149. Memorandum From the President’s Deputy Assistant for National Security Affairs (Haig) to President Nixon1 2
SUBJECT:
- Meeting with Brazilian Finance Minister Delfim Neto, Friday, July 28, 1972 11:30 a.m. (15 minutes)
I. PURPOSE
To permit Minister Delfim Neto to deliver a letter from President Médici to reaffirm US-Brazil friendship and cooperation; to strengthen Delfim Neto’s hand as architect of Brazil’s economic progress. (Talking Points at Tab A.)
II. BACKGROUND, PARTICIPANTS, PRESS PLAN
A. Background:
Minister Delfim Neto is the principal adviser to President Medici on economic affairs and is the architect of Brazil’s current economic boom. He is highly regarded by businessmen and bankers at home and abroad. Though a strong defender of Brazilian interests, he is moderate, fair-minded and favorably disposed to the US. He has been under some fire: (a) because of a drop in the Brazilian stock market; and (b) the government’s tardiness in moving on wider distribution of income. President Medici has reiterated his confidence in Minister Delfim Neto, and his current visit to Washington—with a personal letter from Medici to President Nixon—is designed to further underline his prestige and to emphasize Medici’s confidence. Minister Delfim Neto speaks English quite well.
B. Participants:
- Finance Minister Antonio Delfim Neto of Brazil
- General Alexander M. Haig
- [Ambassador Araujo Castro will be available in outer office]
C. Press Plan:
Routine announcement by Press Secretary Ziegler; photos by Ollie Atkins only.
[Page 2]TALKING POINTS
(Meeting with Brazilian Finance Minister Delfim Neto)
Minister Delfim Neto will deliver a personal letter from President Medici. It will reply to your recent letters to him (delivered by Connally and Burns). We believe Delfim Neto has no specific items of substance to raise.
During the meeting, you may wish to mention:
—John Connally’s good report on his talks with President Medici and Minister Delfim Neto in Brazil;
—your satisfaction with the excellent state of US-Brazil relations and the successful conclusion of recent agreements—on shrimp fisheries, textiles, and atomic energy cooperation.
Your advisers think it would be useful to raise with Delfim Neto one item of substance: our concern with rising coffee prices.
You may wish to note:
—we are working overtime to control inflation; sharp increases in coffee prices has produced strong pressure from consumers and wholesalers for action to reverse this trend;
—these pressures may make it impossible for us to continue membership in the International Coffee Agreement;
—you are convinced that the best interests of producers and consumers are served by continued international cooperation between the two;
—you hope Brazil and other producers can take steps quickly to roll prices back;
—additional discussions on details would be helpful—with men like Julius Katz, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State (whom Delfim Neto knows).
- Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 772, Country Files, Latin America, Brazil, Vol. 2, August 1, 1971–December 1972. Confidential. A stamped notation on the memorandum indicates the President saw it. According to the President’s Daily Diary, the President, Neto, Castro, and Haig met from 11:37 to 11:54 a.m. (Ibid., White House Central Files, President’s Daily Diary). No other record of the meeting has been found.↩
- Haig recommended that President Nixon discuss with Brazilian Finance Minister Neto the U.S. Government’s concern about rising coffee prices.↩