36. Editorial Note
President Castillo Armas and his official party visited the United States October 31–November 13. President Eisenhower, who suffered a heart attack on September 16, was in Denver, Colorado; Vice President Nixon acted as host during Castillo’s visit to Washington, October 31–November 3. For text of President Eisenhower’s message to Castillo upon his arrival in Washington, see Department of State Bulletin, November 14, 1955, page 790. For text of remarks by Acting Secretary Hoover upon Castillo’s departure from Washington, see ibid.
In a memorandum to Acting Secretary Hoover, October 31, Assistant Secretary Holland recommended that President Castillo Armas visit President Eisenhower during Castillo’s trip through the United States. Holland wrote that his reasons for this recommendation were as follows: “(1) He led the first liberation movement ever to free a nation which had fallen captive to international Communism. (2) He heads a small, weak country. The visit would emphasize the fact that President Eisenhower’s attention is not absorbed exclusively by the problems of the major powers.” (Department of State, Central Files, 714.11/10–3155) In a memorandum to President Eisenhower, dated November 4, Hoover wrote that the proposed visit with President Castillo would not involve discussion of any substantive issues. (Ibid., 714.11/11–455) In telegram 73 to Geneva, November 10, for Secretary Dulles, who was in Geneva to attend the meeting of Foreign Ministers, Hoover reported on the visit of Presidents Eisenhower and Castillo as follows: “The meeting this morning between the President and Castillo Armas at the hospital in Denver was a purely social occasion (the families were also present) [Page 107] and no substantive matters were touched upon. The President seemed in excellent form and Castillo Armas conducted himself with the same dignity and sincerity which has characterized his trip throughout the United States.” (Ibid., 714.11/11–1055)