Office of the Historian

607. National Security Decision Memorandum 211 2

Washington, July 22, 1969
[Page 1]

TO:

  • The Secretary of State

SUBJECT:

  • Peru

The President has reviewed the NSC/IG/ARA paper on Peru dated May 24, and has approved the general strategy recommended therein, namely that the United States should:

  • —continue to maintain non-overt economic pressures on Peru to provide a framework for settlement and constructive change;
  • —defer applying the Hickenlooper Amendment so long as any plausible basis to do so can be found;
  • —actively seek a basis for such deferral even beyond the end of the administrative appeal process.

The President has asked that careful planning be undertaken to implement the strategy as set forth above, and that all possible options be carefully examined. In preparing plans, consideration should be given inter alia to the following:

  • —renewal and extension of bilateral negotiations;
  • —ways of promoting acceptance of a satisfactory debt reduction/net compensation formula;
  • —ways of helping develop a satisfactory “buy out” scheme;
  • —careful reassessment of the possible role of the Peruvian judiciary in the dispute.

The President has asked for a report by August 4 outlining what steps have been taken to implement the strategy, what plans have been made for the future and what options are available upon termination of the administrative process.

Henry A. Kissinger
  1. Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–211, NSDM Files, NSDM 21. Secret; Exdis. Copies were sent to the Secretaries of Defense and Treasury, the Director of Central Intelligence, and the Administrator of the Agency for International Development. The NSC IG/ARA paper is published as Document 600. The August 4 report came in the form of a memorandum from Richardson to Nixon, ibid., Box H–209, NSDM Files, NSDM 21.↩
  2. Kissinger transmitted President Nixon’s decision to maintain non-overt economic pressure on the Peruvian Government while deferring the application of Hickenlooper sanctions and investigating the possibility of extending the deferral beyond the end of the administrative appeal process.↩