GENERAL UNITED STATES POLICY TOWARD LATIN AMERICA1
1. Continued from Foreign Relations, 1955–1957, volumes VI and VII. For documentation on U.S. relations with Cuba, see volume VI
2. Report From the Operations Coordinating Board to the National Security Council
Source: Department of State, S/P–NSC Files: Lot 62 D 1, NSC 5613 Series. Secret. Transmitted to the NSC under cover of a June 3 memorandum from OCB Executive Officer Elmer B. Staats to NSC Executive Secretary Lay. The memorandum states that NSC 5613/1 was “consistent with National Security Policy (NSC 5810/1) except that Paragraph 6. g. of the latter policy clarifies Paragraph 15. d. of NSC 5613/1.”
Paragraph 15. d. of NSC 5613/1 reads as follows: “Reduce and eventually eliminate Soviet bloc and Communist influence in the area.”
Paragraph 6. g. of NSC 5810/1, “Basic National Security Policy,” approved by President Eisenhower on May 5, 1958, reads as follows: “To destroy or neutralize the international Communist apparatus in the Free World.”
3. Operations Plan for Latin America Prepared by the Operations Coordinating Board
Source: Department of State, S/S–OCB Files: Lot 62 D 430, Latin America—1958. Secret. The OCB concurred in this Operations Plan at its meeting on May 21. An undated covering memorandum by Staats indicates that the plan superseded the “Operations Plan for Latin America,” dated April 18, 1957. For text of the earlier plan, see Foreign Relations, 1955–1957, vol. VI, p. 61.
Operations Plans described Executive branch programs and responsibilities for courses of action to implement NSC policy, for which the OCB was coordinating agency. Concurrence in Operations Plans by responsible agencies represented in the OCB did not automatically constitute authorization for operating officials to institute new programs or modify existing ones, but rather served as a basis for the development of appropriate operating instructions by each of the participating agencies. The Department of State ordinarily transmitted the text of approved Operations Plans for Latin America to the respective Chiefs of Mission.
4. Memorandum of Discussion at the 369th Meeting of the National Security Council, Washington, June 19, 1958
Source: Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, NSC Records. Top Secret; Eyes Only. Prepared by S. Everett Gleason on June 20.
7. Special Report by the Operations Coordinating Board to the National Security Council
Source: Department of State, S/S–NSC Files: Lot 62 D 1, NSC 5613 Series. Secret.
On August 29, the OCB Board Assistants agreed that since a review of NSC policy toward Latin America had been approved, an abbreviated special report pursuant to NSC 5613/1 in place of the regular report, scheduled for OCB consideration in November, would meet current needs and not require consultation with field missions in its preparation. (Memorandum by OCB Acting Executive Officer Roy M. Melbourne to the OCB, November 13; ibid., S/S–OCB Files: Lot 61 D 385, Latin America—Documents, 1958) The OCB concurred in the special report at its meeting on November 26, and it was transmitted to the NSC under cover of a memorandum from Melbourne to Lay, December 2.
This special report contains four annexes, two of which are printed below. The Financial Annex and Annex C, “Sino-Soviet Bloc Activities in Latin America” are not printed.
8. National Intelligence Estimate
Source: Department of State, INR Files. Secret. National Intelligence Estimates (NIEs) were high-level interdepartmental reports containing analyses of vital foreign policy issues. They were drafted by officers from those agencies represented on the United States Intelligence Board (USIB), and coordinated and disseminated by the Central Intelligence Agency to the White House, NSC, Departments of State and Defense, OCB, Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). According to a note on the cover sheet, the CIA and the intelligence organizations of the Departments of State, the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, and the Joint Staff participated in the preparation of this estimate. All members of the USIB concurred in the estimate on December 2. The AEC and FBI representatives to the USIB abstained on the grounds that the subject was outside their jurisdiction.
10. Memorandum of Discussion at the 396th Meeting of the National Security Council, Washington, February 12, 1959
Source: Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, NSC Records. Top Secret; Eyes Only. Prepared by Gleason on February 12.
11. National Security Council Report
Source: Department of State, S/S–NSC Files: Lot 62 D 1, NSC 5902 Series. Secret. A title sheet, a February 16 transmittal note by Lay, and a table of contents are not printed. NSC 5902/1 was approved by the President on February 16, superseding NSC 5613/1.
12. Regional Operations Plan for Latin America Prepared for the Operations Coordinating Board
Source: Department of State, S/S–OCB Files: Lot 62 D 430, Latin America—1959. Secret. Prepared by the OCB’s Working Group on Latin America, reviewed by the Board Assistants on June 12, and submitted to the OCB under date of June 19. At its meeting on June 24, the OCB revised and concurred in the plan for implementation by the responsible departments and agencies, except for paragraphs 31 a. and b., the procedural implications of which were deferred for subsequent discussion. The new plan superseded the Operations Plan for Latin America dated May 28, 1958, and was circulated under date of July 1, 1959. Additional revisions were incorporated into the plan on July 28, without changing its date. (Note by OCB Bromley Smith, undated; ibid.) The fully revised version of the plan is printed here.
Annexes A–D, entitled respectively as follows: “Agency Current Programs,” “Financial Annex and Pipeline Analysis,” “Sino-Soviet Bloc Activities in Latin America (CIA),” and “U.S. Policy With Respect to International Commodity Agreements,” are not printed.
13. Report by the Operations Coordinating Board to the National Security Council
Source: Department of State, S/S–NSC Files: Lot 62 D 1, NSC 5902 Series. Secret. Prepared by the OCB Working Group on Latin America. At its meeting on March 23, the OCB reviewed an earlier draft version, and referred it back to the Working Group for additional revisions, in light of a briefing by Assistant Secretary Rubottom and subsequent discussion concerning President Eisenhower’s trip to Latin America, February 23–March 7, 1960. The Working Group submitted a revised draft under date of April 4, and the OCB concurred in that draft at its meeting on April 6. (Memorandum by Bromley Smith, undated; ibid., S/S–OCB Files: Lot 61 D 385, Latin America—Documents (1960)) The OCB transmitted the report to the NSC under cover of a memorandum from Smith to Lay, April 7.
Annexes A and B, entitled respectively “Sino-Soviet Bloc Activity in Latin America,” prepared by the CIA, and “Loan Disbursements and Repayments—U.S. and International Lending Agencies, 1956–1959,” are not printed.
14. Memorandum of Discussion at the 443d Meeting of the National Security Council, High Point Relocation Site, May 5, 1960
Source: Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, NSC Records. Top Secret. Prepared by Marion W. Boggs on May 5.