Imagini ale paginilor
PDF
ePub

sarily be subject to no measure being adopted, by the Government or the Congress of your country, of a unilateral character which might prejudge the results of the aforementioned negotiations or cause harm to the Cuban economy and people.

It seems obvious to add that the adherence of your Government to this point of view would not only contribute to the improvement in the relations between our respective countries but also reaffirm the spirit of fraternal friendship which has bound and does bind our peoples. It would moreover permit both Governments to examine, in a serene atmosphere and with the broadest scope, the questions which have affected the traditional relations between Cuba and the United States of America.

72. UNITED STATES REQUEST FOR PRELIMINARY EXPLORATION OF SUBJECTS TO BE DISCUSSED IN NORMALIZING CUBAN-UNITED STATES RELATIONS: Note From the American Chargé d'Affaires ad interim at Habana (Braddock) to the Cuban Minister of State (Roa García), February 29, 1960 1

16

I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of Your Excellency's note of February 22" regarding the decision of the Government of Cuba to name a commission to negotiate in Washington on matters pending between Cuba and the United States of America. The Government of the United States welcomes and shares the expressed willingness of the Government of Cuba to seek a solution of outstanding problems through negotiations.

Your Excellency will appreciate, I am sure, that the Government of the United States cannot accept the condition for the negotiations stated in Your Excellency's note to the effect that no measure of a unilateral character shall be adopted on the part of the Government of the United States affecting the Cuban economy and its people, whether by the legislative or executive branch. As set forth in President Eisenhower's statement of January 26,18 the Government of the United States must remain free, in the exercise of its own sovereignty, to take whatever steps it deems necessary, fully consistent with its international obligations, in the defense of the legitimate rights and interests of its people. The Government of the United States believes that these rights and interests have been adversely affected by the unilateral acts of the Government of Cuba.19

The Government of the United States for its part firmly intends to continue by its conduct and through its utterances to reaffirm the spirit of fraternal friendship which, as Your Excellency so well stated, has bound and does bind our two peoples and which the Government of the United States believes is earnestly cherished by them. Prior to the initiation of negotiations and through normal diplomatic channels

16 Department of State press release No. 92 (text ibid., p. 440).

17

Supra.

18 Ante, doc. 67.

19 Reference to certain confiscatory actions of the Government of Cuba protested in a U.S. note delivered Jan. 11, 1960 (summarized in the Department of State Bulletin, Feb. 1, 1960, p. 158).

the Government of the United States would wish to explore with the Government of Cuba the subjects to be discussed and the manner and place in which negotiations might be conducted. Accordingly, I would welcome, for transmittal to my Government, any proposals which Your Excellency might care to submit in these respects. Accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.

73. THE NONRETALIATORY NATURE OF THE RECOMMENDED CHANGES IN THE SUGAR ACT WITH RESPECT TO CUBA: Reply Made by the President (Eisenhower) to a Question Asked at a News Conference, March 16, 1960 20

I think they [the Cubans] have no justification for taking it [the administration's recommendation for changes in the Sugar Act] 21 for a reprisal whatsoever.

The United States consumes a very great amount of sugar every year, and there have been many activities taking place in Cuba that could easily endanger our source of supply. We have been getting on the order of 3,500,000 tons of sugar from Cuba yearly.

I have got the responsibility of trying to make sure that the United States gets the sugar it needs-one of the reasons that, if any of these supplying areas should fall down in supplying its quota, then I should have the right, in my opinion, to go to somebody else to get it. That's all it [the administration's recommendation] said, in effect.

I have flatly stated again and again that we are not trying to punish Cuba, particularly the Cuban people, or even the Cuban Government. We are trying to get to a basis of agreement with them that is based upon justice, on international usage and law, so that the interests of both sides are protected.

RETURN OF THE AMERICAN AMBASSADOR TO DUTY AT HABANA: Statement Issued by the Department of State, March 18, 1960 2

20

22

The reply printed here is taken from p. 298 of Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1960-61.

