MEETING WITH DR. VICTOR F. GOYTIA, FORMER PANAMANIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE AND DR.

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80B01676R000900050025-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Sequence Number: 25
• Content Type: MFR

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OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
WASHINGTON 25, D. C.
MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD
SUBJECT; Meeting with Dr. Victor F. Goytia, former Paarutraae
Presidential Candidate and Dr. Fraacisco Aguirre
(Nicaragua), Co=Publisher of Diarto Leas A.r sr cas o
8 September 1960
not visited the United States before now he stated that he had had
opportunities but he always had some doubts as to whether he would xe
warmly welcomed.
visit was his first visit to the United States. When asked why heft
voted patriot as well as a strong proponent of democracy. lba rent
the last elections. He speaks English haltingly and appears is be a .,e
held the portfolios of Minister of Education and Foreign Minister in
Panama as well as being an unsuccessful Presidential candidate dr,r
on me to inform me of the situation in Panama. He was accor. panie f
by Dr. Francisco Aguirre, who acted an interpreter. Dr. Cioytia a =s
On recommendation of Mr. Dooher of USIA, Dr. G>.iytia caib
an exile from Nicaragua, presently residing in Washington. He
Dr. Francisco Aguirre is Co-Publisher of Dtaric Las Arnor? eae.e
which is published in Miarrri and distributed throughout varies area c
Latin America. It is reported that some quantities of this aewspar r a3
still being distributed in Cuba. It is pro-American in policy and pri-its
certain important articles in both Spanish and English. D:"'. Pguirr,
President Arguello. He was exiled from Nicaragua as a resuit of
coup d'etat against President Arguello.
Commandant of the Guardia Presidencial during the terra . of office C
Dr. Cioytia's first statement was: `"I as X very happy to ii
the people whom I have talked to in Washington are cier? i
OSD review
me that the situation was going from ;bad to worse,'. He mats the ; 3U-t
state of the situation in :panama today. He said that he carne
Canal Zone". He then stated that he had been talking to varia .t pie
in the Washington area in an effort to have our goveruaxrstnt realize
the Pana=manians and under stand them better than the Americans is he
ing statements during the one and one-half hour discuselor.
(E E "EG ST v E~~E
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aad by Marines during their occupation in Nicaragua *r4 bacar IE
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(a) The Cuban Embassy in Panama has 3Z siutornobiiei with
c tags which go about the country passing out C o:anr An st
-American propaganda. These 3$ care carry agents who rr: -a-ke
personal contacts with individuals mainly in the lower classee. par`ic-
ulaarly in poverty stricken areas.
(b) The Cuban government is spending a lot of rrmoney subs*Asir
this organization.
(c) The leading Castro agent in Panama is a yea ica+al
doctor. Dr. Francisco Sarna niego, who operates from Vensaa t.la b--t it
supported by the Cuban Embassy.
(d) At the present time there are three Communist schools in
Panama conducted with Cuban financial support. Ons is in Panaar_Ye City
another another is in Santiago and the third is in Davila ? (Daviid).
(e) That the majority of the public media in Panama is under
Communist domination, r ainly by the Cubans: that their entire rt i ra
there is oriented against the United States and all news ad bif o rzn a n t r a -
made available to the mass** of people in Panama is strongly biasaood
against United States interests.
(f) That all but a few small Panamanian radio stations are are
ceiving money from Cuba. and that Soviet propaganda is also getti to
the people through these various media in spite of all U. 3. efforts.
(g) That Castro it an agent of both the USSR and the
Communists and receives benefits from both at at the same tire.
(h) That the Chinese Communists in ax> throughout Latin
a)am"?
America have special interests and special influence because if
existence of many Chinese centers throughout these countries. i-'e rthc
more, that manufactured goods from China are introduced widely =-rid
outsell American products. Chinese products undersell k rice pro-
ducts. Further, in the eyes of Latin Americans, there in but one phi a
and this is Communist China.
(i) That Latin Americans cannot uncle:
t
Nationalist China because China has always been on the ruinland
Asia, not the Island of F-- r-mosa. The Laati.n# still think that For-r, 'sa
is Formosa, not Nationalist China.
