FOREIGN RELATIONS,- 195 0, VOLUME I


looking towards overseas military participation by certain Latin
American countries on other than a token basis in the event of wide-
spread hostilities. In my judgment there are certain basic considera-
tions which should be studied by the NSC in the near future with a
view to arriving at a definitive policy and program. The degree of
military assistance available from Latin America in case of emergency,
in, say, 1952-53, depends on decisions taken in 1950 and an active
beginning in the implementation of such decisions. Important con-
siderations include the following:
   a) The degree to which military forces in being in Latin America
would create an additional element of strength in the free world
which would contribute a tangible deterrent to Soviet aggression.
   b) The degree to which trained and equipped military forces avail-
able in Latin America would contribute to the solution of the "man-
power gap" in the United States in case of all-out hostilities.
  c) The financial savings to the United States which might result
from using a certain number of Latin American divisions in the allied
war effort; such savings resulting from the participation by the Latin
American countries in meeting the troop aid, subsistence and allow-
lance requirements of their own troops.
  d) The global psychological gains which might derive from active
participation of the large number of UN members located in Latin
America.
  If the decision on this basic question is in the affirmative, then two
things are necessary:
  a) Availability of MDAP assistance on a grant rather than re-
imbursable basis and on a scale substantially larger than would be
required for a limited program based solely on hemispheric defense.0
  b) Active implementation of such a decision through the regional
framework of the Inter-American Defense Board operating under
adequate directives from the OAS.
  2. The economic assistance prograims, including both grants-in-aid
and loans (Annex No. 2).
  'The following recommendations for a United States economic co-
operation program with Latin America are based on the following
objectives:
  a) An offset to the progressive deterioration in our relations with
Latin America growing out of the fact that the United States has
or plans to have large-scale programs in all other major areas of the
world.
  b) Improvement of political relations of the United States with
Latin America through concrete demonstration of our willingness to
  6For further information on involvement of the Bureau of Inter-American
Affairs in formulation of military grant aid estimates for the NSC 68 project,
see the memorandum of December 4, 1950, from Fletcher Warren, Director of
the
Office of South American Affairs, to Mr. Miller, p. 677.


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