Foreign Relations of the United States 1977–1980; Volume XV; Central America, 1977–1980

366. Memorandum of Conversation¹

Washington, September 8, 1977, 4 p.m.

SUBJECT

• President Carter/El Salvador President Romero Bilateral

PARTICIPANTS

• EL SALVADOR

  • President Romero
  • Foreign Minister Martinez
  • Ambassador Bertrand Galindo
  • Colonel Roque Molina

• US

  • President Carter
  • Secretary Vance
  • Ambassador Todman
  • Mr. Pastor
  • David Aaron
  • Earl Lubensky
  • Evan Dobelle
  • Interpreter

President Carter opened the meeting expressing his pleasure at being able to meet with President Romero and with other leaders of the Hemisphere. He said he appreciated the hospitality shown to Ms. Patricia Derian during her recent visit to El Salvador.² He considered her visit productive in improving understanding between El Salvador and the United States. The President indicated there had been decided improvement in the attitude in the U.S. about El Salvador. He said he was anxious to hear from President Romero about the present status of the border dispute with Honduras.

President Romero, after expressing his pleasure at being able to talk with President Carter, pointed out that his Government had been in power only a little over two months. He was exerting the necessary effort, he said, toward improving the situation for the majority of the Salvadoran people. He expressed the belief that where there were good intentions and dialogue, these improvements could be brought about. He emphasized that El Salvador had serious social problems to resolve, of an immediate, mid-term, and long-term nature. He recognized that President Carter was carrying the banner of human rights in the hemisphere and the world. He recalled that Dr. Urquia, recently named Salvadoran Ambassador to the United Nations, was one of the authors of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, symbolizing El Salvador’s advocacy, he said, of human rights observance.

President Romero described the actions his Government was taking to implement certain political and legal reforms to bring about a better life for the Salvadoran people, especially in the fields of education, health and nutrition. He emphasized the necessity, at the same time, for combatting terrorism and crime in his country in a manner not harming anyone—never through violent means, but through peaceful means.

President Romero mentioned his problems with the Church and his efforts to bring about a dialogue with Church leaders. He was confident that a solution would be reached in a short time, unifying the forces of the Government, the Church and the people. He said his Government had to expel several foreign priests under the provisions of the Salvadoran constitution and laws; and he could not accede to the wishes of Church officials to allow them to come back. He said he had offered church officials the opportunity, however, to give him a list of names of foreign priests and they would decide which among them could come to El Salvador to cover church vacancies. He mentioned that he was in the process of forming a mixed commission of Church and Government representatives which, from the Government side, would include the Vice President, Secretary of Defense and the Minister of Justice. He was awaiting names from the Church side.

President Romero emphasized the problems of El Salvador’s restricted territory and excessive population. He mentioned the Government’s integrated policy of population and family planning and again the Government’s policy to improve education, health and job opportunities, especially stimulating an increased role for women, not only in Government positions, but in other sectors of the society. He stressed the problems of migration, both internal and external. It was necessary, he said, to bring about a redistribution of the population internally, and to manage legal and orderly emigration of Salvadorans to those countries which might wish to receive Salvadoran people, providing them job opportunities.

President Romero said that although he had come to Washington principally to express his endorsement of the Panama Canal treaties, he was utilizing the opportunity, at the same time, to extend an invitation to the Organization of American States to have the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights send a group to El Salvador to see for themselves what was happening in El Salvador and to confirm or deny reports circulating about conditions there.

President Romero then announced that at 12:33 P.M. local time in El Salvador (2:33 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time) the Salvadoran National Assembly had unanimously ratified the mediation agreement signed in 1976 by El Salvador and Honduras.

President Carter said that was good news and another demonstration of the progress made under President Romero’s leadership during his two months in office. President Carter said that he had been disturbed by the damage done to the reputation of El Salvador in the eyes of the American people and of the people of other countries, and he wanted to be sure that accomplishments were also given credit. He said he was hopeful El Salvador would accept an agreement which would open the Pan American highway, pending final settlement of the border dispute between El Salvador and Honduras. He added the U.S. was glad to lend its voice and constructive support to the effort.

President Romero thanked President Carter for the nomination of Mr. Frank Devine as the new Ambassador to El Salvador, expressing his belief, with the recognized experience of Mr. Devine, that the U.S. and El Salvador were now going to understand each other better.

President Romero, recognizing that President Carter was a very busy person, said it would be an honor to have President Carter visit El Salvador at some convenient time in the future, and if he could not personally come, perhaps the Vice President could visit El Salvador.

President Carter, in closing, thanked President Romero for expressing his problems so frankly. He presented him a copy of his own book, “Why Not the Best?” and a book of Landsat photos of the world, promising to give El Salvador and other countries attempting to solve their many development problems the advantages of the services that the Landsat program could offer. He emphasized the U.S. desire to cooperate with countries struggling to solve their many problems.

President Romero, in closing, presented President Carter with a framed copy of the seal of El Salvador as a demonstration of El Salvador’s affection for the United States.

1. Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, North/South, Pastor Files, Country Files, Box 27, Latin America: 2/77–9/77. Confidential. The meeting took place in the White House Cabinet Room. Drafted by Lubensky. Romero was in Washington to witness the signing of the Panama Canal Treaties on September 7. According to the President’s Daily Diary, the meeting took place from 4:05 to 4:43 p.m. (Carter Library, Presidential Materials)
2. Telegram 5542 from Panama City, August 3, reported on Derian’s August 2 meeting with Romero, during which Derian stressed “US concern over the welfare of church, consular problems, and need of government to address real economic problems behind current repression and growing political estrangement of government.” (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D770278–0364)