161. Memorandum From the President’s Special Assistant (Rostow) to President Johnson1
In answer to your question (attached),2 Rusk does not think Bourguiba can visit Washington until later in the year, since he has a string of [Page 243] tenth anniversary celebrations this spring. So Rusk recommends going ahead with the $15 million Tunisian program loan now and asks your approval for inviting Bourguiba for the second half of 1966.
The main reason for not delaying the loan any longer is that the Tunisians have geared their self-help measures for this calendar year to our aid and to the $30 million which other donors pledged at a World Bank meeting in December. We originally promised a decision by the end of December but delayed during our aid review to give it an especially careful going over.
The Tunisians have done a good job on their side of the bargain and need to push ahead with their development imports for this year. We’re afraid holding off any longer would make us look horribly inefficient and undercut our leverage in bargaining for a new round of reforms.
- Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Tunisia, Vol. I, Memos & Miscellaneous, 12/63–9/68. Confidential.↩
- See footnote 2, Document 160.↩
- This option is checked on the source text.↩
- This option is checked on the source text. On April 18, Assistant Secretary Palmer informed Foreign Minister Bourguiba that the $15 million program loan had been authorized, and confirmed the invitation for President Bourguiba to visit the United States in the latter part of the year. (Memorandum of conversation; Department of State, Central Files, POL TUN–US)↩