738.00/12–152
Memorandum of Conversation, by William B. Connett, Jr. of the Office of Middle American Affairs
Subject:
- Request for U.S. Government Assistance by Ex-President Estimé of Haiti
- Participants: Dumarsais Estimé, Ex-President of Haiti*
-
MID—Mr. Wellman
- —Mr. Connett
Mr. Estimé dwelt at some length on what he considered the abuses of the present administration in Haiti. He contrasted this with his own administration which he said rested on popular support while the present military regime was imposed on the Haitian people against its will. He said he had often been unjustly accused of advocating black supremacy when in fact he had appointed many mulattoes to political office, including the present Ambassador to Washington, Jacques Léger, whom he had assigned as Ambassador to Buenos Aires.
Estimé claimed that he still had the support of the Haitian people and that it would be to the interest of the United States to have him return to power to re-establish a healthy democracy in place of an oppressive dictatorship. He said he had discussed the matter with Ambassador Dunn1 in Paris and had come to the United States in the hope that he could gain the support of the U.S. Government. He remarked that he had been studying the current foreign policy of the United States and had observed that we had seen fit to intervene from time to time in the affairs of other states, such as Egypt and Greece. “With the support of the United States”, he said, “I could be back in Haiti in a matter of hours.”
Mr. Wellman and Mr. Connett pointed out that it was not the policy of the United States to intervene in the affairs of other states, that we were very definitely committed to a policy of non-intervention in Latin America, and that we could therefore not offer him political support. It was pointed out that our unwillingness to do so did not imply any judgment of him as an individual or of the Administration he formerly headed up. M. Estimé accepted this explanation though he was obviously disappointed.
M. Estimé then asked for our assistance in certain personal problems. He said that it was untrue that he had absconded with millions of dollars from the Haitian Treasury and that, on the contrary, he [Page 1253] had very little means. He had recently been refused a loan, he said, by the Chase National Bank because the only collateral he could post consisted of property located in Haiti which had been impounded by the Haitian Government. His wife, he said, had been unable to induce the Haitian Government to permit her mother and brother-in-law to leave Haiti. His two sons, who are in France, have been unable to obtain passports from the Haitian Ambassador in Paris. He himself has been unable to obtain an apartment in New York. Finally, he said, the Haitian Government has had him under surveillance in the U.S.
Mr. Wellman and Mr. Connett told M. Estimé that most of the matters in which he sought our assistance would involve representations to the Haitian Government on his behalf by the U.S. Government in areas in which the former had exclusive jurisdiction. M. Estimé was told that while we sympathized with his difficulties, we could not properly make official representations on his behalf. It was pointed out, however, that we would be happy to extend him every courtesy possible in matters within our jurisdiction, such as U.S. visas, etc. M. Estimé again seemed disappointed, but accepted the explanation with amicable resignation.