10. Telegram From Secretary of State Rogers to the Department of State1
3767/Secto 172. Subject: Secretary’s Bilateral Meeting With Panamanian Foreign Minister Tack.
1. Foreign Minister Tack, accompanied by Panamanian Ambassador to Argentina Acheen, called on the Secretary afternoon of May 24. Kubisch and Little were also present.
2. Tack opened the meeting by saying that General Torrijos had asked him to speak to the Secretary about the negotiations respecting the Canal treaty. He said that recently in Panama there had been a climate of tranquility which the GOP expects to have a positive effect on the future of the negotiations. This tranquility was particularly notable in the past week and was reflected in the media in Panama. Tack referred to the letter of February 23 from Ambassador Anderson2 which he said he had answered on May 7.3 Coming out of that exchange was agreement that there should be a vigorous effort to make progress in the treaty negotiations. For this reason, he said, GOP has taken decision that a supplementary letter should be addressed to the Secretary of State which FonMin wished to deliver personally to the Secretary inasmuch as the two of them were the “negotiators” on this question.4
3. Referring to his letter to the Secretary, Tack said that one of the main problems in the negotiations has been to reach agreement on a set of fundamental principles. He said that in the many discussions there seemed to be agreement on those principles but that subsequently different interpretations were given to them. As an example, he cited the general agreement of the two parties that the primary Panamanian interest was recuperation of its jurisdiction over the Canal Zone and, on the other hand, that the principal interests of the U.S. are in assuring the flow of traffic through the Canal and in certain defense and security aspects. He said that there seemed to have been agreement on these basic principles but that differences arose with respect to details. The task now, as expressed in the latest letter, is to try to get agreement on fundamental principles so that negotiations can progress more quickly. [Page 30] This, he said, was the purpose of the note he was presenting to the Secretary. (Letter transmitted by septel.) If we make a joint effort, he concluded, we can achieve something to spur on the negotiating process.
4. In response to the Secretary’s query as to whether the Panamanians were suggesting a “new team,” Tack responded in the negative. Tack restated what he called their basic objective—to try to move things along as quickly as possible.
5. In his opening courtesy comments, Tack had referred to the Secretary’s preoccupation with problems in many other areas of the world. At this point in the conversation, the Secretary referred to that comment, stating that our relations with Panama are very important to us and that we will do whatever we can to reach a conclusion respecting the Canal question. He explained that any agreement that might be reached must have the concurrence of our Congress which must ratify a new agreement. The security considerations, we think, are important. With respect to the feeling in the US regarding the Canal question, the Secretary said that the sentiment is now different because of the Security Council meeting which appeared to be an attempt to force us into agreement. He continued that this makes the ratification process that much more difficult.
6. The Secretary continued that the US had gotten the impression that the Panamanian Government has decided to negotiate the Canal issue publicly. He said that the issue is complex and that we want to deal with it privately. He said that we, of course, will want to study the Foreign Minister’s note carefully but we have this concern as to whether we can negotiate privately. The Secretary said that we recognize that we must take into account Panama’s concerns but that we must also keep our own interests in mind. The problem is not an easy one but it should be dealt with in a friendly manner. The Secretary then asked Tack if we could negotiate in private.
7. Tack responded that following the Security Council meeting, General Torrijos had held a number of meetings with various sectors of the public in Panama. The result was a vote of confidence for the GOP in its policies respecting the Canal negotiations. The GOP, therefore, believed there was now a good climate to move forward on the negotiations in the coming months with discretion and privacy. He said that he was a man of his word.
8. The Secretary acknowledged Tack’s statements and emphasized that the Canal problem is a bilateral one between our two countries. While there seemed to be sentiment in connection with the Security Council meeting supporting Panama, he did not believe that other countries care that much. The Secretary urged that there not be a situation of confrontation but that we talk the matter over among [Page 31] ourselves. Stressing again the necessity for having negotiations in private, the Secretary said that while we are negotiating, there are some little things the US can do to ease the situation. He said that we can talk about these matters while we are negotiating.
9. The Secretary raised again the question of a “new team.” Tack responded that each government can, of course, designate whom it wants for these negotiations but that if the Secretary thought it would be helpful the Panamanians would give favorable consideration to this possibility. The Secretary said that he certainly was not criticizing the current teams, commenting that they had been working on the matter for a long time.
10. The Secretary closed the meeting by saying again that we would study Tack’s note carefully, stating that we did not want to set a precedent whereby a country takes a bilateral matter to the Security Council and then gets action. While each country has its own interests, he said, he does not believe there are fundamental differences between us, reiterating the need for quiet talks. He expressed the hope that our future negotiations would be active and not simply an exchange of diplomatic notes. End.
- Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1970–73, ORG 7 S. Confidential; Immediate. Repeated to Panama City, USCINCOSouth, and Curacao. Rogers was in Buenos Aires May 23–26 to attend the inauguration of President Campora.↩
- The letter dated February 23 from Anderson to Tack is in the National Archives, RG 59, Panama, Lot 75D414, Leg. Bills and Resolutions 1973.↩
- See footnote 3, Document 13.↩
- See Tab A, Document 13.↩