445. Memorandum of Conversation1
PARTICIPANTS
- President Jimmy Carter
- Robert Pastor, NSC Staff Member
- Napoleon Duarte, Member of the Junta of Revolutionary Government (JRG) of El Salvador
- Fidel Chavez Mena, Foreign Minister of El Salvador
President Carter welcomed Duarte and Chavez Mena to the White House and said that he admired Duarte’s courage and his leadership and that we supported the Government of El Salvador in its struggle to promote important changes in that country, and to resist terrorism from both right and left. The President said that he would be glad to [Page 1135] help in any way he could, and he would personally raise the matter of El Salvador with President-Elect Reagan. If Duarte had any specific points he would like for the President to make with President-Elect Reagan, he would be glad to receive them. (C)
Duarte thanked the President for his kind offer, and said that he strongly supported and admired the President’s human rights policy, and felt that the President had done important things with his policy, not only in El Salvador, but throughout Latin America. Duarte then asked if he could raise three matters with the President. First, he asked for economic aid to El Salvador, since economic conditions are increasingly desperate. (Note: Later, in a conversation with Robert Pastor, Duarte pointed out that what Salvador needs specifically are dollar deposits in their banks, or fast-disbursing aid. He said that foreign exchange is so short that it was difficult even for him to fly to the United States.) Secondly, Duarte asked whether the U.S. would be able to provide helicopters to El Salvador during this very critical period. (C)
President Carter asked Robert Pastor what the status was of our provision of helicopters. (C)
Robert Pastor said that we had discussed the provision of helicopters with the Junta some time ago, and both sides agreed to a set of conditions with regard to their human rights performance, which would permit the provision of helicopters. At an appropriate time we will assess whether such conditions were met and decide whether to go ahead with the helicopters. (C)
The President asked whether Harold Brown would be making this decision, and Pastor said that the decision would be for the President. (U)
The President asked Pastor to get in touch with the State Department and the Defense Department and expedite the decision-making process so that he would be able to review this soon.2 In speaking to Duarte, President Carter said that he is not promising that he would go ahead with the helicopters, since he would want to review the [Page 1136] conditions and make an assessment first. But he would expedite the process.3 (C)
Duarte also asked the President whether he would be able to participate in the Central American Summit Conference in Honduras which would be a continuation of the discussions related to the Honduran-Salvadorean border dispute. He said that heads of state from the region and from neighboring democratic countries would also participate. (C)
President Carter said that he supported such an effort, but he did not think he would be able to attend the Conference. However, he would be prepared to designate someone to go. (C)
Duarte thanked the President for the opportunity to meet with him. The President said that it was his pleasure to meet with Duarte, and he wished him well. (U)
- Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, North/South, Pastor Files, Country Files, Box 21, El Salvador: 12/1–10/80. Confidential. The meeting took place in the Oval Office of the White House.↩
- In telegram 316092 to San Salvador, November 27, the Department noted that, following his November 26 meeting with Duarte, Carter asked the Department of State “for a recommendation by early next week as to whether the helicopters should be delivered” to El Salvador. The telegram asked for White’s assessment. (Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, Freedom of Information/Legal, Kimmitt, Arms Transfers/Country File, Box 18, El Salvador, 4/80–12/80)↩
- In telegram 8281 from San Salvador, November 27, White noted that there was “unquestionably military justification for supplying helicopters” as the military had only three functioning helicopters. White also cited “humanitarian justifications such as the supply of refugees and the evacuation of wounded” as well as an “economic justification in that the future of this country depends on gathering the harvest and the provision of helicopters would substantially increase the capability of the armed forces to provide that protection.” However, he wrote, “there is no way that any objective observer could state that the government has complied with the five steps we proposed to the JRG to reduce and effectively bring under control the indiscriminate violence and excessive use of force which has characterized the role of the security forces.” (For the five steps, see Tab A, Document 434) White recommended “an interim diplomatic step” to seek international support for the offer made by Bishops of the Episcopal Conference of El Salvador to mediate between the JRG and its leftist opponents.” (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, P880137–1398) For information about the Bishops’ conference, see telegram 7319 from San Salvador, October 22; National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D800512–0467.↩