UN Secretariat Item Scan - Barcode - Record Title Page 33 Date 17/05/2006 Time 3:35:47 PM S-0881 -0003-04-00001 Expanded Number S-0881 -0003-04-00001 ltems-in-Political-Security Council Affairs (PSCA) Analysis - Latin America (see list of items, appendix No. 19) Dafe Created 07/10/1966 Record Type Archival Item Container s-0881-0003: 20/08/1 962Pcace-Keeping Operations Files of the Secretary-General: U Thant PSCA Analysis (Political-Security Council Affairs) Print Name of Person Submit Image Signature of Person Submit ROUTING SLIP FICHE DE TRANSMISSION TOs The Secretary-General AS FOR ACTION POUR SUITE A DONNER FOR APPROVAL POUR APPROBATION FOR SIGNATURE POUR SIGNATURE PREPARE DRAFT PROJET A REDIGER FOR COMMENTS POUR OBSERVATIONS MAY WE CONFER? POURRIONS-NOUS EN PARLER? YOUR ATTENTION VOTRE ATTENTION AS DISCUSSED COMME CONVENU AS REQUESTED SUITE A VOTRE DEMANDE NOTE AND FILE NOTER ET CLASSER NOTE AND RETURN NOTER ET RETOURNER FOR INFORMATION X POUR INFORMATION w\ ^*st »v Date: vl: 10 Oct. 1966 E: A .E Jjf Nesterenko, iCA CR. 13 (11-64) CONFIDENTIAL 7 October 1966 JMQrms NOTE ON LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS SEPTEMBER 1966 NOTE ON LATHS AMERICAN AFFAIHS SEPTEMBER 1966 I. General Comments 1. The most salient event concerning Latin America during September was the informal consultation of Foreign Ministers of the OAS Members held in Nev York, 21-2J September, on a proposed Conference of Presidents of the American States. The outcome of the informal consultation, together with an OAS Council resolution previously adopted, had the effect of setting an outline of an agenda for theproposed Summit Conference, and also agreeing on the procedure for its preparation. 2. As far as the substance was concerned, the Foreign Ministers agreed that the proposed conference "should be considered as a maximum effort ... for the purpose of bringing about fundamental changes in inter-American economic, social and cultural co-operation by giving a new impulse to the Alliance for Progress and by effective measures to accelerate Latin American economic integration", in accordance with the general wishes of their governments and of their peoples. 3. Concerning procedure, agreement was achieved after protracted discussions as to the preparation of the conference. The OAS Council by its resolution of 19 September formally convoked the Eleventh Meeting of Consultation of Foreign Ministers, to convene within 90 days of that date, in order to take decisions regarding the Summit Conference. Meanwhile, a "Committee on Preparations" for the Eleventh Meeting of Consultation was also established. 4. The Summit Conference, it was further agreed by the Foreign Ministers, should be held "as soon as possible" at a "generally acceptable" date and place to be determined by the OAS Meeting of Consultation. However, it is not fore- seen that the date would be earlier than February or March 1967. 5. With ample time for preparations, and an agreed basic agenda, negotiations are then to proceed in order to ascertain that the Presidential gathering would be fruitful. In this connexion, on 1 September, in his address before Congress, President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz, of Mexico, stated that since the peoples of the Contiment would place their hopes in the Summit Conference, "it would be very - 2 - tragic" and a source of ""bitter frustration" should there be no "important results, clear conclusions, and practical and concrete measures designed to raise the standard of living of the peoples". He added that "it is now necessary to translate good intentions into action". 6. The same emphasis on economic development has "been noticed in the statements of representatives of the Latin American countries which up to now have participated in the general debate of the twenty-first session of the U.N. General Assembly. The prevailing trend of these views has teen a general appeal towards closer co-operation in economic matters between the developed and the developing countries, and expressions of support of such international economic organs as the Conference on Trade and Development, whose recommendations, it has been emphasized, should be urgently implemented, and the Organization for Industrial Development, whose establishment at the current Assembly session has been given wide approval. 7. In the Dominican Republic, the withdrawal of the Inter-American Peace Force - IAPF - was completed on 21 September in accordance with an OAS Council decision of 2h June last. Both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies of Santo Domingo adopted resolutions to make the date of the final withdrawal of "foreign troops" a national holiday to be celebrated in future years. 