Political Report on Mexico for June 1963, P.L. Bhandari, Ambassador to Mexico

Political Report on Mexico for June 1963

SECRET

No. 72-HD(SRO-I)/63

FROM: P.L. Bhandari, Ambassador to Mexico

TO: The Foreign Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs

DATE: July 4, 1963

By Bag A

Foreign Minister Manuel Tello, who toured Scandinavia during the month, described the purpose of his visit in these words: “To unite efforts with the Governments of Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland in the struggle which the President of Mexico is carrying forward in favour of peace. He referred to the Nordic countries as “figuring amongst the most fervent supporters of peace and disarmament.” Repeatedly, in all four capitals, he stressed President Lopez Mateos’ efforts in this cause, with special reference to the proposal for a Latin American denuclearized zone….

Finland was the only country which referred directly to President Lopez Mateos’ peace efforts. “When I expounded towards the end of last month my proposal for proclaiming the territories of Nordic countries as a denuclearized zone, I made reference to the aforementioned Mexican initiative, emphasizing that this was a good form of preventing dissemination of nuclear arms in territories where they did not already exist,” Finnish President Urho Kekkonen said in a speech at a banquet given in honour of Mr. Tello.

President Lopez Mateos meanwhile has attempted to seize every opportunity to emphasize his role as peace-maker. He sent a long message to the first conference on “World Peace through the Rule of Law” now being held in Athens, Greece, stating: “Mexico, in accordance with its policy, supports international meetings of a pacifist nature, and all well-intentioned efforts in favour of this.” Canvassing for Lopez Mateos’ bid for the Nobel Peace Prize has been maintained on other fronts also. The Association of Mexican University Professors, in an appeal to the Confederation of Organizations of Professional Teaching, plugged this candidature with massive documentation supporting their recommendation. They have further been asked to advise their 132 affiliate organizations belonging to 80 different countries to write directly to the Nobel Foundation of Norway expressing their support. The Eighth Congress of Educators held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has approved a motion, circulated by the Mexican delegation, requesting the Confederation of American educators to support President Lopez Mateos’ candidature for the Peace Prize.

5. Meanwhile, 10 Latin American governments have responded favorably to the joint proposal of Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Bolivia and Ecuador for a denuclearized zone in Latin America, according to the Mexican Foreign Office. These countries are Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru and Venezuela. The statement added that these replies, “being preliminary in character, as is natural, the Governments manifest that they have to study the proposal. As regards Central America, these countries have to exchange impressions between themselves because of the ties existing between the five Republics and Panama.”