Exchange of Messages Between the President and President Kubitschek of Brazil Concerning the Proposed Meeting of Chiefs of State on the Middle East.
[Released July 26, 1958. Dated July 25, 1958]
Dear Mr. President:
I wish to thank you for your letter of July twenty-third concerning a possible meeting of Chiefs of State on the present world crisis, and to express my appreciation for your initiative in conveying to me your opinion on this highly important matter.
I am particularly pleased to receive your support, Mr. President, for the principle that any such meeting be within the framework of the orderly processes of the United Nations. This, as you know, was a fundamental part of my reply to Chairman Khrushchev of July twenty-second.
Furthermore, I fully recognize the merit of Your Excellency's view with regard to Latin American participation in the consideration of world problems. A threat to peace anywhere in the world is of concern everywhere in the world. The Latin American Republics, representing such an important area of the world in terms of political and cultural significance as well as in population and material resources, should be and must be vitally concerned with the elimination of any such threat.
It is precisely in recognition of the responsibility which all parts of the world have for the maintenance of peace, and which all countries, large and small, must share, that the United Nations exists. In keeping with this concept, the United States believes the United Nations to be the only appropriate forum in which to discuss the Soviet charge of a present threat to peace in the Middle East and, as Your Excellency mentioned in your letter, Latin America is already represented on the Security Council of the United Nations.
You may be assured, Mr. President, of my continuing attention to the constructive opinions you have expressed in your letter, and of my best wishes for your personal well-being.
Sincerely,
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
Note: The message from His Excellency Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira, dated July 23, follows:
His Excellency Dwight D. Eisenhower,
President of the United States of
America:
Aware of the possibility of a forthcoming meeting of heads of Governments, with a view to seeking a solution for the present grave world crisis, I consider it opportune to emphasize the necessity of Latin America being represented at such a decisive gathering. It would be consistent and just, even indispensable, that the Latin American group--which not only comprises a population of almost two hundred million but is also representative of a particular civilization and culture--be present at a meeting from which decisions can spring that may put an end to the anguish which not only torments the countries more directly responsible for the destinies of the world, but is also being undergone by the whole of mankind.
In manifesting to Your Excellency this opinion calling for the presence of Latin America in the formulation of decisions to be taken, I am only being consistent with the reiterated statements which I have made public lately, to the effect that this substantial part of our Continent must be freed from the featureless rear-guard position which it has held heretofore in the international scene, and that its voice be heeded whenever the destinies of the peoples are at stake. I feel sure that it will be beneficial to the cause of peace--which identifies one and all--if, in any kind of meeting, a new voice be heard which may add valid and constructive elements to the endeavor toward the achievement of a general understanding, supreme concern of mankind.
Thus, we would favor in principle a meeting of heads of Governments to be held within the Security Council of the United Nations, where Latin America already is represented. The motives and reasons which make the presence of Latin America imperative stand in full validity and strength even in the case that it be not found possible to hold the envisaged meeting within the framework of the United Nations.
I assure you, Mr. President, that I am not impelled nor inspired by intentions other than that of serving, to the best of my abilities, the common objective of all peoples, that is, the final elimination of dangerous divergences which may lead the nations into a world-wide struggle, the consequences of which would this time be really unforeseeable.
May God inspire Your Excellency in this hour of extreme difficulty.
JUSCELINO KUBITSCHEK
Dwight D. Eisenhower, Exchange of Messages Between the President and President Kubitschek of Brazil Concerning the Proposed Meeting of Chiefs of State on the Middle East. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/233785