"Sent to the House of Representatives under cover of a letter from the Acting Secretary of Agriculture, Mar. 15, 1960; referred to the House Committee on Agriculture, Mar. 16, as Executive Communication 1950, 86th Cong.

23 Department of State press release No. 134; the Department of State Bulletin, Apr. 4, 1960, pp. 523-524. Ambassador Bonsal returned to Habana Mar. 20, 1960.

CUBAN PROTEST OF THE REVOCATION OF LICENSES FOR THE EXPORT OF HELICOPTERS FROM THE UNITED STATES TO CUBA: Note From the Cuban Minister of Foreign Relations (Roa García) to the American Ambassador at Habana (Bonsal), March 25, 1960 2

23

74. UNITED STATES CONCERN OVER THE CUBAN GOVERNMENT'S RENUNCIATION OF THE RIO PACT: Statement Read to Correspondents by the Director of the Office of News (White), Department of State, March 30, 1960 24

Confirmed reports indicate that in a television interview on March 28 the Prime Minister of Cuba, Dr. Fidel Castro, stated and repeated for emphasis that his government does not regard itself as obligated by the Pact of Rio de Janeiro because the "Revolution did not sign that Pact." 25 It would be difficult to overstate the amazement and concern with which we view this statement. We believe this concern will be shared by all other members of the Organization of American States. The solemn obligations of a treaty fully accepted by all members of the inter-American community are not so easily avoided. These obligations as well as the advantages of protection which all parties to the treaty, including Cuba, enjoy are an integral part of one of the basic instruments of the inter-American system. It should also be pointed out that the attitude toward these obligations expressed by the Prime Minister on March 28 is contrary to the assurances given by the Cuban Government upon its assumption of power in 1959 and by the Prime Minister himself when he visited the United States in April of last year.26

23

Unofficial translation printed ibid., May 2, 1960, pp. 705–706.

On this same date (Mar. 25) the Cuban Minister of Foreign Relations addressed two additional notes to the American Ambassador, one protesting the dismissal of a Cuban national employed at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo (text ibid., pp. 706–707), and the other protesting the suspension of the service which the U.S. Department of Agriculture had maintained for the inspection in Cuban ports of fruits and vegetables destined for shipment to the United States (text ibid., p. 708).

[blocks in formation]

25 Premier Castro's statement read, in part, as follows: ". . . and then they [the Americans] threaten to incite the Latin American countries against us with this pact of Rio de Janeiro, by which we do not feel obligated because the revolution did not sign this pact. That is to say, and it is well that we do not feel, and we declare it categorically, that we do not feel obligated by this pact of Rio de Janeiro."

At his Apr. 8, 1960, news conference, the Secretary of State commented further: "This, of course, was a very sweeping statement which might well imply that any treaty of any kind with regard to Cuba was not binding because it had not been signed by the revolutionary government. . . . Yet you run into these contradictory statements; for example, Raúl Castro made a statement in regard to Guantanamo, saying that they have a treaty with the United States and intend to respect the treaty." (Ibid., pp. 645 and 646.)

...

26 Premier Castro spent the period Apr. 15-28, 1959, in the United States and Canada on an unofficial, good will visit.

75. UNITED STATES DENIAL OF LICENSES FOR EXPORT TO THE CARIBBEAN AREA OF AIRCRAFT ADAPTABLE TO MILITARY USES: Note From the American Ambassador at Habana (Bonsal) to the Cuban Minister of Foreign Relations (Roa García), April 11, 1960 27

EXCELLENCY: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of Your Excellency's note of March 25, 1960,28 regarding the decision of the United States Department of Commerce to revoke the licenses for the exportation of helicopters to Cuba.

The Government of the United States, beginning in March 1958, instituted a policy of closely scrutinizing all applications for export of arms and implements of war to the Caribbean area, and, in fact, of denying licenses with respect to shipments to the then Government of Cuba.29 It was the profound hope of the United States that with the establishment of the present Government of Cuba, peace and tranquillity would be restored to the Caribbean area. This hope has not been realized.

