By this arms shipment a government in which Communist influence is very strong has come into a position to dominate militarily the Central American area. Already the Guatemalan Government has made gestures against its neighbors which they deem to be threatening and which have led them to appeal for aid.

The Guatemalan Government boasts that it is not a colony of the United States. We are proud that Guatemala can honestly say that. The United States is not in the business of collecting colonies. The important question is whether Guatemala is subject to Communist colonialism, which has already subjected 800 million people to its despotic rule. The extension of Communist colonialism to this hemisphere would, in the words of the Caracas Resolution, endanger the peace of America.

Secretary Dulles was asked whether his statement on Guatemala left the implication that the sending of arms to Guatemala from behind the Iron Curtain might properly be covered by the Resolution of Caracas or the Rio Treaty. Mr. Dulles made the following reply:

The whole question of determining the circumstances justifying invoking the Rio Treaty is being studied. The evidence is being accumulated. We don't have it all at the present time, and until it is accumulated and until we have exchanged views with other American countries no decision has been made as to whether or not to invoke the consultative processes of the Rio Treaty.

Asked under what conditions the United States might act, whether alone or through implementation of the Rio Pact, Mr. Dulles replied:

We would expect to act under the Rio Pact, and in full conformity with our treaty obligations. No member of the Rio Pact gives up what the charter of the United Nations calls the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense; that right is reserved. Nevertheless, it is contemplated that, if the circumstances permit, there should be an effort, a sincere effort, at collective action and we would expect to comply with both the letter and the spirit of our treaty obligations.

Asked whether the United States intends to take the initiative in invoking the consultative clause of the Rio Treaty in the event none of the other member countries do so, Mr. Dulles replied:

That is an academic question because we know there are others who are prepared to take the initiative if the further development of the facts indicate there is a clear case on which to act.

Asked whether there would not be some delay in bringing about the implementation of the Rio Treaty, Mr. Dulles replied:

It would be possible to get very quick action by the consultative organ of the American States. They can be called into a meeting almost on 24-hour notice. I would not anticipate any difficulty if that event occurred in having very prompt and decisive action taken by the consultative organ.

15. THE STATUS OF CONSULTATIONS WITH REGARD TO GUATEMALA: Transcript of a News Conference of the Secretary of State, June 8, 1954 (Excerpts) 1

At his news conference on June 8, Secretary Dulles was asked the current status of consultations going on with regard to Guatemala and the prospects for a Foreign Ministers Conference on the subject. The Secretary replied:

Well, there is going on an exchange of views with reference to the desirability of action which was forecast by the Caracas Declaration which was adopted last March 2 and subsequent developments in the way of this surreptitious shipment of arms into Guatemala from behind the Iron Curtain. That has necessitated a consideration by the American States as to whether or not a meeting of the American States would be desirable. There has been no decision taken as yet.

Asked whether the United States favored the holding of a Foreign Ministers Conference to deal with the question of Communists in Guatemala, Mr. Dulles replied:

We have not ourselves come to any final conclusion, because we believe that a final conclusion should be arrived at only after we have had an exchange of views with the other sister Republics. We are disposed to feel that the situation is one which calls for such a meeting, but, as I say, we are keeping our minds open on the subject until we have heard whatever arguments there might be on the other side of the matter.

Mr. Dulles was asked whether he had any comment on the suggestion by the President of Guatemala that he meet with President Eisenhower to iron out differences between the two countries. The Secretary replied:

There is a persistent effort by the authorities in Guatemala to represent the present problem there as primarily a problem between Guatemala and the United States relating to the United Fruit Company. That is a totally false presentation of the situation. There is a problem in Guatemala, but it is a problem in Guatemala which affects the other American States just as much as it does the United States, and it is not a problem which the United States regards as exclusively a United States-Guatemala problem.

If the United Fruit matter were settled, if they gave a gold piece for every banana, the problem would remain just as it is today as far as the presence of Communist infiltration in Guatemala is concerned. That is the problem, not the United Fruit Company. And this particular problem between Guatemala and the United States equally prevails as between Guatemala and a number of other States which are

1 Department of State Bulletin, June 21, 1954, pp. 950-951; see also statement issued by the Department of State, ibid., June 28, 1954, pp. 981 ff.

2 Supra, doc. 10.

3 See the aide-mémoire from the Department of State to the Guatemalan Ambassador at Washington, Aug. 28, 1953 (Department of State Bulletin, Sept. 14, 1953, pp. 357-360).

seriously threatened or would be seriously threatened if communism, in the words of the Caracas Resolution, gets control of the political machinery of any American State. As was said at Caracas, that would be a danger to all the American States and threaten the peace of this hemisphere. Therefore it is not just a question between Guatemala and the United States.

16. CONVOCATION OF A MEETING OF MINISTERS OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Resolution of the Council of the Organization of American States, June 28, 19541

THE COUNCIL OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN

STATES,

Having taken note of the communication presented by the Delegations of Peru, Nicaragua, Cuba, Honduras, United States, Panama, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, and Costa Rica, under date of June 26, 1954,2 requesting the convocation of the Organ of Consultation in accordance with the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, 3

RESOLVES:

1. To convoke a Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs to serve as Organ of Consultation, pursuant to Article [s] 6 and 11 of the InterAmerican Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, for the purpose of considering all aspects of the danger to the peace and security of the continent resulting from the penetration of the political institutions of Guatemala by the international communist movement, and the measures which it is desirable to take.

