73. Minutes of the Secretary of State’s Staff Meeting1 2
PRESENT:
- THE SECRETARY OF STATE—HENRY A. KISSINGER
- Mr. Ingersoll
- Mr. Sisco
- Mr. Sonnenfeldt
- Mr. Maw
- Mr. Lord
- Mr. McCloskey
- Kr. Springsteen
- Mr. Hartman
- Mr. Easum
- Mr. Atherton
- Mr. Kubisch
- Mr. Sneider
[Omitted here are portions of the discussion unrelated to Guinea-Bissau.]
SECRETARY KISSINGER: Guinea Bissau?
MR. EASUM: That is a very fast-moving situation right now, and just as confused as Lisbon. We have two reports in—one from Lisbon and one from Algiers, indicating that the Portuguese may have come to an agreement with the PAIGC. We cannot evaluate this yet. But the issues that have separated them, and perhaps the issue upon which the conversations broke down three weeks ago in Algiers, were, number one, the question of a plebiscite, whether or not one could consider the PAIGC as independent now or whether you had to go through some kind of ritual in which to legitimize them. That was the first issue. And the second one is the role of the Cape Verde Islands. Now, if—
SECRETARY KISSINGER: What did they do about the Cape Verde Islands?
MR. EASUM: We suspect if an agreement has been reached, that the Portuguese have agreed to separate that out. [Page 3] We think they probably want to separate it out. Originally. the PAIGC said “We want to speak for the independence of the Islands and the mainland.” In return for dropping that, the Portuguese may be willing to recognize the PAIGC now without a plebiscite. Their concern is one cf setting a precedent, probably, both at home and in the other two territories. At a time when they are pushing for democratic principles at home, here they would appear to be rejecting a popular referendum.
SECRETARY KISSINGER: My impression is that they are eager to get out of Mozambique, too—at least Soares, whatever that means.
MR. EASUM: We think they are. But that—
SECRETARY KISSINGER: Were you present when I talked to Soares?
MR. HARTMAN: Yes.
SECRETARY KISSINGER: In Ottawa?
MR. HARTMAN: Yes.
SECRETARY KISSINGER: I arranged with him—incidentally, he has no objections if we take up contact with the various liberation movements there—if we don’t have such eager beavers that we cannot control it. Can I see the cable in which you authorized that?
[Page 4]MR. EASUM: We have not yet authorized it.
SECRETARY KISSINGER: I prohibited it three weeks ago. But you can now authorize it, if you can find a way of doing it without our Consul General leading the resistance movement.
MR. EASUM: We would like to do this in a very ad hoc and specific way. We do not think it is time, for example, for a chief of one of our missions to have contacts with the leaders of independence groups that are vying among themselves. The PAIGC is a different point.
SECRETARY KISSINGER: Is that Guinea Bissau?
MR. EASUM: Yes. An arrangement with the PAIGC would—
SECRETARY KISSINGER: That is really what the world needed—a country called Guinea Bissau.
MR. EASUM: I have been there. It isn’t so bad.
There is the issue of the admission of Guinea Bissau to the UN. Now, if the Portuguese have indeed reached this agreement—and we have one report that indicated Spinola would be going to Guinea Bissau soon to announce independence, then the issue may not arise for us. That is whether or not Guinea Bissau should be admitted to the UN.
SECRETARY KISSINGER: It is not going to be admitted with our vote until the Portuguese have given it [Page 5] independence.
MR. EASUM: The issue is posed for us if in fact they have not given it independence. But this may disappear.
SECRETARY KISSINGER: Well, we are not going to take the lead.
[Omitted here are portions of the discussion unrelated to Guinea-Bissau.]
- Source: National Archives, RG 59, Transcripts of Secretary of State Kissinger’s Staff Meetings, 1973–1977, Entry 5177, Box 4, Secretary’s Analytical Staff Meetings. Secret.↩
- Secretary of State Kissinger and Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Easum discussed Portugal’s relations with Guinea-Bissau. Kissinger said the United States would not vote for Guinea-Bissau’s admission to the United Nations until Portugal had granted it independence.↩