SANTO DOMINGO PEACE FORCE Mr. COHELAN. Describe the difficulties in the Santo Domingo situation. Admiral HEINZ. We do have an Inter-American force there. Mrs. HANSEN. How many countries? Admiral HEINZ. Five. Mrs. HANSEN. How many troops? Admiral HEINZ. Approximately 1,730 men from the five countries. Mrs. HANSEN. What are the countries? Admiral HEINZ. Brazil, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Paraguay, and Honduras. Mr. LONG. And what is the strength from each? Admiral HEINZ. 1,136 from Brazil; 21 from Costa Rica; 249 from Honduras; 148 from Nicaragua; and 215 from Paraguay, a total of 1,769. Mr. LONG. And from the United States? Admiral HEINZ. The total military in Santo Domingo now is about 5,600. Mr. LONG. So we provide 5,600 and all these other countries together put in 1,769? So we have 312 to 1 of their fighting men. In what sense can you argue that these troops are anything more than a facesaving mechanism in the Dominican Republic rather than an appreciable military force? The fact remains 312 to 1 fighting men are from the United States. How can you say these other countries provide a real force for peace except insofar as we will be able to say we have some help from other countries? Admiral HEINZ. We have help from them. They have contributed to what I think will be a peaceful situation. I also believe the election will be held as scheduled. The fact you have over 1,100 Brazilians there shows that it is an effective unit within itself. The commander there of the Inter-American Peace Force is Brazilian. I think they have an effective unit. They certainly have been participating in all the activities of the peacekeeping force. Mr. LONG. Then why are we there at all? Admiral HELNZ. Because we have undertaken this responsibility. Mr. LONG. This is a Latin American deal. Why do we not let the OAS handle it? Admiral HEINZ. Mr. LONG. You may say that but why do we have to have 5,600 men there? Why can't we have 1,000 or 500 men there and let it be mainly a Latin American operation? We have taken a moral kicking around in the Dominican Republic. We have 31⁄2 fighting men to 1 from these other countries and I do not see why it should not be at least a 50-50 deal. As a matter of fact, they have a larger population than we have. Mr. PASSMAN. 280 million. Mr. LONG. Then why don't they have more men than we have? Mrs. HANSEN. I think it might be interesting to note that 13 countries who are not there are receiving military aid from us. Mr. LONG. That is an excellent observation. Why don't they participate? Admiral HEINZ. They have not participated for many reasons; politically, primarily. Mr. LONG. Why are we giving them military assistance? Admiral HEINZ. There are various reasons which are in our overall national interest. Mr. LONG. Does Chile have any military personnel in the Dominican Republic? Admiral HEINZ. No. Mr. LONG. You have, as one objective of the military assistance program in Chile, the capability to contribute to the OAS and UN peacekeeping mission. Admiral HEINZ. Off the record. (Off the record.) CONTRIBUTIONS OF LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES TO SETTLE Mr. PASSMAN. Will the gentleman yield? Admiral, did you not say a while ago that they did not make a larger contribution because their forces are needed at home for internal peacekeeping? Admiral HEINZ. That is one of the several reasons the governments may have decided not to do it. Mr. PASSMAN. I think you said they needed the forces at home for internal peacekeeping. Wouldn't that also be true in this other situation? Mrs. HANSEN. In the countries I visited Santo Domingo was an ugly name, and do you think their governments were enthusiastic about sending soldiers into Santo Domingo? Mr. SHARP. Off the record. (Off the record.) Mrs. HANSEN. Politically. At the same time we were participating in the Dominican Republic to quell a rebellion, Latin America was consumed with conversation about American domination. One received the distinct impression this did not come from one layer of society but came from each group in society. At least they gave us the impression that they had no desire to participate in any way whatsoever in quelling a rebellion where the United States had taken the leadership. Mr. LONG. We have given Argentina one of the largest sums of money of any. It is one of the biggest recipients. I notice Brazil has put in a substantial force; in fact, Brazil provides about twothirds of all the force from Latin America. Argentina did not provide anything for the Dominican Republic. What was the reason for that? Mr. SHARP. I believe that was political. It was a political decision by the civilian government. they sent two destroyers to the Cuba missile crisis in 1962. That was a political decision. Mr. LONG. Was this true in the case of all these other countries? Mr. SHARP. Peru had an insurgency situation in its own country. Colombia had the bandit situation. Venezuela had the Communist guerrilla there. Mr. SHRIVER. How large a force there? They have in their military strength in Venezuela. What was the threat that was so great? Mr. SHARP. The FALN is still very active in Venezuela. 