2. To fix July 7, 1954, as the opening date of the Meeting.* 3. To designate the city of Rio de Janeiro as the site of the Meeting.

17. INTERNATIONAL COMMUNISM IN GUATEMALA: Address by the Secretary of State, June 30, 1954

5

Tonight I should like to talk with you about Guatemala. It is the scene of dramatic events. They expose the evil purpose of the Kremlin to destroy the inter-American system, and they test the

PAU doc. C-sa-153, June 28, 1954; reproduced in Decisions Taken at the Meetings of the Council of the Organization of American States, vol. VII, Jan.Dec. 1954, p. 33.

2 For text, see Department of State Bulletin, July 5, 1954, pp. 31-32.

3 Supra, pp. 789-796.

At the Special Meeting held on July 2, 1954, the Council approved a resolution (PAU doc. C-sa-155) postponing sine die the Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, inasmuch as the Guatemalan situation had been resolved. See also supra, doc. 7.

Delivered to the Nation over radio and television networks; Department of State Bulletin, July 12, 1954, pp. 43-45.

ability of the American States to maintain the peaceful integrity of this hemisphere.

For several years international communism has been probing here and there for nesting places in the Americas. It finally chose Guatemala as a spot which it could turn into an official base from which to breed subversion which would extend to other American Republics. This intrusion of Soviet despotism was, of course, a direct challenge to our Monroe Doctrine,' the first and most fundamental of our foreign policies.

It is interesting to recall that the menace which brought that doctrine into being was itself a menace born in Russia. It was the Russian Czar Alexander and his despotic allies in Europe who, early in the last century, sought control of South America and the western part of North America. In 1823 President Monroe confronted this challenge with his declaration that the European despots could not "extend their political system to any portion of either continent without endangering our peace and happiness. We would not," he said, "behold such interposition in any form with indifference."

These sentiments were shared by the other American Republics, and they were molded into a foreign policy of us all. For 131 years that policy has well served the peace and security of this hemisphere. It serves us well today.

In Guatemala, international communism had an initial success.2 It began 10 years ago, when a revolution occurred in Guatemala. The revolution was not without justification. But the Communists seized on it, not as an opportunity for real reforms, but as a chance to gain political power.

Communist agitators devoted themselves to infiltrating the public and private organizations of Guatemala. They sent recruits to Russia and other Communist countries for revolutionary training and indoctrination in such institutions as the Lenin School at Moscow. Operating in the guise of "reformers" they organized the workers and peasants under Communist leadership. Having gained control of what they call "mass organizations," they moved on to take over the official press and radio of the Guatemalan Government. They dominated the social security organization and ran the agrarian reform program. Through the technique of the "popular front" they dictated to the Congress and the President.

The judiciary made one valiant attempt to protect its integrity and independence. But the Communists, using their control of the legislative body, caused the Supreme Court to be dissolved when it refused to give approval to a Communist-contrived law. Arbenz, who until this week was President of Guatemala, was openly manipulated by the leaders of communism.

Guatemala is a small country. But its power, standing alone, is not a measure of the threat. The master plan of international com

1 See Memorandum on the Monroe Doctrine (Department of State publication 37; 1930).

See supra, doc. 12.

munism is to gain a solid political base in this hemisphere, a base that can be used to extend Communist penetration to the other peoples of the other American Governments. It was not the power of the Arbenz government that concerned us but the power behind it. If world communism captures any American State, however small, a new and perilous front is established which will increase the danger to the entire free world and require even greater sacrifices from the American people.

This situation in Guatemala had become so dangerous that the American States could not ignore it. At Caracas last March the American States held their Tenth Inter-American Conference. They then adopted a momentous statement. They declared that "the domination or control of the political institutions of any American State by the international Communist movement . . . would constitute a threat to the sovereignty and political independence of the American States, endangering the peace of America." 1

There was only one American State that voted against this declaration. That State was Guatemala.

This Caracas declaration precipitated a dramatic chain of events. From their European base the Communist leaders moved rapidly to build up the military power of their agents in Guatemala. În May a large shipment of arms moved from behind the Iron Curtain into Guatemala. The shipment was sought to be secreted by false manifests and false clearances. Its ostensible destination was changed three times while en route.

At the same time, the agents of international communism in Guatemala intensified efforts to penetrate and subvert the neighboring Central American States. They attempted political assassinations and political strikes. They used consular agents for political warfare.

Many Guatemalan people protested against their being used by Communist dictatorship to serve the Communists' lust for power. The response was mass arrests, the suppression of constitutional guaranties, the killing of opposition leaders, and other brutal tactics normally employed by communism to secure the consolidation of its power.

In the face of these events and in accordance with the spirit of the Caracas declaration, the nations of this hemisphere laid further plans to grapple with the danger. The Arbenz government responded with an effort to disrupt the inter-American system. Because it enjoyed the full support of Soviet Russia, which is on the Security Council, it tried to bring the matter before the Security Council. It did so without first referring the matter to the American regional organization as is called for both by the United Nations Charter itself and by the treaty creating the American organization.

The Foreign Minister of Guatemala openly connived in this matter

1 Declaration of Solidarity for the Preservation of the Political Integrity of the American States Against International Communist Intervention; supra, doc. 10. See statement by the Department of State, May 17, 1954; supra, doc. 13. See U.N. doc. S/3232, June 19, 1954.