43. Memorandum From the Administrator of the Agency for International Development (Bell) to President Johnson1
SUBJECT
- Finding under section 505(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, permitting military assistance to all American Republics other than Cuba and Haiti
The Foreign Assistance Act states that no further military assistance (other than for civic action) shall be furnished to Latin American countries except to the extent you find that the assistance is necessary to safeguard the security of the United States or to safeguard the security of a country associated with the United States in the Alliance for Progress against overthrow of a duly constituted government.
In FY 1966 it is proposed to provide $78.5 million total grant assistance of which $25.4 million is for training and defense services (including $6.9 million for supply operations costs) and $53.1 million is for defense articles. The last category of grant assistance is limited by section 511(a) of the Act to $55 million each year.2 In addition to these grants, it is estimated that credit assistance will be provided these countries for purchases of military equipment totaling $61.7 million in FY 1966 and additional amounts in subsequent years. For this purpose it is anticipated that MAP funds will be required in order to provide for the guaranty of repayment of private and/or government financing or to extend credit assistance. Funds permitting these grants and credit sales are included in the FY 1966 budget.
The Foreign Assistance Act of 1965 includes the “Fulbright Amendment” which, among other things, provides that “to the maximum extent feasible” military assistance will be provided to Latin American countries in accordance with joint plans approved by the OAS, and semiannual reports to the Congress are required on the implementation of [Page 124] this subsection.3 It is not clear to what extent joint plans are feasible, and, if feasible, to what extent they could be carried out in FY 1966. It is necessary, however, to move forward at this time with the Latin American program without waiting for the results of the feasibility study.
The findings requested would permit the furnishing of military assistance to all American Republics other than Cuba and Haiti. However, this assistance would be furnished (1) only when the conditions described in the Background Annex continue to exist, and (2) only to the extent that such assistance is necessary on a case-by-case basis to meet the needs there described.
It is, accordingly, recommended that you sign the attached finding. Department of Defense concurs in this request.4
- Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Subject File, Presidential Determinations, Vol. III [1 of 2], Box 40. Confidential.↩
- Section 511(a) authorized the use of $25 million of military aid funds for assistance on a cost-sharing basis to an inter-American military force under control of the Organization of American States. The funds were subject to an existing limitation of $55 million in each fiscal year on the value of grant programs of defense articles of the American Republics. The provision replaced existing language permitting “a part” of the funds to be used “for assistance in implementing a feasible plan for regional defense,” provided that the cost of defense articles supplied for use of the Inter-American Peace Force in the Dominican Republic should not be charged against the existing $55 million limitation. For text of the amendment, see the Foreign Assistance Act of 1965, P.L. 89–171 (79 Stat. 658) approved on September 6, 1965, as amended.↩
- Section 511(b), as amended.↩
- Not found.↩
- Gaud signed for Bell above Bell’s typed signature.↩