Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961–1963, American Republics; Cuba 1961–1962; Cuban Missile Crisis and Aftermath, Volumes X/XI/XII, Microfiche Supplement

60. Memorandum of conversation, June 26, among U. Alexis Johnson, President-elect Valencia and other U.S. and Colombian officials¹

June 26, 1962, 11:30 a.m.

SUBJECT

• Meeting between President-elect Valencia and Department Officials

PARTICIPANTS

• U.S. Side

  • Deputy Under Secretary Johnson
  • Assistant Secretary Martin (ARA)
  • Deputy Administrator Moscoso (AID/LA)
  • Mr. John Robinson (AID)
  • Mr. Maxwell Chaplin (WST/CO)
  • Mr. Bruce Lancaster (EST/A)
  • Mr. Saul Moskowitz (WST)

• Colombian Side

  • President-elect Guillermo Leon Valencia
  • Ambassador Sanz de Santamaría
  • Finance Minister Mejia Palacios
  • Education Minister Posada
  • Mr. Salazar (OAS)
  • Colonel Durán
  • et. al.

After being greeted by Mr. Johnson, Dr. Valencia expressed his appreciation for the way he had been received in Washington. Mr. Johnson referred to the close ties between the two countries, and spoke of Colombia’s willing and outstanding cooperation during the Korean conflict.

Dr. Valencia said that he considered that Colombia had a permanent alliance with the U.S., and that it would follow this country in defending the cause of justice and freedom anywhere in the world. Mr. Johnson said that the present danger was much closer than it had been in Korea, and that it was a danger that the two countries must face together.

Dr. Valencia said that he fully understood. He said that Castro’s policy was to exert pro-Communist pressure, which in Colombia meant assistance to the bandits, including training of Colombians in Cuba. He said that he had learned that the guerrillas planned to step up their attacks when he took office. He said that both President Lleras’ Administration and his own would not hesitate in taking any necessary steps to put down the guerrillas. He said that he hoped to obtain U.S. assistance in this endeavor, since it was a hemispheric rather than a regional problem.

Mr. Martin said that the U.S. Government was aware of this problem, and that Ambassador Freeman had discussed ways to reduce the area of violence with Department officials and with President Kennedy, and that the Ambassador was looking forward to discussing the matter with Dr. Valencia.

Dr. Valencia said that he was pleased to hear this. He praised the work of Ambassadors Freeman and Sanz de Santamaría, saying that it was not a question of strengthening the ties between the two countries but of maintaining the existing excellent relations.

Mr. Johnson said that he had talked with Ambassador Freeman about the guerrilla problem, and that he considered it to have two aspects: the first was the internal factor in which the Castroites exploited discontent over living conditions; and the second was the external factor in which Cuba sent arms to the discontented in Colombia. He said that the U.S. would be pleased to cooperate with Colombia on both aspects.

Dr. Valencia said that unfortunately many Colombians, especially students, were going to Cuba to receive training in guerrilla warfare and political action. He said that, however, the number was decreasing. He cited a student and worker organization (MOEC) as being involved in this matter. He said that Secretary McNamara had asked him whether the guerrillas were bandits or Communists, and that he had replied that they were bandits led by Communists.

Dr. Valencia said that in Latin America public opinion was divided as follows: There were some men, including himself, who sincerely believed that the best policy for their countries was to work closely with the U.S.; there were other men who were strongly opposed to the U.S., many of them being crypto-Communists. The majority of the people, however, varied in either supporting the U.S. or Russia. Dr. Valencia said that he would respectfully suggest that the U.S. develop greater cooperation with its loyal friends. He applauded the Alliance for Progress for addressing itself to changing the living conditions of the people. He said that Alliance funds should be concentrated on projects that would substantially change living conditions, and not on projects that might have more rapid economic results but that at the same time would benefit only the leading classes.

Mr. Johnson said that he was very gratified to hear this idea, since it coincided with American thinking. He asked whether the Colombian students went to Cuba directly or through third countries.

Dr. Valencia replied that some of them travelled through third countries, and that so far it had not been possible to restrict direct travel to Cuba, although he had hopes of doing something about this, such as denying visas for travel to Cuba. He said that it would be difficult to restrict travel to Cuba through third countries.

Dr. Valencia said that if the guerrillas stepped up their violence for his inauguration, and if he received cooperation from the U.S., as has been offered by President Kennedy, he would use violence in turn in an attempt to wage the final battle against the guerrillas.

Mr. Johnson said that Ambassador Freeman was prepared to discuss this matter in detail with Dr. Valencia, and that he hoped the U.S. could be of help. He asked to what degree the guerrillas were politically oriented.

Dr. Valencia replied that the violence was of political origin, although both major parties were opposed to it. He said that at present the violence was more commercially oriented, accentuated by the fact that coffee was ready to be picked, and the guerrillas like to steal coffee. He mentioned the “carteo” method of operations, in which the bandits would write to a farmer and warn him to abandon his property. Should the farmer leave, his property would be neglected and would therefore depreciate in value, and some third person would then be able to buy it at a low price. He said that the bandits could be divided into three categories: (1) the natural killers; (2) unscrupulous businessmen; and (3) those with political orientation. Of the last, most were oriented by international Communism.

Mr. Johnson asked whether arms were being shipped from Cuba. Dr. Valencia replied that he was sure this was the case. The Government had found new weapons in the hands of the Guerrillas, some of them from Iron Curtain countries, specifically Czechoslovakia, although most of them were American made. He said that this led some people to believe that the U.S. was to blame for the arms traffic.

