Office of the Historian

345. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Portugal0

Washington, July 24, 1962, 10:42 p.m.

35. For Ambassador from Williams. Reference: Embtel 66.1 Portugal’s trouble is not that they don’t know things but that they know too many things that aren’t so. Following is for your background information:

As my cables indicated, our allies, particularly French, Germans and Italians, worried about Portugal’s African posture and were eager to discuss, sometimes initiated the discussion on Portuguese Africa.

In each case I followed outline agreed with Secretary before leaving:

1.
Winds of change we believe will not bypass Portuguese Africa.
2.
US believes continued European presence in Africa helpful to Africans as well as Europeans and that British and French have worked this out.
3.
If Angola independent tomorrow there would be difficulties.
4.
Only ones who can immediately help evolution of Portuguese Africa are Portuguese and maybe Brazilians.
5.
US is working to persuade Portuguese to act in their self-interest by moving toward self-determination and Secretary Rusk’s talks and Ambassador Pereira’s speeches have shown Portuguese making some progress.
6.
We have offered aid for education and are prepared to consider offering more.

As a matter of fact I gave Europeans a more hopeful picture of Portuguese Africa than they had had before.

Ball
  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 033.1100–WI/7–2362. Secret; Priority; Limit Distribution. Drafted by Williams and cleared by Tyler and Meloy. Repeated to Geneva.↩
  2. Document 344.↩