On the contrary, increased tensions in the Caribbean area accompanied by ample evidence of demands for armaments far in excess of any conceivable need for self-defense have made it necessary for the United States Government to broaden its policy so as to cover all items which have a military potential. This policy is deemed to be fully in accord with the conclusions of the Fifth Meeting of Consultation of Foreign Ministers at Santiago,30 which revealed the clear preoccupation of the American Governments with factors affecting international tensions in the Caribbean area. Consequently, precepts have been adopted which require that applications for the export to Caribbean countries of aircraft which can be used, with little or no modification, for military purposes be analyzed in the light of all available evidence regarding aircraft requirements and usage of the country in question. Cancellation of the licenses for the exportation of helicopters to Cuba was made pursuant to these precepts, account being taken of the large number of licenses approved in the preceding six months for the exportation to Cuba of light aircraft, including helicopters, for agricultural purposes, and the possibility that aircraft exported for agricultural uses might also be employed for military purposes.

Accept, Excellency, the renewed assurances of my highest consideration.

27

Department of State press release No. 185 (text as printed in the Department of State Bulletin, May 2, 1960, p. 705).

On this same date (Apr. 11) the American Ambassador addressed two additional notes to the Cuban Minister of Foreign Relations in reply to the two additional Cuban notes of Mar. 25 mentioned in footnote 23, ante. For the texts of the U.S. notes of Apr. 11, see the Department of State Bulletin, May 2, 1960, pp. 706 and 707–708.

See the unnumbered title which precedes doc. 74, supra.

29 See American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1958, p. 343.

* See ibid., 1959, pp. 359–373.

UNITED STATES PROTEST OF THE FIRING ON THE SUBMARINE U.S.S. SEA POACHER BY A CUBAN PATROL BOAT: Statement Issued by the Department of State, May 14, 1960 31

76. TERMINATION OF UNITED STATES TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO CUBA IN THE FIELDS OF AGRICUL TURE AND CIVIL AVIATION: Statement Read to Correspondents by the Director of the Office of News (White), Department of State, May 27, 1960 32

The American Embassy at Habana yesterday [May 26] delivered a note informing the Government of Cuba that the Mutual Security Act of 1960 provides that no assistance under the act be given to Cuba unless determined by the President to be in the national and hemispheric interest of the United States.33 The President on May 14, 1960, determined, as authorized under the act, that the orderly termination of the technical assistance program in Cuba including the transfer of project functions and responsibilities to Cuban technicians required that assistance to Cuba be continued for no more than 180 days. Assistance to Cuba, as affected by this determination, consists solely of technical cooperation and is limited, at the present time, to activities in agriculture and civil aviation.

UNITED STATES PROTEST OF DISSEMINATION BY CUBAN CONSULATES-GENERAL OF THE PROPAGANDA PAMPHLET "CUBA DENOUNCES BEFORE THE WORLD": Note From the Secretary of State (Herter) to the Cuban Chargé d'Affaires ad interim at Washington (Patterson), May 31, 1960

34

UNITED STATES PROTEST OF THE CUBAN CAMPAIGN OF SLANDER AGAINST THE UNITED STATES: AideMémoire Delivered by the American Embassy in Habana to the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Relations, June 4, 1960 35

31 Department of State press release No. 267; the Department of State Bulletin, May 30, 1960, p. 854. For the statement of the Department of the Navy on this incident, which took place May 6, 1960, see ibid., July 18, 1960, pp. 84-85. 33 Ibid., June 13, 1960, p. 962.

33 See sec. 401 (m) of the Mutual Security Act of 1960; post, doc. 392.

34

33

Department of State Bulletin, July 18, 1960, pp. 85-86.

Department of State press release No. 304; ibid., June 20, 1960, pp. 994-995.

« ÎnapoiContinuă »