8. As had been foreseen, Venezuela Joined the Latin American Free Trade Association (LAFTA) thus raising the number of members to ten Latin American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. It is expected that Venezuela will shortly fulfil the requisites of the Montevideo treaty, and will negotiate its list of products to be traded within LAFTA, in time for the next Conference of LAFTA Foreign Ministers which opens in Montevideo on 2k October, II, Inter-American Relations A. The Informal Meeting of Foreign Ministers - 9. The informal meeting of Foreign Ministers - present in New York on the occasion of their attendance at the twenty-first session of the U.N. General Assembly - accomplished its main purpose when "complete agreement" was reached on an outline of an agenda without, however, setting a date for the proposed Conference Chiefs of State. Also the question of the site of the conference was left to be agreed upon later. I/ For details, see Special Note of 26 September 1966. The official English text of the press communique which was issued appears as Annex I to the present Wote. - 3 - 10. The agreements of the Foreign Ministers reflected the majority view of the Latin American Governments, led by Mexico, which were in favour of (l) avoiding a hasty convocation and an accelerated time-table for the Summit Conference, (2) assuring that the conference would deal mainly with economic questions, and (3) avoiding the inclusion of controversial political issues in the basic agenda. 11. With the agreements now reached, the OAS Members seem to have overcome the divergence of views that had developed among them concerning the Summit Conference. The United States, in agreement with Brazil, had previously urged that the Summit Conference should be convoked for 5 December 1966. It also appears that the United States, together with Argentina and Brazil would have favoured discussion of such controversial issues as the Inter-American Permanent Force and the problem of Cuba. Begarding the site, Ecuador had objected to Lima, Peru, and Vina del Mar, Chile, on the grounds that the conference should not be held in any country with pending boundary disputes. These objections as well as previous objections raised in respect of convening the Third Special Inter-American Conference in Buenos Aires - which has been postponed - have strengthened a Mexican proposal now being studied by the OAS Council that the site of inter-American meetings should be "internationalized". Thus, with rights of "extra-territoriality" generally recognized to these designated meeting places, such type of political objections could be avoided. 12. In regard to the objectives of the proposed Summit Conference, it should be noted that the only basic points on which there was general acceptance were those concerning economic, social and cultural questions. However, on 15 September, in a formal address to the OAS Council, Foreign Minister Juracy Magalhaes of Brazil, invoked the concept of collective security to assert that the question of the creation of an Inter-American Permanent Force "cannot be indefinitely- postponed", and that the OAS could only be politically efficient as long as it had its own means of action to implement its decisions. The Foreign Minister added that this should be achieved on the basis of the consensus of the OAS Members. 13. Another subject of political controversy, Argentine misgivings on the post- ponement of the Third Special Inter-American Conference where the OAS Charter modifications are to be discussed, has been avoided since it was agreed that the date and place of the Summit Conference would be determined by the Eleventh Meeting of Consultation, "which will take into account the date determined or to be determined for the Third Special Inter-American Conference". B. The proposed Summit Conference 14. The Eleventh Meeting of Consultation of Foreign Ministers has been convoked "by a resolution -2/ adopted by the OAS Council on 19 September, in accordance with Article 39 of the OAS Charter. The Tenth Meeting of Consultation, which dealt with the situation in the Dominican Republic, had been convoked by the Council on 30 April 1965, and is still in existence. The Eleventh Meeting has been convoked "in order to take decisions regarding a meeting of Chiefs of State for the purpose of strengthening the Alliance for Progress and of agreeing upon new measures for hemisphere co-operation to facilitate Latin American economic integration". A "Committee on Preparations" for the Eleventh Meeting of Consultation was established under the provisions of the same CAS Council resolution. 15. It was also provided that "the highest officials of inter-governmental organizations and agencies whose activities are related to the subjects to be discussed" would be invited to give their valuable technical advice,