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428079851
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President's Meeting with President Mario Soares of Portugal, February 23, 1989
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428079851
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document
title
President's Meeting with President Mario Soares of Portugal, February 23, 1989
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Records of the National Security Council (George H. W. Bush Administration)
Presidential Memcon Files
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Portugal
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428079851
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23
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1989-02-23
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2
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1989
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Withdrawal/Redaction Sheet
(George Bush Library)
Document No.
Subject/Title of Document
Date
Restriction
Class.
and Type
07. Memcon
Re: Memorandum of Conversation (4 pp.)
2/23/89
(b)(1)
S
Collection:
Document Partially Declassified
Record Group:
Bush Presidential Records
(Copy of Document Follows)
Office:
Scowcroft, Brent, Files
By
(NLGB)
on
10/6/10
Series:
Presidential Correspondence
Subseries:
Presidential Memcons
WHORM Cat.:
File Location:
Presidential Meetings - Memorandum of Conversations 1/24/89 - 2/25/89
Date Closed:
1/23/2009
OA/ID Number:
91107-001
FOIA/SYS Case #:
2009-0275-S
Appeal Case #:
Re-review Case #:
Appeal Disposition:
P-2/P-5 Review Case #:
Disposition Date:
AR Case #:
2000-0429-F(5)
MR Case #:
AR Disposition:
Released in Part
MR Disposition:
AR Disposition Date:
8/21/2009
MR Disposition Date:
RESTRICTION CODES
Presidential Records Act - [44 U.S.C. 2204(a)]
Freedom of Information Act - [5 U.S.C. 552(b)]
P-1 National Security Classified Information [(a)(1) of the PRA]
(b)(1) National security classified information [(b)(1) of the FOIA]
P-2 Relating to the appointment to Federal office [(a)(2) of the PRA]
(b)(2) Release would disclose internal personnel rules and practices of an
P-3 Release would violate a Federal statute [(a)(3) of the PRA]
agency [(b)(2) of the FOIA]
P-4 Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential commercial or
(b)(3) Release would violate a Federal statute [(b)(3) of the FOIA]
financial information [(a)(4) of the PRA]
(b)(4) Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial
P-5 Release would disclose confidential advice between the President
information [(b)(4) of the FOIA]
and his advisors, or between such advisors [a)(5) of the PRA]
(b)(6) Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
P-6 Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy [(b)(6) of the FOIA]
personal privacy [(a)(6) of the PRA]
(b)(7) Release would disclose information compiled for law enforcement
purposes [(b)(7) of the FOIA]
C. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed of
(b)(8) Release would disclose information concerning the regulation of
gift.
financial institutions [(b)(8) of the FOIA]
(b)(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information
PRM. Removed as a personal record misfile
SECRET
2147
THE WHITE HOUSE
SECRET
WASHINGTON
PRESIDENTIAL
5
LIBRI
ALIV
MEMORANDUM OF CONVERSATION
SUBJECT:
President's Meeting with President
Mario Soares of Portugal ($)
PARTICIPANTS:
U.S.
The President
James Baker III, Secretary of State
John Sununu, Chief of Staff
Brent Scowcroft, Assistant to the President
for National Security Affairs
Marlin Fitzwater, Assistant to the
President for Press Relations
Robert Zoellick, Counselor-Designate of the
State Department, Notetaker
Sophie Porson, Interpreter
Portugal
President Mario Soares
Dr. Enrico de Melo, Deputy Prime Minister
Joao Diogo Nunes Barata, Principal Secretary
to the President
DATE, TIME
February 23, 1989, 6:05 p.m. - 6:25 p.m.
AND PLACE:
American Ambassador's Residence, Tokyo, Japan
The President and President Mario Soares of Portugal met for 20
minutes on February 23 at the American Ambassador's residence.
The tone of the meeting was warm, reflecting the overall good
relations between the two countries. The two leaders focused
their discussion on regional issues, in particular Angola and
Mozambique. ()
The President began by saying he enjoyed meeting with Soares very
much and looked forward to learning his views on many issues. (U)
President Soares said he also appreciated seeing the President
during his brief visit to Tokyo. He said he believed there were
no outstanding bilateral problems between the U.S. and Portugal.
