18. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Brzezinski) to Secretary of State Vance, Secretary of Defense Brown, and Director of Central Intelligence Turner1
SUBJECT
- Peacekeeping
In the President’s speech to the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States, he signalled a new and more active approach by the United States to international disputes in the Western Hemisphere.2 He gave strong encouragement to the Andean countries to implement the Ayacucho Declaration, and he said that the United States would support the efforts and initiatives of the Secretary General of the OAS in finding solutions to longstanding disputes in the hemisphere.
Supporting the OAS Secretary General’s initiative is only one option we might want to consider in choosing an appropriate strategy for the United States in dealing with disputes in the hemisphere. Please provide by July 7, 1977, a short paper discussing options which the President might want to consider in dealing with the following disputes:
• Belize-Guatemala.
• El Salvador-Honduras.
• The Andean countries (Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia).
The review need not be limited to these cases. The State Department should coordinate this review with the Defense Department, the National Security Council, and the Central Intelligence Agency.3
- Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Country File, Box 58, Organization of American States, 5/77–1/81. Confidential. For the origins of this document, see Document 15.↩
- See footnote 3, Document 5.↩
- For the agencies’ responses, see Document 22.↩