Mr. Johnson said that the exchange of intelligence was of great importance. He suggested the Special Security Committee of the OAS as one means of exchanging information. Dr. Valencia said that he would pay special attention to this problem.

NOTE: This meeting ended at 12:00 noon. Mr. Johnson left and Messrs. Moscoso and Robinson from AID, and Mr. Lancaster from ARA joined the group.

Mr. Moscoso said that, in connection with the economic development of Colombia, everyone was looking forward to the creation of a consortium to provide the external financial assistance required for Colombia’s Development Plan.

He said Colombia might be the first country to have a long-term plan approved. He said that there were a number of problems to be discussed. He had touched on one of them with the Education Minister, which was the primary education program. He said that it might perhaps be better to obtain financing for this program through loans than through grants, as in the past. He said that the credit terms would be easy, with a 40-year term for repayment and low rate of interest. He said that he hoped that all of the measures that had been approved in January in connection with the balance of payments problems would be put into force. He said that AID would give favorable consideration to individual Colombian projects until the general development plan was approved.

Mr. Moscoso said that, as far as specific loans were concerned, it might be necessary to make some changes in the project for the survey of mineral resources, to avoid an overlap with a basic resources project already approved.

Mr. Mejia asked about the procedure for the mineral resources survey, and Mr. Moscoso replied that he would provide the Minister a memorandum on this matter.

Mr. Moscoso said that a problem existed on funds approved in August 1961 for a savings and loan association which had not yet been used. Members of the U.S. Congress took a dim view of approving new funds under these circumstances.

Mr. Mejia, in connection with this loan, asked how the loan associations would be controlled. He said that Colombia exercises strict controls over banking, and that the savings and loans institutions would not come under that type of control. He said that the Central Bank authorities complained of competition from these institutions.

Mr. Moscoso replied that controls were possible, and that in Puerto Rico, for example, there were both Federal and local savings and loans institutions, with no major problems. He said that competition might be a good idea.

Mr. Moscoso said, in connection with the national health program and the $21,000,000 loan request for the 40 health centers, that AID was awaiting more information and hoped to have things settled by September. Mr. Moscoso said that the Buenaventura aqueduct project had been received by the Inter-American Bank on the previous day, and there was no information as to its present status. He said, with regard to the sewerage projects for Medellin and Cali, that they were being merged and integrated into a national project; time was needed for review but the project seemed good.

Dr. Valencia said that he was deeply interested in rural health facilities.

Mr. Moscoso said that AID was going to conduct experiments with mobile health units, and asked whether Dr. Valencia would be interested in this type of operation. Dr. Valencia replied in the affirmative.

Mr. Moscoso said that Colombia would be a sort of a pilot country for special private foreign investments. He said that a meeting had been scheduled for July 26 with a group of American investors, and that he would later speak with Ambassador Sanz de Santamaría, if things worked out, to fix a date for a meeting in Colombia.

Dr. Valencia said that he was enthusiastic about the possibility of Colombia being a pilot country for this type of investment.

Mr. Moscoso said that this group of investors was anxious to prove that private investment could be of help to a country without offending it.

Dr. Valencia said that the Alliance for Progress required a prior condition for its success in Colombia, and that was the stabilization of coffee prices. He said that a coffee crisis would have serious political repercussions.

Mr. Moscoso said that the U.S. was well aware of this problem.

Dr. Valencia said that Colombia purchased all of its machinery in the U.S. and paid its coffee labor well. A drop in coffee prices, therefore, created serious problems.

Mr. Moscoso said that coffee problems called for a short-term and a long-term solution. The former could be taken care of by, for example, coffee quotas and the International Coffee Agreement. The latter could be taken care of by diversification.

Dr. Valencia said that he agreed, but that a medium-term solution was also needed to cover the transition to diversification. He inquired whether the U.S. might help the transition by increasing imports of other Colombian products, e.g., cotton. He said that Colombia needed more flexible policies from the U.S. in this field.

Mr. Martin said that he believed Colombia had no argument with the U.S. as far as coffee was concerned, since the U.S. had taken the lead in the Coffee Agreement and in seeking price stability. He asked for Colombian assistance in influencing other coffee-producing countries, especially those from Central America, to get them to cooperate in the Agreement. He said that the Central American countries liked the idea of enjoying the “umbrella” provided by Colombia and Brazil, and that a problem also exists in obtaining the cooperation of the African producers.

Dr. Valencia thanked Mr. Martin and said that he was not complaining about the U.S. position, but wanted to stress that coffee was the only way to save Latin America.

Mr. Moscoso said that the U.S. had offered $12,000,000 to the Central American Seasonal Coffee Marketing fund to get it started.

Dr. Valencia said that he wanted to comment on priorities in the Alliance for Progress. He said that he had been elected by his people, and would therefore do everything in his power to change the conditions in which his people live. He said that he did not want investments if they were of a speculative nature. He said that in the field of education he intended to concentrate on primary schooling, and leave it to future administrations to worry about secondary and university development. He said that eradication of illiteracy and ignorance would be one of the major objectives of his Administration.

Mr. Moscoso said that Dr. Valencia could be very helpful if he encouraged coordination in the Colombian Government, in view of the inevitable pressures that were exerted for various projects. Dr. Valencia said that this kind of coordination was decisive for the success of the Alliance. Mr. Moscoso said that he would like to concentrate on four or five priorities.

1. Review of relations between the two countries. Confidential. 6 pp. DOS, CF, 611.21/6–2662.