152. Memorandum of a Conversation, Buenos Aires, July 11, 19581

PARTICIPANTS

  • H.E. The President of the Nation, Dr. Arturo Frondizi
  • Mr. Vance Brand, Export-Import Bank of Washington2
  • The Ambassador

Mr. Brand said he had come to make the acquaintance of officials in Argentina, and that he wanted also to talk about the delays which had occurred in implementing the $100 million loan.3 Almost 50 percent of the credit had not yet been contracted for.

The President said that his Government was determined to cut through red tape.

Mr. Brand said that he had had some good conversations already with Mr. Frigerio, with several Ministers, and with several Secretaries. Perhaps everything could not be discussed now. He would leave for Lima and Bogotá on the 17th. He might return later on, or Argentina could send a mission to the United States when it had carried out some of the things it planned to do.

[Page 487]

The President said that the two most urgent problems were oil and steel. The Government was soliciting the cooperation of private companies in the production of oil. It wanted private enterprise to invest in steel also. He had talked to Argentine private capital and urged it to build a new steel mill.

Mr. Brand recalled that building steel mills was a very complicated business. The Export-Import Bank had been at it for nineteen years. They had helped to finance all the new steel mills in Latin America. Building an integrated steel plant was a difficult and complicated job. Paz del Río in Colombia was begun thirteen years ago and is not yet working efficiently. It is better to produce 500,000 tons of steel economically than twice that amount uneconomically. He will visit San Nicolás over the weekend. A decision must be made whether to carry out the present plan for San Nicolás, whether the plant should be enlarged or whether a new one should be built.

The President said his Government wanted the present plan carried out and it also wanted a new plant built by private capital.

Mr. Brand asked whether private capital could not participate more actively in the plant now being constructed.

The President said that theoretically it could. Practically, it was very difficult because the Government’s ownership was vested in Fabricaciones Militares.

Mr. Brand found an opportunity to mention interest in the ANSEC case.

Mr. Brand offered to come back and see the President before he left if the President wished.

  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 103.02–XMB/7–1758. Official Use Only. Drafted by Beaulac. Transmitted to the Department of State in despatch 60 from Buenos Aires, July 17.
  2. An Export-Import Bank mission headed by Brand arrived in Buenos Aires on July 8 and departed on July 17. The Embassy reported the activities of the mission in despatch 60, which also contained several memoranda of conversation between members of the mission and officials of the Argentine Government. Additional documentation on the subject is ibid., 103.02–XMB.
  3. In September 1956, the Export-Import Bank had approved a $100-million credit for Argentina to assist in the country’s economic recovery; for a joint statement issued by the Bank and an Argentine mission concerning the credit, see Department of State Bulletin, October 1, 1956, p. 515.