Office of the Historian

429. Memorandum of Conversation1

Washington, October 4, 1963, 11:30 a.m.

SUBJECT

  • Congo

PARTICIPANTS

  • United States
    • The President
    • Acting Secretary Ball
    • Mr. William R. Tyler, EUR
    • Mr. Francis E. Meloy, Jr., WE
  • Belgium
    • Foreign Minister Spaak
    • Ambassador Scheyven, Belgian Embassy
    • Mr. Robert Rothschild, Chef de Cabinet

The President inquired about the situation in the Congo. Mr. Spaak said the Adoula Government is weak and the administration is bad. It is hard for Adoula to take decisions. If Adoula can come to a decision it may be that there can be monetary discussions in Washington next week. Although the Congo Government is weak, everyone agrees that Adoula is the best man available. Belgian relations are good with the Congo Government.

The President inquired if agreement had been reached as to the period of time for which U.N. forces would be retained in the Congo. Mr. Spaak and Mr. Ball said that U.N. forces would be retained for another six months after January 1, 1964.2

Mr. Spaak said the Congo Parliament may give full powers to Adoula which would enable him to govern more effectively. In his view a democratic parliamentary system is not the best one for the Congo at the present.

The President said that he was glad that U.N. troops would be staying in the Congo. It is worth a great deal both to Belgium and to the United States that the situation not be allowed to retrogress.

The President asked Mr. Ball to provide him with a report on the training of the Congo army.3 He asked Mr. Spaak if the training was going [Page 876] fast enough. Mr. Spaak replied that until now progress had been slow but there were better prospects for the future. The President inquired who in addition to the Belgians were assisting in the training program. Mr. Rothschild said that the Italians had agreed to help train the Congo air force. Mr. Spaak also mentioned Israeli training of Congolese paratroopers.

The President said he wished to keep in close touch with Mr. Spaak regarding the Congo. He congratulated Mr. Spaak for his efforts and said the Foreign Minister had done a wonderful job and reiterated that we must stay in close touch. Mr. Spaak thanked the President and said the only way he could succeed would be to stay in close touch with the U.S.4

  1. Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Belgium. Secret. Drafted by Director of the Office of Western European Affairs Francis E. Meloy, Jr. The meeting was held at the White House.↩
  2. On October 18, the General Assembly adopted Resolution 1885 (XVIII), authorizing the Secretary-General to expend up to $18.2 million for U.N. operations in the Congo from January 1 to June 30, 1964.↩
  3. An undated report headed “Retraining and Modernization of the Congolese National Army,” sent to Bundy with a covering memorandum of October 9 from Read, stated that the retraining program was moving very slowly. It concluded that it was necessary to find a way to move the problem off dead-center, and that efforts would continue to urge both the Belgians and the Congolese to expedite the process. (Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Congo)↩
  4. Spaak also discussed the Congo briefly with Rusk on September 30 and with Ball on October 5. (Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 66 D 110, CF 2318, and ibid., Secretary’s Memoranda of Conversation: Lot 65 D 330, respectively)↩