The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project AMBASSADOR HARRY G. BARNES, JR. Interviewed by: Charles Stuart Kennedy Initial Interview Date: April 25, 2001 Copyright 201 ADST [Note: This inter iew was not edited by Ambassador Barnes$ TABLE OF CONTENTS Background Born in Minnesota, raised in Minnesota and New (ork Amherst College, Columbia Uni ersity US Army, WW,, Marriage Entered the Foreign Ser ice in .901 Bombay, ,ndia: 2ice Consul3 Rotation Officer .9015.903 En ironment Consular District Prague, C7echoslo akia3 Consular Officer .9035.900 C7ech language Ambassador Ale8 9ohnson Local En ironment C7ech communists Secret Police acti ities Relations with C7ech authorities Relations with public Li ing conditions So iet5C7ech relations Oberammergau, Germany: Russian language study .9005.906 Comments on course State Department: So iet Desk Officer .9065.907 Moscow, So iet Union: Publications Procurement Officer/ .9075.909 Cultural E8change Officer Ambassador Llewellyn Thompson Tra el 1 E8change programs Contacts with bookstores Restrictions Sources So iet E8change Programs Relations Economy En ironment ?The Packer of Tchaiko sky Street“ Ahrushche State Department: So iet Desk Officer .9095.962 East5West E8changes So iet Union group tra el in US Escorting US cultural groups to So iet Union U52 incident Usefulness of e8changes US CSo iet relations National War College .9625.963 So iet Missile Crisis Comments on Course Uni ersity of Oregon: Peace Corps Training Program .963 Nepali language study Course study 2olunteers Aathmandu, Nepal: Deputy Chief of Mission .9635.967 Ambassador Henry Stebbins Historical background Punchiat De elopment Personnel Relations Aing Mahendra Go ernment USA,D Chinese ,ndia5Nepal relations Diplomatic Corps 9im Whittaker climbs Mt. E erest 2ietnam War Ambassador Carol Laise Bunker State Department3 FS,: Romanian language study .9675.96E Bucharest, Romania: Deputy Chief of Mission .96E5.97. 2 Ceausescu Council on Economic and Mutual Assistance FCEMA) Agriculture and industry Foreign relations Relations with So iet Union Richard Ni8on isit Ambassador Richard Da is Ambassador Leonard Meeker So iet in asion of C7echoslo akia Relations with the West Ceausescu isit to US 9ewish community 9ackson52anik Bill So iet 9ews Bessarabia Relations with neighbors Communists Security En ironment Restrictions Sur eillance E8change programs Ceausescu/Ni8on relations State Department: Office of Personnel: Career Counselor, .97.5.972 9unior Officer Personnel 2ietnam De elopment Officers in CORDS Problems Operations Minority officers Huality of candidates State Department: Deputy E8ecuti e Secretary .9725.97I Secretariat organi7ation Operations Operations Center Secretary of state Henry Aissinger Tom Pickering Relations with National Security Council FNSC) Ambassador to Romania .97I5.977 Family Most Fa ored Nation FMFN) Bi5lateral agreements Language capabilities Earthquake 3 ?History of Communist Party“ manuscript issue CeausescuKs policies Economy En ironment Mrs. Ceausescu President Ford isit Relations with ,srael Religions State Department: Director General of the Foreign Ser ice .9775.9E. Secretary of State Cyrus 2ance policy Family Liaison Office Personnel policy Foreign Ser ice Act of .9E1 Minorities Congressional interest Female FSO assignments Foreign Ser ice Spouses ?Stretch“ assignments A ?representati e“ Foreign Ser ice“ White House participation in assignments American Foreign Ser ice Association FAFSA) Role of management in assignments Equal Employment Opportunity State Department: ,mplementation of .9E1 Foreign Ser ice Act .9E. Ambassador to ,ndia .9E.5.9E0 Nuclear issues Prime Minister ,ndira Gandhi Afghanistan Bud McFarlane ,ndia isit American in estment Reagan/Gandhi relations ,ndira Gandhi isit to Washington Congress Party ,ndia/So iet relations Aashmir Afghanistan En ironment Consulates Communist Party Relations with go ernment British heritage China ,ndira Gandhi assassination 4 Raji Gandhi US / Pakistan relations PL IE1 Food Grains Agreement Ambassador to Chile .9E05.9EE Pinochet Reagan Policy Human Rights Economic system Congressional interest National Accord Catholic Church Repercussions of Human Rights comments Ruling 9unta Relations with officials Plebiscite Political Parties Censorship Pariah state Demonstrations 9esse Helms Anti5Pinochet elements ?The Chicago Boys“ UN Human Rights Commission Report Pinochet ousted by plebiscite Comments Secretary of State Schult7 Senator 9esse Helms ,ndiaKs Media US,A operations in ,ndia ChileKs Media American commercial interests in Chile US/Chile military relations ,ndian military iews on So iet military and equipment ,ndiaKs Uni ersity system Retirement .9EE Post Retirement .9EE5211. Promotion of Foreign Language Skills F.9925.993) Professor of ,nternational Relations F.9935.99I) Carter Center F.99I52111) Operations Nepal election monitoring 9immy and Rosalind Carter 5 Rwanda Dali Lama Death Penalty Rockefeller Foundation funded programs ,ndia5Pakistan