Editorial Note

At his press conference oil May 11 Secretary Acheson spoke about the United States policy toward Spain. After tracing the developments in the United Nations since the adoption of the 1946 resolution and noting that the United States would abstain in the voting for the resolution before the General Assembly that would have left relations with Spain to the judgment of the member states, he stated that four fundamental rights and protections, the writ of habeas corpus and an independent judiciary, trial by jury, religious liberty, and the right of association, did not exist in Spain. The fundamental policy of the United States was to bring Spain back into the family of western Europe, but the western European countries could not have an intimate working relationship with Spain without some moves toward liberalization. The Ambassadors were only a symbol of this fact, and the United States was attempting to convince Spain that it “… must [Page 744] take some steps toward that end”. Its policy was “… directed toward working with the Spaniards and with the western Europeans, bringing about a situation where these fundamental liberties do exist in Spain and where the western Europeans can bring Spain into the community.”

For the full text of Secretary Acheson’s remarks, see Department of State Bulletin, May 22, 1949, pages 660–661.