In fact, he continued, Portugal and the U.S. were allies and
friends, and relations were moving along very smoothly.
Reminding the President that Portugal watches Africa very closely
due to ties to its former colonies, Soares said he would like to
discuss African issues.
(I)
DECLASSIFIED IN PART
SECRET
Declassify: OADR
PER E.O. 12958, AS AMENDED
2000-0429-F
30 8/21/09
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2
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The President said he wanted to ask particularly about Angola.
He said he was pleased with the Angola Accords but would be
interested in Soares' view as to what would happen in the region
over the next year. (c)
President Soares replied that he was convinced the Cubans would
withdraw both their military forces and their civilians
from Angola (he said there were 13,000 civilians in Angola now,
including, for example, teachers and nurses). This would create
a vacuum. Soares said Angola's major problem would be to
organize its future. Angola needs national reconciliation to
ensure peace between the MPLA and UNITA. He thought both parties
would need to be pressured to achieve an agreement. Otherwise,
he said, Angola could not move forward. (S)
President Soares told the President he had recently met Fidel
Castro in Caracas at the inauguration of President Carlos Andres
Perez. He found it curious that Castro was furious with the
Soviets and was leaving Angola with ill will. Soares said the
situation would create a lot of problems because Cuba would have
50,000 armed people coming home. (S)
The President asked the reason Castro was angry at the Soviets.
Was it perestroika, Soviet Latin America policy, or lack of
Soviet Economic support for Cuba?
(8)
President Soares answered that, to begin with, Castro was being
forced to leave Angola by the Soviets, and he was well aware that
it would create a big problem in Cuba to have the troops return
home. Castro, he said, does not like perestroika in the least
and has said so frequently. Soares mentioned that Carlos Andres
Perez had asked Castro why he did not launch his own perestroika.
Castro retorted that Perez should try it on Venezuela first,
adding that he had his perestroika in the mountains 30 years ago.
(S)
Secretary Baker asked Soares if the Cuban troops would indeed
return to Cuba. ()
President Soares admitted it was a problem and said no one knew
the answer. The Brazilian general overseeing the Cuban
withdrawal in Angola said he knew the Cubans would leave but did
not know where they would go. Soares said we need to follow this
very closely. (S)
The President sought Soares' views on Jonas Savimbi and asked
what type of following he had. (8)
President Soares stated that Savimbi is a major tribal leader, a
person with enormous charisma. He also enjóys substantial weight
in regions of Angola outside his own.
(b) (1)
(b) (1)
(b) (1)
Soares also congratulated the President on his
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statement of support for Savimbi, saying it was very important to
the continuing evolution within Angola.
(b) (1)
(b) (1)
)
1)
The President asked why Soares was more concerned about
Mozambique than Angola. (C)
President Soares said it was due to the poverty and hunger there.
Angola was relatively wealthy because it had oil. Mozambique had
less of everything and thus was less developed. (f)
President Soares also said that the northern half of Mozambique
was bordered by three landlocked countries which, to secure
access to the sea, threatened Mozambique. He said this was not a
new danger. (S)
Turning to Central America, the President said he was still
concerned with the Sandinistas. He had a feeling more people in
Europe now understood that the Sandinistas were not freedom-
loving democrats but were totalitarian Marxists. He asked Soares
if there had been a change in European public opinion concerning
the Sandinistas. 185 (S)
President Soares replied that there had been a change, and that
people had a clearer view of the Sandinistas. European friends
of the Sandinistas had not perceived the totalitarian danger at
the start but it was clearer now. Soares said he still thought,
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however, that many Scandinavians and Germans entertained
illusions about the Sandinistas.
(c)
President Soares told the President that Ortega and the
Sandinistas were in an extremely difficult situation. Inflation,
he said, was around 2,800 percent, which he thought was why the
Sandinistas were now promising serious elections. He concluded
we need to maintain pressure on them. (8)
The President said the conversation was stimulating and useful. (U)
President Soares said he had just wanted to call on the President
to congratulate him on the election. He said the President was a
good friend of Portugal. (U)
The President asked if there were any problems with the follow-on
to Lajes
(c)
President Soares said there were no problems and that it was
being dealt with productively on a government-to-government
basis. (c)
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