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(j) That Dr. Samaniego distributes medicine and provides nec i a
care throughout rural areas and that although he is an u.nlri p tam
figure at the present time, he Will probably soon become the Corn tuna
leader in Panama.
(k) That the major newspapers in Panama, El :pia, C;r, itica a-n
La Hora, are all subsidized by Castro's agents and they have snot ?eede
in controlling the two largest newspapers, the La Panama and -1,,11 tr$
by coercion.
(1) That L'Eatrella publishes an English language edit
Canal Zone for Americans and that editorials contained in the Fn
l -h
g
language edition are always different from the Spanish language eedI a-c-z
which is published for Pax>Iaam Lniaan consumption. Communist prop igan'7
u
c
es not, as a rule, appear in the English language edition.
(r) The Russians and Chinese, mainly through the *Efor
._
Castro, have the ears of the peesple of Panaar 4. As long as tuns ai =xati
exists, all efforts of the U. S. will be to no avail,
(n) That Chinese immigration is becor>;ing a eerie
of Chinese entering the country has increased to a stage of at
country not only from the political and ideal4gical vas .era ,
economic viewpoint.
(a) That the Chinese Communist threat to Latin America is or
ous than a penetration of the Soviet Union because there are b4 ) L-
a in Communist China who will. be more effective when tl y
_ _.
turn than the number of Latin Americans who visit and study gr the o
Union.
(p) That relationships between Panaxnza and the U. S. are -- w
than they appear to be on the surface. Up to now, relation bi,}e bet -ie
Panama and the U. S. haw been carried on by Panama and the t7. S. by
improvisation of policy which has been more Or less directed by hered -
line a. Further that U. S. Policy with Panama has not been guided b
4
realities .
(q) They stated that there are two ministries of Foreign Affair
Between these two ministries, there are discussions and agreeexr#ent-T' ex
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oehind each one there iH an invisible stex. In Panar:i,, t re are
the illiterate people who are led by demagogues. This gro z ;, bvv ri,. #-
action, rises up against the government and in
tt
thee actions of their Fosei office. say ca$09 Over- aide
The other invisible muster, u t~
in the U. S. , I. the Pentagon. In the eyes of the
Pentagon often aver-rules opinion rendered by the State D artr nt
(r) That treaties which have been made between Ps i.arrr = d
U. S. Include staternente such as: P`anarr cedes ororev to .,
U. S. the following, etc. These words are used by political
to inflame the people and make thorn feel that, Par4Lma knees before the U. S. _ ai ra- a 04 X V-1
(e) These treaties Should be ch
d
ange
to read: a _a n
with the U. S. or agrees to Xr4Li taro with
hh
t
e e the following. ,
other words the language of the treaties should denote -n;t ac , r a ? -
cooperation between the governments and remove any iz r'pLicat on, ,r
terpretation that would indicate servitude on the part of Pet :ra,
(t) That various treaties that the U. S. has sde with
not contsfn the word ' concede A because the S P d
Spaniards would severe
signed such a treat
y.
(u) That the Guardia 1aeionei
h
ates by the peeyle xa a I
of
of the gg?overjg~yxpent agate then=. The Guardia Nacion1 thoul _ s :d
to maintain the nnuavlLi OW-t- I aL - Y .
including the Canal Zone, in ccresperstfcsn with 31 tAO the U. S. This ild giv
the Armed Forces of Parana a mission and provide the uard a xe
with a reason for being other than its present role as a tool of the is ogre
meet to suppress the people.
(v) Arrangements should be made to have the peoi>ie Sri 4 .a
with the Arrnv on . --
-
t
of
n
e
nati
1
--
zn n
Proiessiox conscription instead
ataining the
a
ci
-
onet. Also y shoe d.
r+eceeives training with xr3er can t rtzo p$ s
to write, to eat where they would art li ~
properly a-nd to undee r stand Americans and dezt.ac r a . y
by cooperating with Americans jr, the Harniaphe.re defense. Xh?is %Wxaia
give them a statue of equals and would
training for this mass of i provide valuable and ne.~ear?a,ry
1li iterate people who are presently an easy pre,
for Castro's Communist agents.
