340. Memorandum of a Conversation, Port-au-Prince, March 3, 19551
SUBJECT
- Conference Between President Magloire and Vice President Nixon
On March 3rd, following the formal presentation of the Cabinet to Vice President Nixon at the Palace, the President requested a conference with Vice President Nixon, with Assistant Secretary of State Holland, the American Ambassador, the Haitian Ambassador to the United States2 and Mr. Robert Newbegin. M. Mauclair Zéphirin, Secretary of State for Foreign Relations, acted as interpreter.
- 1.
- The President expressed deep concern because the International Bank had indicated that the maximum loan it could make to Haiti would be in the sum of two million dollars. He stated that when representatives of the International Bank visited Haiti in November 1954, he was under the impression that the Bank would make a substantial loan to Haiti, which would at least cover the cost of constructing a highway from Port-au-Prince to Aux Cayes, at an estimated cost of seven million dollars.
- 2.
- The President indicated that he thought the negotiations for a loan from the Export-Import Bank for the Artibonite dam and irrigation project is proceeding satisfactorily, but he indicated that he hoped that their final decision could be announced at an early date.3
- 3.
- The President stated that while his Government appreciates the grant-in-aid of $750,000, from the FOA, he feels that the public and press, which had expected greater financial assistance would interpret efforts to obtain substantial financial assistance as a failure, [Page 937] and that the reaction would be unfavorable, both to the Government of Haiti and to relations with the United States. He has urged that the announcement of the $750,000 grant be held up until a favorable announcement relative to other negotiations can be made.
The Vice President listened attentively and made some inquiries to clarify statements made by the President. He did not make any promises, but did state that he would discuss the matter of the International loan and the Export-Import loan with those agencies on his return to the United States.
The President discussed the program and activities of the FOA in Haiti. He stated that it had been most helpful in irrigation projects in the Aux Cayes area and that it had also been helpful in many other respects. He remarked, however, that he felt that the technicians, in some cases, had insisted on programs in which they, the technicians, were interested, rather than in programs in which the Haitian Government is interested. He, apparently, had in mind suggestions that had been made to use the grant of $750,000 for flood control projects in the Cul-de-Sac plain.4 The Ambassador assured the President that the investigation relative to improvements in that section, were merely tentative and that this project would not be pressed in case the Haitian Government has other projects in which it is interested. The Vice President asked President Magloire if he thought that the FOA program would operate better if it were transferred to the State Department, thus giving the Ambassador the control over the situation. The President replied that while he realized that the American Ambassador is not a technician, that he should be in a position to tell the technicians what they should and should not do. In concluding the conference, the President expressed the wish that a grant-in-aid could be made to Haiti to assist it in its economic rehabilitation made necessary by the Hurricane Hazel.
During the course of the conference, the President stated that there had been some criticism, because his Government had authorized the construction of a road to Petionville from Port-au-Prince and some other small road programs. He stated that he thought these projects were worthwhile and that the work on these roads gives employment to laborers during a period when there is a great deal of unemployment.
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 033.1100–NI/3–855. Confidential. Drafted by Davis on March 7. Transmitted in despatch 330 from Port-au-Prince, March 8. (Ibid.) Holland and Newbegin were in Haiti accompanying Vice President Nixon on a trip through 11 countries of Central America and the Caribbean, February 6–March 5. Documentation is ibid., 033.1100–NI.↩
- Jacques Léger.↩
- Telegram 170 to Port-au-Prince, April 20, reported that the Export-Import Bank authorized a $7 million additional loan to Haiti for the flood control and irrigation project in the Artibonite River Valley. (Department of State, Central Files, 838.10/4–2055)↩
- A handwritten notation at this point in the source text reads: “The President’s complaint was not about specific projects but about the areas in which FOA proposed to carry them out. Roy.”↩
- Printed from a copy which bears this typed signature.↩