Office of the Historian

179. Memorandum of Conversation1

Washington, December 24, 1974, 3:25 p.m.

SUBJECT

  • 1. Cut-Off of U.S. Military Assistance to Chile
  • 2. Secretary’s South American Travel Plans

PARTICIPANTS

  • U.S.

    • The Secretary
    • Assistant Secretary, Mr. William D. Rogers
    • ARA/BC/C, Arnold M. Isaacs (notetaker)

  • Chile

    • Chilean Chargé d’Affaires, Enrique Guzman

Secretary Kissinger: I want you to know that we are strongly opposed to the Congressional action. We will do our best to reverse it, although I don’t know how soon that will be. Meanwhile we will make a maximum effort to make available as much as possible on the basis of commercial sales. I hope we can arrange for the sale of the TOW.

You know the problem that causes us difficulty with Congress. We don’t want to tell you how to conduct your domestic affairs, but anything you and your government can do on this score would help.

Mr. Guzman: We are very grateful for all you have done and for seeing me on this occasion.

Secretary Kissinger: What can we do about military training?

[Page 484]

Mr. Guzman: The ban on training is psychologically our greatest problem. Second is the problem of cash sales. There are certain items like tanks . . . Sometimes there were contracts . . .

Secretary Kissinger: Are students coming up in January?

Mr. Guzman: Yes, a new class is due to arrive. Also there’s the question of students who are here on multi-year programs. We don’t know for sure what happens to them.

Mr. Rogers: Those here now can stay.

Secretary Kissinger: We must look into this further.

Mr. Guzman: There are two more important problems.

We are very worried about the situation with Peru. Even assuming for purposes of argument that there is no immediate threat, Peru is receiving aid from the Russians and we are being forced to divert our scarce resources from our economic needs.

Secretary Kissinger: The reason I’m seeing you is that I realize the situation is critical. You can count on my raising the subject with the new Congress. I’m planning a speech on Congress’ action and foreign policy. That won’t be immediately but rather in 2 to 3 months. It will cover the global problem of Congressional limitations on military assistance.

Mr. Guzman: Mr. Secretary, I’ve just received a telex invitation from my Foreign Ministry—inviting you to go to Santiago on your January trip to South America.

Secretary Kissinger: It will probably be in February.

Mr. Guzman: Our Minister is very interested that you visit Chile. Are you planning to go to Santiago?

Secretary Kissinger: I haven’t fixed an itinerary. But we’ll pay a domestic price here if I go.

Mr. Guzman: I hope you will also take into account the political implication in Chile of going to Lima without going to Santiago.

Secretary Kissinger: But if I went to both?

Mr. Guzman: We wouldn’t mind at all.

Secretary Kissinger: I can understand your concern. You can tell your government that when I go to Latin America, I would not stop in Peru without stopping in Chile.

The reason I’m seeing you is to assure that you don’t do anything panicky before we have a chance to act.

Mr. Guzman: Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary, for seeing me. I shall convey your comments to my government.

  1. Summary: Chilean Chargé Guzmán and Kissinger discussed the implications of a ban on U.S. military assistance to Chile and Kissinger’s prospective trip to Latin America.

    Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, P820123–0667. Confidential; Nodis. The meeting was held in Kissinger’s office at the State Department. Drafted by Isaacs. In a December 20 meeting with the President, Kissinger stated, “The Chilean aid cut is disastrous. I want us to do everything possible to get arms for Chile. They [the Chileans] can buy commercially but Defense says they won’t sell if there is any DOD component.” (Ford Library, National Security Adviser, Memoranda of Conversations, Box 7, December 20, 1974, Ford, Kissinger) The Foreign Assistance Act of 1974, which included a ban on FMS to Chile, was signed into law by Ford on December 30. Upon signing the legislation, Ford stated, “I regret the action of Congress in cutting off the modest program of military assistance to Chile,” adding that he did not consider the measure to be an effective way to promote human rights there. (Statement on Signing the Foreign Assistance Act of 1974, December 30, 1974, Public Papers: Ford, 1974, p. 780) Rogers informed Kissinger on January 4, 1975, that Maw thought that continued U.S. training of the Chilean military was inconsistent with Congress’s cutoff of military assistance, but Kissinger decided to continue the assistance until he could consult with Congress upon their return. (Department of State, Electronic Reading Room, Transcripts of Kissinger Telephone Conversations)

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