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t the present time, the people of Panama have two - e . e
Panama -- the Panama Wall Street crowd (the wealthy people who wt
ority of land and businesses) and the Guardia Nacionai. The
of the people consider these two "enendes?? to be tools of
s by Castro's Communist agents.
Dr. Goytia gave a lurid description of the situation which he
claimed existed in Panama subsequent to Pearl Harbor. He was h:=
ister of Education and Foreign Affairs during World Warn. with tke
rapid and tremendous influx of American soldiers into Panar~=a at th=tt
time, a very serious situation developed concerning the actions of t1: -iae
troops and the many petty crimes that were committed by thews yo-uc4
Biers. He stated that he conferred with the American Ambussadt
and the Commanding General, General Brett, on many occasions t)
develop cooperative programs that would enhance the Americans in -1 le
of the Panamanian peo=le and improve relationships between b
population and American Servicemen. The various programs which
were undertaken to irnrove these relationships turned out to be ver
profitable for both countries during the period of World War U. These
cooperative programs led to the training of Panarx ar da ne to w
Americans, even participating as sky-watchers in the Hencis,
defense.
At this point Dr. Guy" dramatically described the 4th of 3ull f
celebration in front of the U. S. Embassy where, for approximately i
, the Panamanians cheered the American flag and the Am.eric
Ambassador. He contrasted this situation with the events of Last k-10 .
bar when a group of Panamanians desecrated the American flag on *1n-.
the same ground where the 1943 celebration had been held. D. Go.
is fearful that so much ground has been lost, that tremendous effort
will have to be made to regain the prestige and relationshipps that ha--e
existed in the past and should exist today between the peoples of the . 1S
and Panama. He believes that there is much latent and mutual good will
among the people of Panama for the U. S. and that it can be brought
again by appropriate programs.
When asked what could be done at the present time to inn
thee situation, Dr. Goytia started that the paramount objective of the t`. S.
in Panama, and in all Latin America, should be to combat the props, ,ant,
machinery which is now in the hands of the enemy. He rightly feels that
if this situation continues, disastrous results will follow. He pinto, ou
businessmen have been withdrawing advertising u
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to anti-Castro newspapers and have been giving their support to usw-
papers supported by the Soviets and Cuban Cornmuniits, He feels tb t
this support was withdrawn from the newspapers in an offort tc apps .,e
Castro in a move to protect American business interests in Cuba fro
confiscation.
Dr. Goytia also pointed out that the greatest need for the peak; to
of Panama at this time is a democratic newspaper to challenge the
paganda of the enemy. He suggests the use, of comic strips ant otbe
means of approach to the illiterate masses of Panama and et ea 1,a-
American countries as being a very effective approach. He reconur =ads
that whatever news media is used, it must reach the masses of ok
Dr. Aguirre, the Co-Publisher of Las Americas, who acted as
preter during this conversation, stated that 30 major U. S. busii e
au'verttsers bad withdrawn advertising from his newspaper because
Dr. Aguirre informed mo that during the last presidential o1+r= tiot
in Panama. that expenditures by candidates and votes for the three car =i--
dates were as follows:
The President elect
$2,700,000
110, 000 v
Other candidate
$115001000
$0, 000 v.ot*e
Dr. Goytia
$10,000
55, 000 votes
GRAVES B. ERS
General, U$MC (Bet)
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 'sTAVDARD FORT Approved For Release 2007/06/14: CIA-RDP80BO1676R000900050025-3i
Office Memorandum ? UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
TO a Mr. Allen Dulles, CIA
FROM : General G. B. Erskine, USMC (R
DATE:16 Sept. (960
SUBJECT: Meeting with Dr. Victor F. Goytia and Dr. Francisco Aguir:-e
on 8 September 1960
I believe that you will be interested in the attached Memorand-Lu L for
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MEMORANDUM FOR:
Copies of the attached have been
forwarded to DDCI, DD/P, and DD/I.
19Sep60
(DATE)
FORM NO. lo' REPLACES FORM 10- 101
1 AUG 54 WHICH MAY BE USED.
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