Colombia
150. Memorandum of Meeting
President Nixon and President Lleras Restrepo of Colombia discussed inter-American trade, U.S. armaments sales to Colombia, a possible meeting on fisheries, United States-Peruvian relations, highways, and radical movements in Latin America.
Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1967–69, POL 7 COL. Secret; Limdis. The meeting was held in the Oval Office. According to the President’s Daily Diary, the meeting lasted until 12:27 p.m. (Ibid., White House Central Files, President’s Daily Diary). According to a June 23 covering memorandum from Davis to Haig, special distribution of the memorandum, through Haig, was made to State, Defense, Treasury, Commerce, and CIA. On June 6, Rogers sent a memorandum to Nixon and stated that the main purpose of the meeting was to solicit Lleras’s views on inter-American relations, and to lay the groundwork for future support by Lleras for U.S. policy in the region. (Ibid., RG 59, Central Files 1967–1969, POL 7 COL)
151. Memorandum of Meeting
Presidents Nixon and Lleras Restrepo discussed the importance of the Pan American Highway.
Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1967–1969, POL 7 COL. Secret; Exdis. Part 1 of 5 parts. The meeting was held in the Oval Office. According to the President’s Daily Diary, the meeting lasted until 12:06 p.m. (Ibid., Nixon Presidential Materials, White House Central Files, President’s Daily Diary) A covering June 14 memorandum from Vaky to Davis indicated special distribution was made to the Departments of State, Treasury, and Transportation, and AID.
152. Memorandum of Meeting
President Nixon told President Lleras Restrepo that Nixon wanted to eliminate the “additionality” provisions from U.S. economic assistance programs, and he wanted to announce it at the forthcoming IA–ECOSOC meeting in Trinidad.
Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1967–1969, POL 7 COL. Secret; Exdis. Part 3 of 5 parts. The meeting was held in the Oval Office. According to the President’s Daily Diary, the meeting lasted until 12:06 p.m. (Ibid., Nixon Presidential Materials, White House Central Files, President’s Daily Diary) According to an attached covering memorandum from Vaky to Davis, special distribution of the memorandum was made to the Departments of State and Defense.
153. Memorandum of Meeting
President Nixon stated that working groups would be set up after the IA–ECOSOC meeting to study tariffs and preferences. Nixon also said that he liked the idea of regional preferences, if that seemed the best future step to take.
Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1967–1969, POL 7 COL. Secret; Exdis. Part 4 of 5 parts. The meeting was held in the Oval Office. According to the President’s Daily Diary, the meeting lasted until 12:06 p.m. (Ibid., Nixon Presidential Materials, White House Central Files, President’s Daily Diary) An attached covering June 14 memorandum from Vaky to Davis, indicated that special distribution of the memorandum was made to the Departments of State, Commerce, and the Treasury, and DuBridge.
154. Memorandum of Meeting
President Lleras thought many radical Catholic clerics were influenced by Marxism. President Nixon requested the Rockefeller mission to report on the Church and asked Assistant Secretary Charles Meyer to prepare an analysis of why parts of the Church have become radical.
Source: Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, VIP Visits, Box 913, Colombia, State Visit of President Lleras, June 12–13, 1969. Secret; Exdis. Part 5 of 5 parts. The meeting was held in the Oval Office. According to the President’s Daily Diary, the meeting lasted until 12:06 p.m. (Ibid., White House Central Files, President’s Daily Diary) An attached covering June 14 memorandum from Vaky to Davis, indicated that special distribution of the memorandum was made to the Department of State and the CIA. The conclusion of the Rockefeller Report is published as Document 18 in the Regional Compilation. No record of Meyer’s analysis was found.
155. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to Secretary of Defense Laird and Secretary of State Rogers
Kissinger informed the Secretaries of Defense and State that President Nixon wanted a joint recommendation on how to provide an arms modernization program for Colombia, given pending legislation in Congress.
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 779, Country Files, Latin America, Colombia, Vol. 1. Confidential. A copy was sent to the Director of the Bureau of the Budget. On July 25, the NSC Undersecretaries Committee proposed setting up a task force of the congressional liaison offices of State, DOD, and AID to come up with a strategy for getting Congress to loosen restrictions on sales of aircraft to Colombia, and other Latin American nations. (Ibid.)
156. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon
Kissinger informed President Nixon of the status on the sale of jet aircraft for Colombia. Nixon agreed to have the U.S. Ambassador to Colombia tell President Lleras Restrepo that the administration wanted to license a modest number of F–5 or A–4 aircraft.
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 779, Country Files, Colombia, Vol. 1. Secret. Sent for information. The President initialed his approval on September 15. Haig wrote on the front of the memorandum: “To Vaky for Guidance.” Attached but not published at Tab A is an August 13 memorandum from Richardson to the President. Tab B is attached and published as Document 155.
157. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon
Kissinger recommended President Nixon’s approval for a $88.5 million economic assistance program for Colombia, in a single release.
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 779, Country Files, Colombia, Vol. 1. Confidential. Sent for action. Kissinger initialed approval of both recommendations for the President. Attached but not published are Tabs A and B. Tab A is a January 29 memorandum from Mayo to Nixon; and Tab B is a February 11 memorandum from Mayo to Nixon. NSDM 10 is published in Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, vol. IV, Foreign Assistance, International Development, Trade Policies, 1969–1972, Document 7. On March 2, Watts informed Eliot of the President’s decision. Copies were sent to the Director of the Bureau of the Budget and the Administrator of AID. (Ibid.)
