Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961–1963, Volume X, Cuba, January 1961–September 1962

130. Memorandum of Conversation⁰

Washington, April 18, 1961, 6:50 p.m.

SUBJECT

• Cuba

PARTICIPANTS

• The Secretary
• Mr. McSweeney, Director, Office of Soviet Union Affairs
• Mikhail A. Menshikov, Soviet Ambassador
• Georgi M. Kornienko, Counselor, Soviet Embassy

The Secretary said he wished, on behalf of the President, to deliver to the Ambassador the Presidentʼs reply to the statement from Chairman Khrushchev to the President. He referred to the fact that Khrushchevʼs statement had been made public and said that the Presidentʼs statement would also be publicized. He then handed the Presidentʼs letter to Chairman Khrushchev to the Ambassador. (Attached)¹

The Ambassador said that he would transmit the communication to his government, adding that personally he did not think it answered the question posed.

The Secretary said that if we were to understand that the Soviet Government planned to act in accordance with the doctrine set forth in the December 1960 communique of the Communist leaders,² then it is inevitable that there will be serious trouble. We believe that it is in the interest of both peoples and governments to seek out solutions which will insure peace, but this cannot be a one-sided effort—we must find the means of recognizing the real issues between us and bring our positions into adjustment. The Soviet Government must understand the importance to the United States of peace and well-being in this hemisphere. The Presidentʼs reply is directed toward that point.

Ambassador Menshikov said the Soviet Government will never recognize intervention in the affairs of other countries as indicating a desire to have peace. Such intervention, he said, would only produce the contrary of peace.

The Secretary said that he could not accept a lecture from the Soviet Union regarding intervention, having in mind the activities all over the world since 1945 of the Soviet Union.

Ambassador Menshikov said that the Soviet Union had never intervened in the affairs of other countries—that this is a strict policy of the Soviet Government which has been followed consistently. He said the Soviet Government cannot fail to notice the introduction of forces into other countries to suppress the freedom and independence of those countries.

The Secretary asked if Mr. Menshikov were referring to Hungary.

The Ambassador said he referred to Cuba. As regards Hungary, he said, the Secretary should know what happened there. Without going into details, he would only reaffirm that in the Hungarian affair the Soviet Union had been asked by the legitimate government to help suppress counter-revolution. This the Soviet Union did.

The Secretary indicated that further conversation seemed unnecessary and the Ambassador left.

Attachment³

Washington, April 18, 1961.

Letter From President Kennedy to Chairman Khrushchev

Mr. Chairman: You are under a serious misapprehension in regard to events in Cuba. For months there has been evident and growing resist-ance to the Castro dictatorship. More than 100,000 refugees have recently fled from Cuba into neighboring countries. Their urgent hope is naturally to assist their fellow Cubans in their struggle for freedom. Many of these refugees fought along side Dr. Castro against the Batista dictatorship; among them are prominent leaders of his own original movement and government.

These are unmistakable signs that Cubans find intolerable the denial of democratic liberties and the subversion of the 26th of July Movement by an alien-dominated regime. It cannot be surprising that, as resistance within Cuba grows, refugees have been using whatever means are available to return and support their countrymen in the continuing struggle for freedom. Where people are denied the right of choice, recourse to such struggle is the only means of achieving their liberties.

I have previously stated, and I repeat now, that the United States intends no military intervention in Cuba. In the event of any military intervention by outside force we will immediately honor our obligations under the inter-American system to protect this hemisphere against external aggression. While refraining from military intervention in Cuba, the people of the United States do not conceal their admiration for Cuban patriots who wish to see a democratic system in an independent Cuba. The United States Government can take no action to stifle the spirit of liberty.

I have taken careful note of your statement that the events in Cuba might affect peace in all parts of the world. I trust that this does not mean that the Soviet Government, using the situation in Cuba as a pretext, is planning to inflame other areas of the world. I would like to think that your government has too great a sense of responsibility to embark upon any enterprise so dangerous to general peace.

I agree with you as to the desirability of steps to improve the international atmosphere. I continue to hope that you will cooperate in opportunities now available to this end. A prompt cease-fire and peaceful settlement of the dangerous situation in Laos, cooperation with the United Nations in the Congo and a speedy conclusion of an acceptable treaty for the banning of nuclear tests would be constructive steps in this direction. The regime in Cuba could make a similar contribution by permitting the Cuban people freely to determine their own future by democratic processes and freely to cooperate with their Latin American neighbors.

I believe, Mr. Chairman, that you should recognize that free peoples in all parts of the world do not accept the claim of historical inevitability for Communist revolution. What your government believes is its own business; what it does in the world is the worldʼs business. The great revolution in the history of man, past, present and future, is the revolution of those determined to be free.

John F. Kennedy⁴

0. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 737.00/4-1861. Confidential. Drafted by McSweeney.
1. The text of the attached letter was released to the press immediately after it was conveyed to Ambassador Menshikov. It is also printed in Department of State Bulletin, May 8, 1961, pp. 661-662. Ambassador Stevenson read Kennedyʼs reply to Khrushchev during the evening session of debate in the First Committee on April 18. (U.N. doc. A/C.1/5R.1154) For Khrushchevʼs letter, see Document 117.
2. Reference is to the manifesto issued from Moscow on December 6, 1960, by the leaders of 81 national and regional Communist parties, which proclaimed the unity of all Communists in a continuing struggle against capitalism. (The New York Times, December 7, 1960)
3. Unclassified.
4. Printed from a copy that indicates President Kennedy signed the original.