182. Editorial Note
At the White House daily staff meeting on April 2, 1962, presided over by the Deputy Assistant for National Security Affairs, Carl Kaysen, Argentina was the last topic of conversation. According to an April 2 memorandum for the record by Colonel Julian J. Ewell of General Maxwell Taylor’s staff, the discussion was as follows:
“Schlesinger reported that our policy on Argentina is still up in the air. Secretary Rusk and the Country Desk, as well as the Ambassador, are for recognition, the Assistant Secretary and Schlesinger are against. There was mention of a reputed message from Betancourt which proposed that no one recognize a military government put in place by a coup. No one has seen this message as yet. Bromley Smith will make inquiries to see if it was delayed in transmission. Schlesinger philosophized a little bit on the possibility that the Peronista element might not be as bad as has been painted. He pointed out that the International Monetary Fund has had a complete lack of success in stabilizing economies in Latin America without the Government falling from power. He inferred that perhaps we needed a different approach, that such harsh economic medicine resulted in killing the patient. I asked Schlesinger if he was saying that we shouldn’t have economists in Government, and he said he had always been against it. This was after Kaysen had left the room.” (National Defense University, Taylor Papers, Daily Staff Meetings, Jan-April 1962)
Regarding President Betancourt’s message, March 29, see footnote 2, Document 185.