| Country |
Recommendation |
Action Taken |
| Argentina |
a) That we agree to renew bilateral US-Argentina economic
consultations. |
a) This has been done. |
|
b) That you consider trying to avoid further action on the
pending Hruska bill limiting cooked meat imports, which
would if passed present a serious problem with
Argentina. |
b) Bryce Harlow was
asked to estimate the bill’s prospects and feasibility of
the recommendation. He has not done so. However, the bill
does not appear to be prospering, and no additional action
is called for at this point. |
| Barbados |
a) Study the possibility of a duty-free allowance for
Caribbean Islands or all the Western Hemisphere. |
a) My action memo of 8/30 recommended referral to IG. You did not act on that
recommendation. However, I have just requested staffing from
State. In the meantime, this will be studied in the context
of the IA–ECOSOC tourism
development. |
|
b) Study the airfare structure differential to achieve
greater uniformity in fares to Caribbean. |
b) Same as (a) above. |
[Page 3]
| Bolivia |
a) Provide military equipment for rural
development. |
a) Being done through “civic action.” |
|
b) Explore possibility of sharing cost of Che Guevara
campaign of approx. $6 million. |
b) US aid extended has already exceeded this figure; no
further action feasible. |
|
c) Work quietly to achieve Chilean and Peruvian agreement
to Bolivian access to sea. |
c) This already one of our objectives. |
|
d) Consider refinancing Bolivia’s foreign debt
burden. |
d) Will be handled in the context of IA–ECOSOC
consideration of the debt service problem. |
|
|
(Note: All of the foregoing for Bolivia has been affected
by the Bolivian coup, which warrants careful reconsideration
of our posture.) |
| Brazil |
That the US allocate additional FY 1969 funds for a Brazilian destroyer
program. |
The President did not accept this recommendation because
of the complexities of the issue, the shortness of time for
FY ’69 allocation, and legislative restrictions on military
assistance funds. The recommendation was referred to the
Under Secretaries Committee for consideration under the FY
70/71 programs. |
[Page 4]
| Dominican Republic |
a) That we consider (1) in creasing their sugar quota, (2)
releasing PL 480 counterpart to
finance agrarian reform, and (3) expand urban housing
program. |
a) These are complex items and we have had them staffed by
State and AID. The staffing
memos were very good and complete. (I have them on file.)
They showed that to increase a permanent sugar quota will
require legislation and this is almost surely impossible to
achieve before the Sugar Act revision scheduled for 1971. In
any case, economic analyses indicate that we should not
encourage over-dependence on sugar, which would result if we
increased the permanent sugar quota. The recommendation
which we think is acceptable is that our policy provide a
large enough market to ensure economic and political
stability but reduce over-dependence on one product and
encourage agricultural and industrial diversification. We
would aim at 600,000 ton per year level rather than the
requested 700,000 tons. On the other items, new PL 480
agreements will schedule counterparts for agricultural
development. AID will study a modest increase in housing
levels; the levels proposed by the government are clearly
unrealistic because they could not be managed under the
government budget, would overtax the capacity of the
construction industry, and would constitute an extreme
imbalance in the use of investment resources. This policy
appears to us to be right. |
|
b) That we consider be coming equity members of the
proposed Caribbean Development Bank. |
b) The Bank has not yet been formed. Legislation would be
required for us to become members and is unlikely to be
approved. We have accomplished essentially the same
objective by authorizing resources to be loaned to the Bank
for relending. |
| Ecuador |
That you send a note to Ecuadoran President re fisheries
problem. |
This has been overtaken by the four-power fisheries
conference which began July 31 in Buenos Aires, and will
resume in January. The Governor is aware of this. |
| El Salvador |
a) Give special support to Common Market to solve
population and refugee problems. |
a) This now underway through OAS; IG has long-term plans under study.
|
|
b) Persuade Reynaldo Garcia to run for President in next
election. |
b) Not recommended; no action to be taken. |
|
c) Extend financial assistance to President’s political
party. |
c) Not recommended; no action to be taken. |
|
d) Aid Radio Nacional. |
d) Not recommended; no action to be taken. |
|
e) Support Common Market. |
e) IG has long-term plans under study. |
| Haiti |
That we consider renewing aid to Haiti, and revising our
policy toward Duvalier. |
We have asked for a NSC study on Haitian policy. It is
scheduled for the Review Group on December 18. |
| Honduras |
Study the feasibility of a Pan American Highway link with
Tegucigalpa |
Present circumstances prevent any further action on this
recommendation. Honduras has closed the Pan American Highway
in the aftermath of the Honduras-El Salvador dispute. The
OAS is negotiating reopening of transportation. When things
normalize the U.S. and the Central American Development Bank
will consider whether the highway link should be extended.
|
[Page 5]
| Jamaica |
a) Review Treasury proposal to change tax base of US
aluminum companies which call for refund from Jamaican
Government. |
a) My action memo of 8/30 recommended referral to IG. You
did not take action on that memo. I have just requested
information from State. |
|
b) Respond to Jamaican requests for internal security
equipment, Cessna aircraft and helicopters. |
b) Same action as (a) above. |
| Nicaragua |
a) Amend Bryan-Chamoro Treaty to provide that U.S. will
reimburse Nicaragua and Costa Rica for unamortized
expenditures made for improvements, should U.S. exercise its
treaty rights to build a canal. |
a) Being handled by State in connection with overall
approach on the Panama Canal problem. Recommendations for
amendment will probably be made following Congressional
soundings. |
|
b) Convince General Somoza to relinquish power, permit a
coalition transitional government to succeed him, followed
by full free elections. |
b) You accepted my recommendation of 8/30 that no action
was practicable on this matter since it would be the kind of
political intervention we did not want to encourage. No
further action at this time. |
| Panama |
a) Transfer some of Canal Zone land to Panama for Free
Port area. |
a) This part of treaty package will probably be taken up
when negotiations resumed; study underway to determine if it
should be done separately or if negotiations further
delayed. |
|
b) Help Panama complete Darien Gap highway. |
b) This part of recommendations being made for Colombian
construction of highway. |
|
c) Allow Panama to have commercial use of dry-docks in
Panama Zone. |
c) Referred to State. |
[Page 6]
| Trinidad |
Assist in building specially designed ships for
inter-island passengers and freight. |
Referred to State for handling. |
| Uruguay |
That we speed up current loan negotiations to provide
Uruguayan President Pacheco assistance for his public
investment budget. |
State and AID were requested to take appropriate action.
They have done so with a combination of aid measures which
should increase the public investment budget by some 7%.
|
