'The Best of Friends and Neighbors': USIA and American Public
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‘The Best of Friends and Neighbors’: USIA and American Public Diplomacy Strategy in Cuba, 1953-1962 by Hector L. Montford A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Auburn University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Auburn, Alabama May 7, 2016 Keywords: United States Information Agency, Public Diplomacy, Cuba, Cold War, United States Copyright 2016 by Hector L. Montford Approved by David Carter, Chair, Associate Professor of History Tiffany Sippial, Associate Professor of History Mark Sheftall, Associate Professor of History Reagan Grimsley, Assistant Professor of History Lourdes Betanzos, Associate Professor of Foreign Languages and Literature Abstract This dissertation examines the United States Information Agency’s (USIA) public diplomacy strategy in Cuba from 1953 to 1962 through both the agency’s United States Information Service (USIS) field office on the island and the USIA’s offices in Washington, DC. Within the context of the Cold War, USIS-Havana personnel distributed messages to Cuban audiences that explained US foreign policies, championed US political and economic ideals, and promoted US cultural and scientific achievements. Local staff depended upon a cooperative, modern Cuban media and communications network to distribute their materials throughout the island. The USIA strategy in Cuba adhered to the agency’s larger Latin American objectives and reflected long-standing US assumptions regarding Cuban-US relations. USIS-Havana personnel believed that the Cuban public possessed a wealth of good will towards the United States based upon decades of shared history and US influence on the island. These assumptions dominated field office planning, even as events in Cuba soured local public opinion of the United States government amid the Fidel Castro-led insurgency against Cuban president Fulgencio Batista. Assuming power in January 1959, Castro and his revolutionary government embarked on a reform program and propaganda campaign to rid Cuba of US influence. USIS-Havana staff did little to respond directly to Castro’s propaganda against the United States until the Eisenhower administration pursued a more aggressive approach against ii Castro after winter 1959. Yet by this time, traditional USIS messages had little influence on the island, as local audiences no longer accepted US programming advocating anticommunism or promoting the United States as a partner in Cuban advancement. Losing access to the Cuban media that spread their messages compounded the post’s ineffectiveness. Instead, the USIA assumed a regional approach to explain the Cuban issue and to curb Castro’s popularity to Latin American audiences. Following first the Eisenhower, then the Kennedy administrations’ policies, USIA strategists presented Cuba as a communist beachhead in Latin America and portrayed Castro as an oppressive ruler who threatened to disrupt both peaceful regional progress and inter-American solidarity so vital to “free world” victory in the Cold War. iii Acknowledgements I would like to first thank my dissertation committee. Tiffany Sippial, Mark Sheftall, and Reagan Grimsley were all wonderful in their support and advice as both committee members and instructors. I am also especially grateful to Lourdes Betanzos who took the time to serve on my committee and offer her expertise. I would especially like to thank my advisor and committee chair, David Carter, for his guidance and patience through the dissertation process and throughout my time at Auburn. Thank you, as well, to the staff at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. They may not realize the assistance they provided in finishing this work, but without their efforts, this dissertation would not exist. I would also like to acknowledge the faculty and staff of the University of South Alabama’s Marx Library. Thank you for your understanding and encouragement during the process. Additionally, I am deeply indebted to Anne Morris for taking the time to lend her editorial expertise to this work. The amazing friends I made while in the program ensured that the high moments at Auburn were always at their highest and the lows never lasted too long. Adrianne and Leo Bruce, Josh Barronton, Abby Sayers, Michael Johnson, Sean Seyer, and so many others made the experience more fun than it probably should have been. I would especially like to thank Charles Wexler for his friendship during our time in Auburn. I am fortunate to call you all friends and could not have asked for a better support group. My Auburn compatriots join a long-standing list of great friends. Thanks to Phil and Kirstan Summers, Casey and Melanie Jones, Ken and Teresa Womble, Kevin and iv Blair Gregg, Cliff and Amy Walker, Jeremy and Mandy McClellan, Jon Caldwell, and Josh McClellan for your lifelong friendship. As always, your love and harassment kept me grounded during this endeavor. I have had the pleasure of gaining new family members since beginning this journey. They supported me well before I officially became part of the family and never ceased their encouragement. Joe and Kathy Meidlinger, Sarah, Rob, Cora, and Collin Beland are all anyone could ask for in a family. Thank you all for welcoming me into your lives. There are countless other family members that shared in shaping my life, so, unable to devote an entire chapter to listing your names, I hope that you all realize how important you are to me. Most importantly, my mom and dad, Judy and Hank, have gone above and beyond what any son could ever hope for. I will never be able to thank them enough for their support and love. Both were always there, even when they had no idea what I was doing. I owe you a debt that I will never be able to repay, but will try to honor. I would also like to especially thank my grandmother Claudia, who instilled in me from a very early age the importance of learning and a desire to read and explore, providing the catalyst for all of this so many years ago. Saving what is without a doubt the best for last, I must thank my wife, Hesper. You have been my biggest supporter, best editor, and dearest friend since we met. I truly could not have made it through this process without you. The time we spent together studying, writing, stressing, and laughing were all worth it to grow closer to you. This dissertation may be the highlight of my graduate career, but meeting you while at Auburn was the true reward. v Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. iv List of Abbreviations ........................................................................................................ vii Introduction ..........................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1: Limited Resources, Dynamic Activity: The USIS Field Office in Cuba ........29 Chapter 2: Maintaining the Ties: USIS-Havana in Batista’s Cuba, 1953-1956 ...............67 Chapter 3: Nonintervention and Myopia: USIS-Havana During the Cuban Insurgency, 1957-1958 .......................................................................102 Chapter 4: Losing the Audience: USIS-Havana Confronts the Revolution, 1959 .........146 Chapter 5: Without a Voice: USIS-Havana’s Final Year, 1960-1961 ............................178 Chapter 6: The Unhappy Island: The USIA’s Anti-Castro Strategy in Latin America, 1959-1962 ......................................................................................219 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................258 References ........................................................................................................................275 vi List of Abbreviations CANF Cuban American National Foundation CAO Cultural Affairs Officer CIA Central Intelligence Agency CIAA Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs CPI Committee for Public Information IBS International Broadcasting Service (Voice of America) IO Information Officer NSC National Security Council OAS Organization of American States OWI Office of War Information PAO Public Affairs Officer PSP Partido Socialista Popular USIA United States Information Agency USIS United States Information Service VOA Voice of America vii INTRODUCTION “The rapid deterioration of relations between the United States and Cuba, the best of friends and neighbors from the start of their history, has drawn world attention to a most perplexing diplomatic problem of immediate concern to the Government and people of the United States.” – US Department of State Instruction, March 15, 1960 William Lenderking had only recently completed his training with the United States Information Agency (USIA) when he assumed his first assignment in Havana, Cuba in 1959. For his year-long rotation in the agency’s United States Information Service (USIS) field office, what the USIA called its overseas posts, the new employee was to acquaint himself with the various activities that USIA information and cultural officers carried out within a foreign field office. Gaining practical experience in the various sections that comprised USIS-Havana’s public diplomacy effort on the island, Lenderking’s assignment would prepare him for work as an officer in the agency, the US government’s