158. Letter From President Lleras Restrepo of Colombia to President Nixon
President Lleras Restrepo praised President Nixon’s annual foreign policy report to the U.S. Congress for its recommendations for regional economic integration and liberalized tariff preferences that favored the developing countries.
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 779, Country Files, Colombia, Vol. 1. No classification marking. For Nixon’s First Annual Report to the Congress on United States Foreign Policy for the 1970s, see Public Papers: Nixon, 1970, pp. 115–190. The document bears Lleras Restrepo’s typed signature. Nixon’s February 18 letter has not been found.
159. Intelligence Memorandum 0505/70
The memorandum noted that retired General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla won Colombia’s April 19 election with 39 percent of the vote. Because the Colombian Government feared Rojas’ victory would lead to popular demonstrations and perhaps violence, it imposed a state of seize on April 21, with Rojas and his daughter, Senator Maria Eugenia Rojas de Moreno, under virtual house arrest.
Source: Central Intelligence Agency, Job Number 79–T00830A, Office of Current Intelligence, Box 4, Colombia, The ANAPO: What is it? No. 0505/70. Secret; No Foreign Dissem. A note indicates that this memorandum was produced solely by the CIA in the Office of Current Intelligence and coordinated with the Office of National Estimates and the Clandestine Service. An April 24 State Department Intelligence Brief noted that Rojas’s supporters “could later pose a serious threat to Colombia’s stability.” (National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1970–73, POL 14 COL)
160. Memorandum of Meeting
President Nixon and Ambassador Botero discussed the need for a modernization program for the Colombian military and Congressional opposition to arms sales.
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 779, Country Files, Latin America, Colombia, Vol. 1. Confidential; Exdis. The meeting took place in the Oval Office. According to the President’s Daily Diary, the meeting lasted from 12:39 p.m. to 12:50 p.m. (Ibid., White House Central Files, President’s Daily Diary) On April 20, Kissinger sent a memorandum to the President recommending he meet with Botero, because President Lleras “has been most helpful to us this last year, and has strongly supported our positions and policies.” (Ibid.)
161. Letter From President Nixon to President Lleras Restrepo of Colombia
President Nixon told President Lleras Restrepo that a 47 percent increase in coffee prices complicated efforts to obtain congressional support for the International Coffee Agreement.
Source: National Archives, RG 59, Lot 72 D 320: Presidential and Secretary of State Correspondence with Heads of State, 1969–1971. No classification marking. Lleras Restrepo’s April 14 letter is ibid.
162. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon
Kissinger explained the proposed 1971 Colombia aid program and recommended approval.
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 512, Country Files, Far East, Cambodia vol. XII, February 1–June 30, 1971. Confidential. Kissinger initialed for Nixon on April 1. Attached but not published are Tabs A and B. Tab A is Secretary Rogers’ March 3 request and Tab B is a March 19 memorandum from OMB Director Schultz to Nixon. In an April 6 memorandum, Kissinger informed Rogers of the President’s approval. (Ibid.) For Nixon’s reaction to the Peterson Report, see Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, vol. IV, Foreign Assistance, International Development, Trade Policies, 1969–1972, Document 128. For Nixon’s September 15, 1970, message, see Public Papers: Nixon, 1970, pp. 745–756.
163. Memorandum of Conversation
Colombian Minister of Finance Rodrigo Llorante and Assistant Secretary Meyer discussed commodity and trade issues.
Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1970–73, POL 7 COL. Limited Official Use. Drafted by Little. An unknown hand wrote at the bottom of the memorandum: “Thus aid could be in the form of generalized preferences as part of Latin American’s concept of ‘compensation’ for commercial dislocations.”
164. Memorandum of Conversation
United States and Colombian officials discussed three issues: coffee, the draft treaty on Quita Sueno, and expropriation policy.
Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1970–73, POL COL–US. Limited Official Use. Drafted by Taylor. The meeting was held in Assistant Secretary Meyer’s office in the Department of State. The treaty on Quita Sueno is in telegram 165684 to Bogotá and Managua, September 11. (Ibid., POL 4 COL–US)
165. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon
Kissinger argued that assistance to Colombia was important, as it would stabilize the government and support its economic and social development, and noted that U.S. assistance to Colombia did not substitute for Colombia’s own efforts.
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 779, Country Files, Latin America, Colombia, Vol. 1. Confidential. Sent for action. Haig approved for Kissinger, who approved for the President. Attached but not published are Tabs A and B. Tab A is Secretary Rogers’ April 7 request. Tab B is an April 26 memorandum from Director Shultz of OMB to Nixon. Davis, in a May 12 memorandum, informed Eliot of the President’s approval.
166. Letter From President Nixon to President Pastrana of Colombia
President Nixon informed President Pastrana that the U.S. Government was prepared to help Colombia prevent the spread of foot-and-mouth disease to allow for the continued construction of the Pan American Highway through the Darien Gap.
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, White House Central Files, Foreign Affairs, Box 32, EX FO 3–1/1–2, 1973–1974. Limited Official Use.
167. Letter From President Pastrana of Colombia to President Nixon
President Pastrana discussed a number of the problems Colombia would face in attempting to prevent the spread of foot-and-mouth disease. In particular, he noted that displacing a large number of cattle, located in remote areas, would be costly.
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, White House Central Files, Foreign Affairs, Box 32, EX FO 3–1/1–2, 1973–1974. The letter bears Pastrana’s typed signature. Nixon’s letter to Pastrana is published as Document 166.