Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
135840660
label
Americas Coalition
core
doc
dtoType
document
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
135840660
contentType
document
title
Americas Coalition
citationUrl
identifierLocal
47
collections
Records of the White House Office of Public Liaison (Reagan Administration)
Morton Blackwell's Subject Files
thumbnailUrl
largeImageUrl
imageCount
1
hasImages
yes
source
import
hasTranscription
no
Source extras
naId
135840660
coverageEndDate
logicalDate
1984-12-31
year
1984
coverageStartDate
logicalDate
1981-01-01
year
1981
levelOfDescription
fileUnit
recordType
description
ocrSource
nara-archive
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
document
mediaId
e4c80a74cf471233
ocrText
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
Digital Library Collections
This is a PDF of a folder from our textual collections.
Collection: Blackwell, Morton: Files
Folder Title: Americas Coalition
Box: 2
To see more digitized collections visit:
https://reaganlibrary.gov/archives/digital-library
To see all Ronald Reagan Presidential Library inventories visit:
https://reaganlibrary.gov/document-collection
Contact a reference archivist at: [email protected]
Citation Guidelines: https://reaganlibrary.gov/citing
National Archives Catalogue: https://catalog.archives.gov/
V
Americas Coalition
c/o Capital Bank, N.A.
815 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20006
(202) 872-1470
November 2, 1983
Mr. Morton Blackwell
Assistant to the President for Public Liaison
Old Executive Office Building, Room 191
Washington
Dear Morton:
As suggested by you, through Dolf Droge, I enclose here a copy of a letter I
have just written to President Reagan in the name of the Americas Coalition.
As to your further suggestion re particular points that might be emphasized
in reply, the main one should probably be Point Two (see second page) on inviting
leading Americans to sit on our National Advisory Board.
It would be very useful if leading figures in the entertainment world, in
particular, as well as those in industry and commerce, joined the Board. Our hope
is that the former would work with us to stage a "spectacular," from coast to
coast, dramatizing the struggle in the Caribbean and Central America so that all
Americans would be moved to support the President. Such a dramatization, with
the participation of the President of course, could be filmed and re-run any number
of times.
Other suggestions by you would be more than welcome.
With all best personal wishes,
Sincerely,
alam
Daniel James
Director
Americas Coalition
c/o Capital Bank, N.A.
815 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20006
(202) 872-1470
November 2, 1983
The Honorable Ronald Wilson Reagan
President of the United States
The White House
Washington
Dear Mr. President:
The Americas Coalition takes this opportunity to express its enthusiastic
approval of the action you have taken to remove the nascent Soviet-Cuban military
base from Grenada and give its people a chance to be free once more. Under your
courageous leadership, our brave men and women in uniform have dealt a serious
blow to the developing Soviet "Caribbean Triangle."
But two sides of the "Triangle" remain, Cuba and Nicaragua. They represent
an even greater danger to the region, and to our vital interests, since they are
dedicated to converting the entire Central American mainland into a military base
using subversion and guerrilla warfare to overthrow friendly neighboring countries
such as El Salvador. You will need maximum support from every American to
accomplish the removal of that threat.
Unfortunately, although the American people supported you overwhelmingly
on the Grenada issue, there is no consensus for your policies elsewhere in the
region. This lack is reflected in Congressional opposition to your requests for
sufficient military aid for El Salvador, threatening our efforts there with failure.
Clearly, there is only one way to resolve the Congressional-Executive
impasse: mobilize American opinion in favor of a determined military and
economic commitment to the region's political integrity, democratic development.
and peace. To form, in short, a consensus.
The Americas Coalition was founded for the purpose of forging that
consensus. It consists of concerned private citizens determined to act on behalf of
the principles of freedom for which this country stands. It is nonpartisan,
nonpolitical, and nonprofit. It seeks to draw into its ranks other like-minded
citizens, be they Dermocrats or Republicans, liberals or conservatives. It calls upon
all sectors of our society - industry, commerce, labor, science, education, politics,
religion, performing and fine arts - to join with us in the struggle to keep the
Americas free.
The Americas Coalition also calls upon our neighbors to the south to join us in
that struggle, to form a counterpart "Coalición Americas" in their countries, thus
reaching out to unite the entire Western Hemisphere in defense of shared values.
To achieve our objectives, we have begun to take these actions:
The President of the United States 2
1. Organize chapters of the Americas Coalition in the fifty states, at the
grass roots.
2. Invite American leaders in all walks of life to sit on a National Advisory
Board of the Americas Coalition.
3. Prepare a massive information-education campaign nationwide to include
activities such as: placement of paid advertising and Op-Ed articles in the
principal media; establishment of a research and documentation center, news
service and newsletter; publication of books and pamphlets; production of TV shorts
and documentary films; organization of a speakers' bureau, press conferences and
mass rallies.
4. Conduct educational work among legislators to persuade them of the need
to support your Central America policies.
Mr. President, we believe that nothing less than the survival of the United
States and the values of Western civilization are at stake in the unfolding struggle
in Central American and the Caribbean. Neither this country nor its neighbors can
permit Soviet-Cuban penetration of this hemisphere. Indeed, totalitarianism of
whatever stripe is unacceptable and must be opposed. The Americas Coalition,
dedicated to uphold these concepts, consequently pledges to support your Central
America policy and to rally the American people behind it.
Let us keep fighting to keep the Americas free.
Sincerely,
Daniel James
Director