Office of the Historian

365. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in the Republic of the Congo0

Washington, July 1, 1963, 6:28 p.m.

5. Embtel 3198. General instructions contacts with Port African nationalists contained CA-14448, June 24.1

Gist of instruction: you should not initiate or seek out contacts with these nationalists. If they ask see Embassy officer, should be received by officers other than Ambassador, preferably at Pol Officer level. Since GOP has post at Leo, Port Embassy should be informed after meetings [Page 568] that nationalists seen at their request, but no indication of substance should be given.

If nationalists press to see Ambassador and Ambassador believes direct contact by him desirable, he should submit appropriate justification and request prior authorization from Dept.

If Embassy officers meet Holden Roberto socially or otherwise, they may of course converse with him. Utmost discretion required in such contacts. These occasions need not be reported to Port Embassy.

Ball
  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 17 US-AFR. Secret. Drafted by High, cleared by Starrs, and approved by Whitehouse. Repeated to Lisbon, USUN, Paris for Cleveland, and Luanda.↩
  2. Airgram CA-14448 to Algiers, Conakry, Dakar, Dar-es-Salaam, Elisabethville, Leopoldville, Rabat, Salisbury, and USUN, June 24. (Ibid.)↩