Conferences Other acti ities ADDENDUM Mrs. Harry FBetsy) BarnesK remembrances of Chile INTERVIEW ": This is a Foreign Affairs Oral History Program interview with Ambassador Harry )arnes. Today is April 25, 2001, and we are in Washington DC. This interview is being conducted under the auspices of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training. I am Charles Stuart Kennedy. Harry, let-s begin at the beginning. Could you tell me when and where you were born and something about your family. BARNES: , was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, the 0th of 9une .926. My parents came from the Midwest. My mother from southeastern ,owa and my father from the Minnesota5 North Dakota border. They met at the Uni ersity of Wisconsin. My fatherKs work was in the area of what at the time was called motor equipment3 in effect what we would call now, , suppose, road building equipment. He then mo ed to the automobile retail business and from there to the battery business. My mother, somewhat unusual for the time, also went into business, this is the mid5L31s, and ran a coffee shop for people working in that particular area of St. Paul. Then we mo ed to upstate New (ork outside of Buffalo in the early .9I1s. This was in conjunction with the battery business that my father was then in, and then mo ed back to St. Paul again with the same firm. , did my schooling in public schools in St. Paul. ": Let-s tal0 a bit about St. Paul. 1ou were sort of becoming aware just about the time of the 3reat Depression, weren-t you. BARNES: No, a little later actually. Because, not that the Depression was o er by mid5 L31s, but it was not what it was earlier. No, , donKt ha e a sense as , was growing up of what people told me about the Depression. Of course, my family was employed and, in those days, it really made the difference. ": In St. Paul, where did you go to school. BARNES: , went to the neighborhood school in the area of St. Paul we li ed in and went on to junior high school, also in St. Paul. Then my parents decided, so they told me, that , needed something more in the way of discipline and that took the form of sending me to a 6 pri ate school, in this case a parochial school, a Catholic school which was a military school for boys, as well and for the first year and a half of high school , went to St. Thomas Academy, part of St. Thomas College in St. Paul. ": While you were in grammar school and particularly those early years4t, were there any courses that sort of particularly intrigued you. What were your interests. BARNES: Nothing that is that clear to me now in terms of courses. My general feeling is that , enjoyed school, enjoyed learning, but one subject compared to another subject, no. What also intrigued me, which is was not a school acti ity was what my father would tell me from the trips he took in conjunction with his business, this is particularly the road building type things and he used to bring me back brochures or maps that told something about where he had been in the Midwest. The second aspect as , recall, and maybe this has some rele ance, my motherKs family was German in origin andM ": What was her name. BARNES: Poehler was on her motherKs side and her fatherKs side was Blaul. We as children would go with my parents to my motherKs mother, my grandmotherKs place in Southeastern ,owa, Burlington 5 , donKt know3 my grandfather had died before , was born 5 for Christmas3 and part of Christmas was a set of German traditions. ": 1ou had the Christmas tree with candles on it. BARNES: (es, and certain Christmas foods. We were a fairly numerous number of cousins. How much of our traditions, like gathering together at the top of the stairs and coming down by age, the stocking tradition is specifically German, , am not sure but , think probably some of them were. German Christmas carols, for e8ample. , had an aunt who was a singer and had some of her training in Germany and introduced me to opera through recordings, at that point so that was again something beyond the immediate situation. ": How many brothers and sisters do you have. BARNES: Two brothers, , was the oldest of three and just to jump ahead a bit, both ha e ended up being uni ersity professors. 9ust to continue on the opera, , think it was because of the aunt and later began always to make sure that , listened to the Saturday afternoon Met performance that was on the radio. ": Who sponsored that. 7 BARNES: Te8aco. They still do and , remember my parents taking me to the St. Paul opera from time to time as , was growing up. When , went into high school, of course, there what particularly intrigued me was Latin. , had a priest as a teacher and , still remember his name, as a matter of fact. He made Latin seem interesting and sort of fun too. ": Well, languages5 you have a reputation for languages. Is this the first language. BARNES: ThatKs the first language, yes. ": How about 3erman. BARNES: German, really bits and pieces because of the family traditions.