439. Letter From the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Holland) to the Ambassador in Colombia (Bonsal)1
Dear Phil: Referring to your letter of September 5,2 I think your talk with Rojas about El Tiempo was well worth the try even [Page 885] though there have been no visible results. If it did nothing else, it made clear to him the seriousness with which we view the steps he has taken. This knowledge itself may work on him over a period, though I am not overly hopeful.
There are certain interesting parallels between the cases of El Tiempo and Argentina’s La Prensa which may well have already attracted your attention. One is that the closing of each of these great papers was received with remarkable apathy by the general public in both countries.3 In fact, they sank, as you say, without a splash. This was disillusioning to many who had assumed that the Argentines and Colombians would put up a stiff fight to defend the periodicals which had brought so much distinction to their nations. A second parallel is in the reaction to foreign criticism of the respective Presidents. Peron brought a deluge of attacks from the foreign press down on his head but even though this continued for a period of many years it had no effect whatever toward persuading him to restore La Prensa to Gainza Paz.4 Judging from your conversation with Rojas, he likewise has been impervious to adverse foreign commentary and even to the observation that continued repression of El Tiempo might unfavorably affect U.S. public opinion and hence the ability of the U.S. to collaborate with Colombia.
Dictators such as Peron and Rojas appear to be much more interested in achieving their own designs at home than in placing themselves in the good graces of foreign opinion. It seems to me, therefore, that unless we can find a way to show Rojas that he is hurting himself in Colombia by his policy of repression, we are not likely to be successful in inducing him to change his ways. Perhaps what has just happened to Peron will give him more food for thought than anything we could feed him at this time.5
Sincerely,
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 611.21/9–555. Secret; Eyes Only.↩
- In this letter, Bonsal stated in part: “I am not too happy about the result of my interview with President Rojas when I transmitted President Eisenhower’s message to him. Rojas was pleased about the non-intervention and continuation of present U.S. programs aspect, but, I am afraid, the deterioration of American public opinion regarding his regime did not make much of a dent.” (Ibid.) Holland passed Bonsal’s letter to Dearborn who returned it with a note to Holland dated September 14 which reads in part: “It is interesting how closely the El Tiempo situation parallels that of Argentina’s La Prensa with respect to public reaction and reactions by the Presidents.” (Ibid.)↩
- The government of President Juan Domingo Perón of Argentina closed the Buenos Aires daily newspaper, La Prensa, in April 1951.↩
- Alberto Gainza Paz, publisher and editor of La Prensa.↩
- Perón was overthrown by a military coup on September 19.↩
- Printed from a copy which bears this typed signature.↩