6. Memorandum for the Record1
Algerian Ambassador Guellal came in on 10 January before returning to Algeria for consultation (ostensibly on the formation of an Algerian national oil company).
My theme was that I was a little discouraged when I took an overall look at US-Algerian relations. We had made every effort to achieve a good working relationship with the new GOA, but there didn’t seem to be much reciprocation. Moreover 1964 was likely to be a hard year for the US in the Arab world. For example, the Jordan Waters problem would put us in the middle between the Arabs and Israelis, and the Arabs would undoubtedly say some nasty things about us.
Guellal interrupted to assure me that Ben Bella is quite reasonable on this issue and has no strong personal feelings. So he didn’t think this would cause trouble between us; Arab action would probably be confined to shouting. He confided that Ben Bella had taken a “very cautious” line with Nasser.
To bring us back to US-Algerian relations, I said I’d cited the Jordan Waters problem simply as one factor promising to create a generally difficult atmosphere this year. Closer to home were Ben Bella’s continued pro-Cuba comments and new cozying up to Communist China and North Vietnam. Though President Johnson is just as determined as President Kennedy to develop good relations with key nations like Algeria, Egypt, India, Indonesia, etc., he naturally doesn’t have the same long-standing personal feeling for Algeria. So bad atmospherics could hurt.
Guellal explained that Ben Bella gets emotional, and sometimes in public goes embarrassingly beyond his real position. He had been sending back material on Cuba and explaining our sensitivities; he thought a time of greater moderation was coming. I said I understood but others didn’t, and this makes life difficult for Algeria’s friends here.
In showing him several ticker reports of Ben Bella’s recent blasts, I quoted his comment about Algeria following the example of the Yugoslav, Cuban and Chicom revolutions. My jocular comment was, “If you must follow the Yugoslav model so be it, but for pete’s sake, not the Cubans or Chicoms. Their economic performance is pitiful.”
[Page 17]Guellal volunteered that life was difficult for Algerian political leaders too. Preparations for the party congress had caused Ben Bella’s opponents to look for every opening to attack him. When I said we didn’t see much of a threat from Abbas, Ben Khedda, etc. but what about Boumedienne? Guellal said he thought Boumedienne was quite content with his present position and had no further political ambitions. Boumedienne’s political activity is simply a response to Khider’s maneuvering against him.
I returned to my theme of general concern over the way things are going, citing my earlier hope that Algerians would be farther along administratively and economically by now. Guellal agreed that Algeria faces difficult problems—a unique heritage from seven years of revolution and the loss of a million trained people—but countered, “Who could have done better?” He cited domestic stability and continuing relations with France despite the acrimony of revolution as major achievements. I conceded that perhaps we were hoping for too much too soon, but said I still wondered whether the Algerians are really making the most of present assets.
When he asked what I would do, I said I’d take a more reasonable line on oil, for instance, deriving needed revenue from present arrangements while building goodwill. When Algeria was on surer footing and farther down the development track, it could then seek more advantageous arrangements. I cited the great success of Malaysian cooperation with the UK, as contrasted to the mess Sukarno has made of his economy by following a policy of belligerent nationalism. Guellal said he thought the Algerians were being pretty reasonable (though he thought the Algerian share of oil revenues was disgracefully small). He said the Investment Guaranty would soon be signed and he hoped that four American companies would participate in the new national petroleum company along with a couple of German firms and a French one. But he got my point.
On economic development, I also emphasized how sorry I’d be to see Algeria waste its money on building a large military establishment. India was a case in point. Here was the same sharp swing from almost complete disregard for defense needs before the Chinese attack to current over-emphasis which might critically reduce India’s development effort.
He agreed with the general point but mentioned that Algeria would soon be getting some Soviet equipment needed for defense against the Moroccans. He made a crack about our arming Morocco. My reply was (a) the Soviets had probably given them more than we had; and (b) most of our aid went to them long before Morocco and Algeria became enemies. Despite his crack, he agreed that we had been quite fair during the Moroccan-Algerian clash. He said the Algerians are concerned not [Page 18] only about border “aggression” but also about treatment of Algerians in Morocco, who have been “arrested and tortured, one even killed.”
Then he asked what our attitude would be toward supplying Algeria with some military equipment. I was sure we wouldn’t reject this idea out of hand provided (a) Algeria and Morocco composed their differences first so we wouldn’t be arming one friend against another and (b) we wouldn’t end up side by side with Cuba in the same aid effort.
When he spoke of the problems of the Algerian bureaucracy—its tremendous task and lack of trained people—I told him I hoped he would jog his government on the Four Areas Project. This was ready to go and could employ 60,000 people before summer, but administrative roadblocks on their side appeared to be holding it up. He promised to look into this in Algiers. He went on to say how important he thought it was for Ambassador Porter to have a direct line to Ben Bella because things often got distorted or bogged down in the bureaucracy. He promised to set something up while he was in Algeria. I put in a plug for Porter; Guellal agreed that he knows the Arab world well and is a good source of advice.
- Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Algeria, Vol. I, 12/63–7/65. Secret. Prepared by Robert W. Komer on January 15. Copies were sent to Ralph Dungan, McGeorge Bundy, G. Mennen Williams, and David Newsom.↩