Office of the Historian

37. Telegram 282526 From the Department of State to All American Republic Diplomatic Posts1

Washington, December 1, 1975, 1518Z.

282526. Subject: Suggestions for Bettering Relations within Latin America. For the Ambassadors only from Assistant Secretary Rogers.

1. The Secretary indicated at our meeting with him on Tuesday (November 25) that, although we might not anticipate any major U.S. initiatives for the hemisphere, it was his intention to do what he could within the Executive Branch on specific issues which aggravate our relations with the nations of the hemisphere. Two examples were put on the table at the Tuesday meeting: The desirability of concessions by us for the Panamanians’ desire for access to the trans-Isthmian pipeline and access to drydock facilities, and the Costa Ricans’ anxiety for a miniscule increase in their meat quota.

2. Let me have from each of you within the week a list of similar items which we can undertake to resolve within the Executive—things we can do for your country, or things we should not do to your country.

3. And if there are no such burning specific issues, don’t hesitate to say that.

Ingersoll

  1. Summary: Rogers asked Ambassadors in Latin America to identify specific ways in which bilateral relations with their host governments might be improved, noting that Kissinger had indicated that no major regional initiatives were likely to be forthcoming.

    Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D750416–0746. Secret; Immediate; Exdis. No other record of the November 25 meeting with Kissinger referred to in this memorandum has been found; the meeting took place as part of a Chiefs of Mission Conference held by the Bureau of Inter-American Affairs.

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