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

463. Memorandum of a Conversation, Department of State, Washington, May 11, 1957¹

Washington, May 11, 1957

SUBJECT

• Visit of Colombian Ambassador to Announce Resignation of President Rojas

PARTICIPANTS

• Dr. Francisco Urrutia Holguin, Ambassador of Colombia
• Assistant Secretary Rubottom
• OSA—Mr. Bernbaum, Mr. Gerberich

The Ambassador handed Mr. Rubottom a note (No. 630 of May 11, 1957)² informing the Department that Gen. Gustavo Rojas Pinilla on May 10 resigned as President of Colombia and designated a Military Junta of five officers to govern the country in his stead.³ The note stated that the Military Junta announced as its principal objective the formation of a Government of National Unity in order that the people of Colombia may freely choose their President for the 1958–1962 term. It also stated that the Junta wishes to maintain, pursuant to Resolution 35 of the Ninth Interamerican Conference,⁴ the excellent relations which have always existed between the Government of Colombia and that of the United States, and with that purpose in mind formally ratifies all obligations contracted by the Rojas Pinilla Government and all previous Colombian governments. He stressed the point that one of the major purposes of this note was to reassure the Colombian people as to the good faith of the Junta.

The Ambassador then stated that he had spoken with Finance Minister Luis Morales Gomez in Bogotá at 10 o’clock last night and had been told that President Rojas and his family left Bogotá at 6:30 P.M. for Jamaica and Bermuda and that the Junta was in full control.

He said he believed the next step of the Junta would be to set up a cabinet to which members of both political parties would be admitted, and that it would arrange for the holding of popular elections in July, 1958, as would be the case under normal conditions. He said that his greatest concern now was lest the two parties begin to quarrel amongst themselves. He said the demonstrators have been urging the appointment of individuals—he mentioned Alberto Lieras Camargo specifically—and said he hoped this would not mean a reopening of the traditional warfare between the parties. He thought that the possibility was that the Conservative Party, as the party most recently in power, would get the premiership (Ministry of Government) and the Liberal Party would get the Ministry of Foreign Relations, and the latter might well be Lieras Camargo.

Mr. Rubottom said he would regret very much to see interparty strife break out after the two parties had at last found it possible to work together harmoniously and had been able to agree on a joint presidential candidate. He said he hoped they would be able to continue their collaboration, and that they would give careful attention to the solution of the problem of the commercial debt, which has been the most serious one facing Colombia in recent months. He said he thought the austerity program that had been instituted was the right course to take, and he hoped the government would continue to pursue it. The Ambassador agreed, and said in his opinion the most important measure to take in this direction was to curb strictly the credit operations of the Colombian banks.

Mr. Rubottom said he also hoped that the new Government would earnestly seek to resolve the religious problem that has so long been disturbing our friendly relations. He said he was sure it would not be “swept under the rug”, so to speak, at a moment like this; he could think of nothing that would be more encouraging than an amicable settlement of this difficulty. The Ambassador said he was not sure how receptive the Cardinal might be at the moment to renewed efforts toward this objective, but he had been for some time attempting to enlist the support of the Cardinal and the Nuncio through direct appeals. He reminded us that at his insistence the Colombian Government had addressed a note to the Nuncio, asking for a statement from the Vatican that reopening the closed Protestant churches in Mission Territory would not be considered a violation of the Missions Agreement of January, 1953. He said he had promised Messrs. Dulles, Holland and Rubottom that he would do everything in his power to clear up this problem, and he meant to do his best to accomplish this.

The Ambassador said he would continue to keep us informed of developments in his country.

1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 721.11/5–1157. Confidential. Drafted by Gerberich on May 13.
2. Not printed. (Ibid.)
3. The junta was composed of Major General Gabriel Paris, Major General Deogracias Fonseca, Rear Admiral Ruben Piedrahita, Brigadier General Luis E. Ordoñez, and Brigadier General Rafael Navas Pardo. For documentation on this subject, see Ibid., 721.00.
4. For text of Resolution XXXV, which concerns the continuity of diplomatic relations among the American republics, see Ninth International Conference of American States, Bogotá, Colombia, March 30–May 2, 1948: Report of the Delegation of the United States of America with Related Documents (Department of State Publication 3263, Washington, 1948), p. 271.