Caribbean Dilemma

The Dominican dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo poses an unhappy dilemma for the U.S. and the responsible democracies of Latin America. Nobody wants to support Trujillo's tyranny--but inter-American treaties promise him joint aid in the event of outside aggression. Everybody would like to see the Dominican Republic turned into a working democracy--but the anti-Trujillo bands that stormed the Dominican Republic last month were led by Communist-liners, offering the prospect of chaos rather than freedom. Battling out the dilemma in tense sessions at the Organization of American States in Washington last week, the OAS member countries 1) served rude notice on Trujillo that they are not going to come to his aid, no matter what the treaties say, and 2) moved toward a conference of foreign ministers to stop the plots and invasions emanating mostly from Fidel Castro's Cuba.

By the books, the Dominicans could hope for some assistance. The invasions crushed last month by Trujillo came from Cuba, and Dominican Ambassador to the OAS Virgilio Diaz Ordonez charged that a new, 3,000-man force was training in Cuba, backed by 25 Venezuelan warplanes. Under terms of the 1947 Rio de Janeiro treaty pledging mutual assistance against aggression, the Dominicans demanded a fact-finding mission.

Most of the OAS members were swayed not by treaty but by Trujillo's long and bloody record. "The Rio treaty is not a piece of paper at the service of dictators!" shouted Cuba's Minister of State Rauu Roa, and other delegates nodded their agreement. Cuba and Venezuela lined up enough countries to vote down the Dominicans. Ambassador Diaz Ordonez scrambled to his feet and withdrew his motion just in time to avoid defeat.

Backed by Brazil, Chile and Peru, U.S. Ambassador to the OAS John Dreier proposed a conference of the 21 foreign ministers to examine the "grave situation" in the Caribbean "on a broad front." Dreier recalled that in three months the OAS had met twice before to study threats to peace (in Panama and Nicaragua), and that dealing with each squall as it broke out was "futile." Understood but unsaid: that the trouble will continue as long as Castro keeps exporting revolution. And, Dreier warned, "Communists have attempted, and with some success, to infiltrate those revolutionary movements."

A vote was postponed until this week, but most of the OAS ambassadors spoke out in favor of the meeting. It will probably convene in Washington within two weeks. At least, by virtue of publicity and prestige, the conference can make Caribbean warfare less respectable. At most, it can get at root causes by pressuring the Dominican Republic and Cuba toward democracy and coexistence.

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