Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957, American Republics: Central and South America, Volume VII

424. Memorandum From the Director of the Office of South American Affairs (Atwood) to the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Holland)¹

Washington , May 11, 1955 .

SUBJECT

• Defense Views Regarding Additional Grant Military Assistance for Colombia

With regard to the question of additional grant military assistance for Colombia, which you raised during a recent staff meeting, there are recapitulated below the questions we have asked Defense regarding this subject and the replies we have received.

1. Our letter of November 15, 1954² requesting the views of Defense regarding the FY 1956 Latin American program stated:

“The Department of State desires to know whether the Defense Department believes that it would be in the United States military interest to broaden Colombia’s present mission in hemisphere defense, as set forth in the secret bilateral military plan with Colombia,³ and to provide Colombia with additional grant military assistance for that purpose. In view of the fact that Colombia was the only Latin American country which contributed troops for the United Nations action in Korea, the Department of State would support a recommendation by the Defense Department that the Congress be requested to appropriate funds necessary to increase the Colombian program, provided it is determined in the United States military interest to do so.”

2. In a follow-up of April 1, 1955,⁴ we informed Defense:

“The Department of State believes that the Latin American grant assistance program should continue during the next fiscal year to be directly contingent upon the finding by the Defense Department of a United States military requirement for Latin American military units capable of executing hemisphere defense missions, unless the most exceptional conditions, such as those now existing in Guatemala, dictate that assistance on a broader scale be provided.

“…⁵ The Department of State would appreciate receiving the views of the Defense Department with regard to the advisability of providing this type of assistance (combat engineering battalions), as part of the hemisphere defense program, to Paraguay, Guatemala, Bolivia, and especially to Colombia, which believes it should receive additional grant assistance necessary to perform a broader role in hemisphere defense, on the ground that Colombia was the only Latin American country which contributed military forces for active combat in Korea.”

3. In reply to the two above letters, the Defense Department on April 20 stated:

“Based upon the recommendations of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Secretary of Defense approved additional grant aid for Colombia, on 20 October 1954, in order to permit the Colombian infantry battalion to retain its U.S. furnished equipment. The battalion has been entered in hemisphere defense force objectives for Colombia. Annex “A” of the Bilateral Military Plan between the Government of Colombia and the U.S. was amended on 5 November 1954, to include the infantry battalion. (Copy of amendment is attached.)⁶ However, it is understood by Colombia that the United States is under no obligation to provide any support for the battalion beyond the equipment and matériel transferred with the Colombian unit from Korea to Colombia. At this time there is no Western Hemisphere defense requirement for additional forces from Colombia.

“With respect to developing combat engineering battalions in certain Latin American countries, as outlined in the final paragraph of the 1 April 1955 letter from your Department, the views of this Department on additional assistance to Colombia and Guatemala are expressed above. However, the general question of supporting this type of unit in Latin American countries is being referred to the Joint Chiefs of Staff for comment.”

4. While our November 15 letter was being considered by the Defense Department we transmitted to Defense, through routine channels, a copy of a Colombian note requesting substantial grant assistance and received the attached letter of February 4, 1955 in reply.⁷ The concluding paragraph said: “In light of the foregoing, the Department of Defense cannot consider favorably the furnishing of all or any of the additional grant military assistance requested by Colombia.”

5. This week we informally inquired of Defense, at the working level, whether the two negative replies mentioned above are considered by Defense to represent its definitive position on this subject. We were informed that any formal State Department request to Defense for reconsideration of the case would be most unlikely to result in a change of view. Whatever may have been recommended by the U.S. MAAG in Colombia the above makes it clear that the desirability of providing additional grant assistance to Colombia has received full consideration by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other parts of the Defense Department and that we now have a firm military decision on the question.

Recommendation

I recommend that you inform Ambassador Zuleta that we have checked again with Defense and that Defense maintains a firm negative position.

1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 721.5–MSP/2–455. Secret.
2. For text, see Foreign Relations 1952–1954, vol. IV, p. 176.
3. A Mutual Defense Assistance treaty was signed at Bogotá on April 17, 1952. For text, see 3 UST (pt. 3) 3690. For information on the content of the secret military plan, see Document 438.
4. For text, see vol. VI, Document 21.
5. Ellipsis in the source text.
6. Not attached to the source text and not found in Department of State files.
7. Not attached to the source text.