Office of the Historian

327. Memorandum From Secretary of State Rusk to President Johnson1

Washington, March 24, 1964.

SUBJECT

  • Haitian Request for U.S. Grant Assistance

Recommended Action

I recommend you authorize Ambassador Timmons to inform President Duvalier that you have personally approved the decision not to accede to his request for grant budget-supporting assistance.2

Discussion

Ambassador Timmons has made excellent progress in establishing the productive relations with Haiti that our own self-interests require. President Duvalier has seized upon this favorable evolution to request budget-supporting assistance as “evidence of the genuineness of U.S. goodwill toward his Government.” Although some such aid may have to be given later, we do not believe we should do so now.

Duvalier is an extreme egocentric and believes that if he could only “get through” to you personally, you would grant all his requests. It is thus important for Ambassador Timmons to be able to say that the U.S. response has your personal approval.

Since January we have taken a number of actions favorable to Haitiʼs interests. We are now encouraging tourism to Haiti, processing investment guarantee applications and supporting IDB loans to Haiti that meet the Bankʼs criteria.

Continuation of the productive dialogue already begun may require us to be additionally forthcoming. At the same time, we need [Page 769] persuasive arguments in pressing the Haitian government to pay off its debts. To serve both purposes, we plan to explore, without commitment, the reinstatement of the 1962 Port-au-Prince airport loan ($2.8 million) which was cancelled in 1963 as a consequence of Haitian defaults on previous U.S. loans.3

DR
  1. Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Haiti, Vol. II. Secret.↩
  2. Sayre indicated that President Johnson disapproved the action on March 26.↩
  3. A handwritten note at the end of the memorandum reads: “This is Tom Mannʼs recommendation.”↩