Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977–1980, Volume XXX, Public Diplomacy

187. Memorandum From the Executive Secretary of the Department of State (Tarnoff) to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Brzezinski)¹

Washington, October 31, 1979

SUBJECT

• Extra-Governmental Efforts in Central America and the Caribbean

The preliminary inventories described below contain most of the factual material asked for in your request of October 24² on the above subject.

An interagency task force is urgently considering the complex analytical and policy issues involved, and will submit the requested summary analysis and recommendations early next week in light of contributions from our missions in the field. State 284169 (Tab 1)³ describes the major issues being considered.

The importance and scope of the activities involved are documented in the following:

—U.S. Private Organizations Active in the Caribbean and Central America (Tab 2). This preliminary list of organizations, by country as requested, does not fully reflect the activities of universities or media organizations. But it already reveals an impressive network of several hundred U.S. citizen organizations. Although only a handful are active in some of the smaller Caribbean islands, as many as 100 or more are involved to some extent in the larger countries.

—State and Local Government Efforts in Central America and the Caribbean (Tab 3) focuses on the activities of two organizations under whose aegis 50 cities and several countries in the region are linked to U.S. cities and states: Sister Cities International and the Partners of the Americas. This analysis also reveals that federal government support, mainly through AID funding, is important to these citizen efforts.

—The list of U.S. Private Voluntary Organizations Registered with the Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid (Tab 4) contains the addresses, telephone numbers and names of executive officers and contact persons of 140 leading organizations. Although not all are active in Central America and the Caribbean, this list includes most organizations that might be involved in a comprehensive approach.

—The list of upcoming meetings (Tab 5) indicates some opportunities for consultation and if appropriate, initiatives. For example, the principal Administration speaker at the November 28–30 Miami Conference on the Caribbean could usefully formulate our major objectives in this area.⁴

Finally, a description of organization objectives and programs will be available in U.S. Non-Profit Organizations in Development Assistance Abroad, now in press.

Peter Tarnoff
Executive Secretary

1. Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Country File, Box 46, Latin America: 10/15–31/79. Confidential. Tabs 1–5 are attached but not printed. A notation in an unknown hand at the bottom of the first page of the memorandum reads: “will send some analysis by Tues.”
2. In an October 24 memorandum, Dodson asked Tarnoff to prepare a report “describing activities undertaken by US non-governmental groups which contribute to the development (economic, political, or social) or democratization of Central America and the Caribbean.” (Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, North/South Pastor Files, Country Files, Box 6, Central America: CACAR, 11/78–11/6/79)
3. An unknown hand placed a vertical line in the left-hand margin next to this paragraph and wrote “Today, Monday.”
4. On November 28, Habib spoke before the delegates attending the Miami Conference on the Caribbean. For the text of his address, entitled “The Caribbean Challenge Is an American Challenge,” see American Foreign Policy: Basic Documents, 1977–1981, pp. 1331–1335.