144. Memorandum of a Conversation Between the Ambassador in Argentina (Beaulac) and President-elect Frondizi, Buenos Aires, March 18, 19581

I called on Dr. Frondizi by appointment. Dr. Pedro San Martin accompanied me from the Chancery to Dr. Frondizi’s apartment on Calle Bustamante 2656. Dr. San Martin said that Dr. Frondizi had stopped going to his offices in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry because he was so besieged by people there.

Dr. Frondizi introduced me to Dr. César Barros Hurtado, an attorney whom he described as his permanent representative to the United States, official or unofficial. He said Dr. Barros Hurtado knew the United States very well and was very friendly toward the United States. I expressed pleasure at meeting Dr. Barros Hurtado. He and Dr. San Martin were present during my conversation with Dr. Frondizi.

I said that I had asked to see him to check concerning whether or not he might be able to visit the United States and, if he were not, to suggest that he might want to say something to the press about the invitation and his reasons for turning it down, since our common friends would be wondering whether or not he had been invited.

Dr. Frondizi said that he was almost entirely sure that he could not accept the invitation now but he would like to delay until tomorrow before telling me. He was going to have dinner with the President and the Minister of Finance tonight and he would be able to make up his mind in the morning.

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I told him that, of course, our Government was disappointed that he had not been able yet to accept. It had thought that a visit would be useful to him and to our relations. I told him that as I had suggested before a State visit could not be so easily arranged and, whereas I was sure my Government would be pleased to have him visit the United States, there would be undoubtedly considerable delay in arranging such a visit—of perhaps more than a year. Dr. Frondizi said he understood.

I said that, of course, we did not want to appear to be pressing Dr. Frondizi and we realized that only he could decide whether or not he should make the trip.

Dr. Frondizi said he still wanted to make the trip and he hoped he could do it but he was nearly completely convinced that he could not. He said all the labor problems that are coming up are receiving his attention. He does not appear as dealing with them but he is dealing with everyone. There will be many labor problems between now and May 1.

Dr. Frondizi referred to his talk yesterday with Mr. Sargent and Mr. Hylander of the American & Foreign Power. He said he was going to talk to the President and to the Minister of Finance of the problem tonight. He reiterated that he wanted a solution before May 1. If it were not solved then it would have to go to Congress. He asked Dr. San Martin, who he explained had been in touch with both the American & Foreign Power officials and with the Government, to bring him a solution which he could take up with the present Government.

I thanked Dr. Frondizi for his attention to this problem and said I thought it was constructive.

Dr. Frondizi said he wanted to solve this problem in order to pave the way for intensifying relations with the United States. Argentina needs a lot. He loves his country. It must be progress. I had referred during my first conversation with him to the balance of payments problem. This problem, of course, bothered him at least as much as it did me. He was going to reduce imports to a minimum and use available foreign exchange to buy machinery and equipment which the country urgently needed.

Meanwhile, he hoped that we would not wait until the balance of payments problem had been solved before helping Argentina. When the problem were solved Argentina would not require help. I referred jokingly, as I had the last time, to the fact that people with lots of money have plenty of credit and those without money did not seem to have credit. I said, in seriousness, that what appeared to be needed was a good economic policy. The United States wanted to help. It wanted to be shown that what it was asked to do would really contribute to economic progress. It did not want to add to Argentina’s debt without contributing to a solution of Argentina’s problems. That [Page 474] would be the opposite of help. I said again that what we could do would depend on what Argentina did. Unlike many countries, Argentina has resources it has not utilized. I said that Dr. Frondizi was an economist and that he knew better than I that the answer to Argentina’s problems was in utilizing those resources. He laughingly said he was not an economist but a politician.

I suggested we could talk about all these things in detail as time went on.

  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 611.35/3–1858. Confidential. Drafted by Beaulac. Transmitted to the Department of State as enclosure 1 to despatch 1460 from Buenos Aires, March 18.