset Page 131]ernment to employ the credit sensibly and not squander it on foolish projects. The Ambassador said that he and his staff were undertaking a series of discussions with the Department and the DLF to make Colombia’s views known in the hope that agreement can be reached to accommodate Colombia’s requirements.

The Secretary stated that Colombia’s position would be carefully studied. He also mentioned that the President had recently suggested to the Congress certain modifications in our foreign aid program which would enable our assistance to be more flexible and effective.

  1. U.S. military and financial assistance to Colombia. Confidential. 2 pp. DOS, Secretary’s Memoranda of Conversation: Lot 65 D 330.