62-633-66- -52 Mr. LONG. Why did not Mexico send some people? Mr. SHARP. Mr. LONG. What you are saying as explanations to me are really confessions of unworkability. I do not think your answers, while they explain the individual reasons why the country does not do it, are reassuring about the validity of this as a means of keeping peace. When the chips are down, one country after another will give you a good reason why it should not send in help. Let us take Mexico. Why are we giving anything at all in military aid to Mexico? It is true we are not giving very much, but why are we giving anything? Mr. SHARP. Just training. Mr. LONG. Why is it your business to do that? Admiral HEINZ. (Off the record.) Mr. LONG. Why do we want an entry with the Mexican military? Admiral HEINZ. (Off the record.) Mr. LONG. Why? Admiral HEINZ. (Off the record.) Mr. LONG. Under the terms you are giving here, gentlemen, you can justify our giving money to anybody anywhere in the world at any time. You can always come up with something like that. I honestly think these reasons are awfully trivial. You could justify giving our money to absolutely everyone. COMMON ASSISTANCE CRITERIA Mr. PASSMAN. Do you have the same formula that applies to all 55 nations that you have a military training or equipment program proposed for 1967? Admiral HEINZ. No, sir. Mr. PASSMAN. It would be a formula that would be just as convincing as your statements for Latin America. Admiral HEINZ. No; I think the objectives are different, country by country and area by area. Mr. PASSMAN. But you have justification for military aid programs going into the other countries, do you not? Admiral HEINZ. Yes, sir. Mr. PASSMAN. Thank you. Mr. LONG. You say the current threat to internal security from internal or external sources is slight. I think we would all agree with that. This is a big country. As I understand it, it has been moving ahead pretty rapidly economically and socially. Why should we give them anything at all? As slight as the internal or external threat is, why can't they handle it themselves? What business is it of ours? Admiral HEINZ. (Off the record.) Mr. LONG. I do not know whether giving this sort of thing is the way to win friends or influence people or not. Mr. PASSMAN. We should put in the record that we have given to Mexico $1,029,900,000. Mr. SHARP. Since when? Mr. PASSMAN. July 1, 1945-June 30, 1965. REDUCTION IN LATIN AMERICA MILITARY FORCES Mr. LONG. I would like to get the following interpreted: Develop logistically self-sufficient armed forces, encourage relating force levels and defense budgets to a realistic assessment of defense needs. What does that mean? Admiral HEINZ. This means reduce their forces. Mr. LONG. Not increase them. Admiral HEINZ. Not increase them. In other words, this again is the case where they have larger forces than we would like to see them have. Mr. LONG. Over the years that we have been giving military aid to these countries, have they, in fact, reduced their military forces? Admiral HEINZ. In some cases. Mr. LONG. Suppose you take all the Latin American countries, have they on balance reduced their forces? Do they have a smaller armed force than they did 5 or 10 years ago? Admiral HEINZ. There is no change in Argentina from last year. Mr. LONG. I am talking about all nations. We have been giving this aid for some time. Admiral HEINZ. (Off the record.) Mr. LONG. I think you can answer systematically, country by country, the force levels of these various countries from some date like 1953. Mr. PASSMAN. Why don't you take it from the inception of the military assistance program. Mr. LONG. Yes. Admiral HEINZ. I will see if we have that data available. (Classified information was supplied to the committee.) Mr. LONG. I have no more questions. I will turn this over to Mrs. Hansen. CIVIC ACTION PROGRAMS Mrs. HANSEN. I do not have too many. I trotted around the world with you yesterday and found a strange vacuum and I think or hope you are appearing today with all the civic action data I asked for. Would you put in a list of all those nations' civic action programs in which you are participating? I do not want generalizations, either. If you build roads tell me how many miles of roads and the cost per mile. Admiral HEINZ. I may not be able to give you the cost. Mrs. HANSEN. Then give the relative, pertinent facts. Admiral HEINZ. Not in all cases, because these projects are undertaken with the countries funds. Mrs. HANSEN. You indicate what part of the road project you are doing. I am not going to go through this program country by country as I did yesterday until 6 o'clock. Admiral HEINZ. I can give you the total amount we contributed to equipment. WORLDWIDE PROGRAMS Mrs. HANSEN. If you and Argentina are participating in a road project, tell what portion of the road you are participating in the supervision and technical assistance, what they are building with their own funds, or we are giving just a very token supervision or planning. You know what I want because you were here yesterday... Admiral HEINZ. Yes. (The information follows:) CIVIC ACTION CAPABILITIES In the past four years, MAP-supported engineering construction units have assisted in the construction or repair of more than 10,000 miles of roads-feeder and farm-to-market roads and national highways-as well as bridges, schools and clinics. Approximately $20 million in MAP equipment has already been engaged in these projects. Military units also have increased their capabilities to meet changing requirements which arise, for example, in clearing land for constructing schools or clinics near road projects. Worldwide MAP program for civic action-All categories It is estimated that approximately 60% of all MAP civic action listed above involves engineer construction. The other equipment listed may also be used during construction projects, however. For example, medical clinics serve military and civilian needs on the projects and care is often provided other civilians in areas unserved by civilian doctors. MAP equipment provided as long ago as FY 1962 is still in operation and, therefore, the cost of its participation in a particular project is usually a relatively small percentage of the project costs. Although detailed investment and operating costs funded by host countries are not available for many of the informal as well as formal civic action projects of construction and maintenance of roads, the total runs well over $100 million, far exceeding MAP equipment investments. MAP equipment being delivered yearly will add to the capability of various units now in existence and country investment is expected to continue to multiply. As the engineer unit gains in technical and administrative competency, the percentage of advisory time devoted to the unit by a U.S. advisor usually decreases. The following illustrative chart outlines Bolivian Army road maintenance projects where only one U.S. military advisor was required in 1965: |