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October 29, 1962

Telegram from Brazilian Embassy in Washington (Campos), 1:30 p.m., Monday

This document was made possible with support from Leon Levy Foundation

SECRETARY OF STATE FOR EXTERNAL RELATIONS

 

TELEGRAM

RECEIVED

12962

 

FROM THE EMBASSY IN WASHINGTON

ON/29/29/X/62

 

CONFIDENTIAL

DAS/DAC/DOr/DNU/DEA/DAM/600.(24h)

Question of Cuba.

 

801 – MONDAY – 13hs30 – In a meeting yesterday, Sunday, in the Department of State, [Secretary of State Dean] Rusk after accenting the decisive importance of the solidarity of the Latin American nations in the last meeting of the OAS, which had an obligatory impression on the Kremlin, until then confident in a schism within the continent, Secretary Rusk informed me: 1) that the first indication of the possibility of the abandonment of the bases was given in a private letter of Khrushchev to Kennedy, on 26 October, a letter that is still not published and that Rusk described as “long, vague and disturbing”; 2) that the second letter of Khrushchev, of the 27th, added the condition of the dismantling of NATO bases in Turkey; President Kennedy only responded to the first of these letters; 3) on the 28th by the hand of Moscow radio announced the letter in which Khrushchev communicated the decision of dismantling of bases; this letter was responded to by Kennedy in an affirmative tone, even before receiving the official text; 4) the United States of America has not made any bargain, not even assuming a weak attitude, in any manner, of North American compromises with the inter-American system of defense.

 

ROBERTO DE OLIVEIRA CAMPOS

Secretary of State Dean Rusk tells Brazilian officials about letters that have been sent between Kennedy and Khrushchev discussing missile bases in both Cuba and Turkey.


Document Information

Source

Ministry of External Relations Archives, Brasilia, Brazil (copy courtesy of Roberto Baptista Junior, University of Brasilia); translated from Portuguese by James G. Hershberg.

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Original Uploaded Date

2012-09-21

Type

Telegram

Language

Record ID

115352

Original Classification

Confidential

Donors

Leon Levy Foundation