Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961–1963, Volume XII, American Republics

413. Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Woodward) to Secretary of State Rusk¹

Washington, September 20, 1961, 10:05-11:40 a.m.

SUBJECT

• Talks between Presidents Prado and Kennedy²

We had been prepared to conduct the White House conversations with President Prado along the lines he had requested, i.e., in two parts with separate agenda items, the first part to be between the two Presidents alone and the second with their respective staffs. Even though the discussions were to be in English, it had been planned that an interpreter would be present ostensibly to help out in case of difficulty but actually for the purpose of taking notes. The interpreter was dismissed, however, when President Prado said he needed none, and as it worked out the entire discussion was between the two Presidents alone. At the termination of the discussion, President Kennedy invited the staffs into his office and briefly reviewed for them the matters discussed, along the following lines:

(1) Cuba. President Prado had made three suggestions which President Kennedy thought constructive and worth exploring: (a) He suggested that the COAS recommend that an OAS or Red Cross commission investigate the situation of political prisoners in Cuba. This would probably be refused by the Cubans, but such refusal would doubtless hurt them in Latin America. The initiative for suggesting this COAS action should probably come from a country in the middle of the spectrum (i.e. of attitudes toward Cuba). (b) The Colombian initiative³ should not be taken up formally until we have all or most countries aligned, including Mexico, Brazil and Argentina. Otherwise the initiative will fail and we will be worse off than before. (c) Meanwhile, we should concentrate on getting additional countries to break relations with Cuba when they have valid reasons for doing so.

President Prado had also suggested the possibility of broadening the Miró Cardona council⁴ so that we might recognize it as a government in exile. President Kennedy said we had reservations both because of the difficulty of free Cuban groups and because there are doubts concerning support in Cuba for Miró Cardona and the possible reactions there to recognition; it might even serve to increase support for Castro.

(2) Double Taxation. President Kennedy explained that we had the matter under study and that we hoped to have something ready for Congress in January.

(3) Loans. The Presidents discussed the various loans the Peruvians are interested in, including the emergency loan for the Puno area, housing, airports, etc. President Kennedy thought it would be a good idea for Minister of Development and Public Works Grieve to get in touch with the various lending agencies on these matters.

(4) Peru-Ecuador Boundary. This matter was discussed, but President Kennedy gave no indication of the substance of the discussion.

(5) China. The question of recognition of China was discussed and there appeared to be general agreement. President Prado had submitted a note on the subject from which President Kennedy read a passage⁵ stating that Prado had received the impression from his visit last spring to Formosa that Chiang Kai-shek was prepared to invade the mainland alone if he could be assured of arms and moral support. President Kennedy thought this had a familiar ring reminiscent of last April, when we had learned a hard lesson.

President Prado’s original agenda was much longer than the above, but as yet we have no further information whether other items were discussed. However, the following additional substantive matters pertaining to the visit may be of interest:

(1) Loans. There have been various conversations during the past week between Peruvian officials (including officials sent up independ-ently of Prado’s party) and the Department, Eximbank, DLF and ICA pertaining to the above-mentioned prospective loans—to which we should add the Lima water and sewage project. Applications for this loan (to the Eximbank and DLF) and for the aided self-help housing loan (DLF) appear to be in the best position to move ahead fast. The Eximbank cannot handle the airport loan, so the DLF is now studying it; however, we are now thinking in terms of encouraging the German offer but on better terms. The DLF and ICA are continuing discussions on the Puno emergency projects, and there may be a number of small projects that will qualify, although the Peruvians’ project preparation is not too adequate.

(2) Joint Communiqué. We have had considerable discussion back and forth with the Peruvians concerning the joint communiqué wording on the subject of observance of international obligations and agreements. The Peruvians tried hard for wording we considered pointed too obviously at the Rio Protocol between Peru and Ecuador. We have reached agreement, however, on more general language which we trust will not be offensive to the Ecuadoreans. Other than this there has been no problem in agreeing to the language and substance of the communique.⁶

(3) So far President Prado and his party seem happy with the visit.

1. Source: Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 65 D 366, CF 1963. Confidential. The time of the meeting is from the President’s Appointment Book. (Kennedy Library)
2. President Prado was invited to pay a state visit to the United States in March 1961. Prado visited the United States September 19-22.
3. See Document 111.
4. Reference is to the Cuban exile group led by Jose Miró Cardona.
5. Not found.
6. For text of the communique, see Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1961, pp. 611-613.