Office of the Historian

565. Action Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs (Sisco) and the Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs (Quimby) to Secretary of State Rusk1

Washington, June 10, 1968.

SUBJECT

  • UN Security Council Recommendation for the Withdrawal of all Consulates from Southern Rhodesia

Discussion

The Security Council’s new Rhodesian resolution, adopted unanimously on May 29, presents a special problem for us since it emphasizes “the need for the withdrawal of all consular and trade representation in Southern Rhodesia . …” At the time of the vote Ambassador Goldberg explained that we would give careful consideration to this non-mandatory provision but, in doing so, would have “to take into account our profound belief in a free flow of information and communication throughout the world, which we feel should apply to Rhodesia as well.” He pointed out that the US has no trade representation in Southern Rhodesia.

In terms of our public position as well as the Department’s own requirements, it is essential that we decide promptly whether to remove or maintain our consular establishment in Salisbury. After considering carefully all the factors involved, we have concluded that it is in our interest to maintain the already sharply reduced staff of the Consulate General, at least for the time being and barring such developments as a mass exodus by other governments from the territory. In any case, we propose to leave the question open so that should we consider it proper we may withdraw the consular staff in the future. We recognize that a decision to remain in Salisbury will draw some criticism from the Afro-Asians and that, by virtue of being the biggest target, we can expect to receive more than our share of criticism in the United Nations.

The following considerations, however, argue in favor of maintaining our small staff in Salisbury:

(1)
Reporting—Political and economic information obtained at first hand in Salisbury has proved valuable. The Consulate General’s reporting, particularly with respect to the effect of sanctions on the Rhodesian economy, has helped us base our policy on our own information.
(2)
Protection for American Citizens—There are over 1,000 American citizens in Southern Rhodesia, some three-fourths of whom are missionaries and their families. Our Consular officials in Salisbury perform a number of essential services for these people in passport and citizenship matters and welfare activities.
(3)
Intentions of Other Governments—Ten foreign consulates have remained in Salisbury since 1965. The Japanese have announced the closing of theirs on June 5. (This action by Japan—which claims no nationals resident in Southern Rhodesia—is an effort to regain some favor with the Afro-Asians after being a prominent sanctions-buster for some time.) We do not expect that many of the other governments concerned (Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, South Africa and Switzerland) will follow suit. The UK will maintain its residual mission there.

We believe the advantages of retaining our Consulate General at Salisbury outweigh the disadvantages. We would propose, therefore, to make our intentions on this subject known shortly after the President signs the Executive Order implementing the mandatory provisions of the Security Council resolution. We would say that, although the matter will remain under continuing review, we intend to maintain our small staff in Salisbury for the time being. We would emphasize our convictions about the free flow of information and communications everywhere, and we would lean heavily on the rationale of providing essential services for Americans residing in Southern Rhodesia. A draft statement for press guidance is attached.

Recommendations2

1.
That, subject to future developments, we continue to maintain our consular office at Salisbury.
2.
That the decision be made public shortly after the issuance of the US Executive Order, along the lines of the attached press guidance.3
  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 16 RHOD. Confidential. Sent through Under Secretary Katzenbach. Drafted by Fain and Thomas J. Carolan of IO/UNP on March 6–7, and cleared by Brown, Goldstein, and Edward W. Holmes of AFSE.↩
  2. Secretary Rusk initialed his approval of both recommendations on June 17.↩
  3. The attachment is not printed.↩