Office of the Historian

37. Memorandum of conversation, December 11, among President Allessandri, President Kennedy, and other officials1

Part V (of 5)
December 11, 1962, 4 p.m.
[Facsimile Page 1]

SUBJECT

  • Press Reports about Chile

  • PARTICIPANTS

    • CHILE
    • President Alessandri
    • Foreign Minister Martinez
    • Finance Minister Mackenna
    • Senator Angel Faivovich
    • Ambassador Walter Muller
    • Budget Director Sergio Molina
    • Sr. Alfonso Echeverria (Interpreter)

  • UNITED STATES

    • President Kennedy
    • Ambassador Charles Cole
    • Assistant Secretary Edwin Martin
    • Mr. Teodoro Moscoso, Coordinator, Alliance for Progress
    • Mr. Herbert May, ARA
    • Mr. Ralph Dungan, White House
    • Mr. Fernando Van Reigersberg, LS
    • Mr. Neil Seidenman, LS

During the discussion about Cuba, President Alessandri said that Chile has been the subject of much unfair publicity in regard to hemispheric problems; much has been said and written, domestically and externally, that distorts the facts of the Chilean situation. Alarmist propaganda is given out by certain interest groups within the country attacking domestic policies, and tends to weaken the cause of democracy. The opposition groups in Chile fear any success of the Alessandri Government which may produce good results. Therefore, they manufacture propaganda against the Government, aimed at lowering its prestige and placing obstacles in the way of foreign aid.

President Alessandri recognized that the United States stands for complete freedom of the press, as does Chile (and England). But the press of the United States and England is poorly represented [illegible in the original] by those correspondents who apparently are either [illegible in the original]. He [Facsimile Page 2] already has spoken with Embassy repre [Typeset Page 87] sentatives of the United States and the United Kingdom, and has instructed his own ambassadors to talk about the dangers involved in this situation. The Chilean correspondent of the London Economist, for instance, is a Communist or linked with the Communists and consistently distorts the situation in Chile. The same applies to the Time correspondent.

President Kennedy said that Time has not always been friendly to the administration here either. However, President Alessandri’s visit was highly successful in that it provided an excellent opportunity for the visiting Executive to tell a story that needs to be told, particularly to the press and therefore to the people of this country. This would clarify many things about Chile and dramatize the progress that is being made, notably through the tax and agrarian reforms now under way. President Kennedy suggested that the Chilean Government might benefit by designating a full-time press attaché in Washington. He emphasized again his understanding of the peculiarities of the press, and invited President Alessandri to attend his own press conference the next day.

  1. Press reports about Chile. Limited Official Use. 2 pp. Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, Chile, January–June, 1963.↩