Pentagon Had Contingency Plan to “Seize” the Azores in 1975 In Event of Communist Takeover of Portugal
Information recent declassified by the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP) sheds light on a hitherto obscure aspect of U.S. policy toward Portugal after its April 1974 revolution. At issue was a memorandum of conversation between Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger on 22 January 1975. The document is held in the files of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.[1] On the first page, after Kissinger makes a gloomy appraisal of the Portuguese situation, Schlesinger makes a comment that was excised. Earlier this month ISCAP reversed the excision in response to a mandatory declassification review appeal by the National Security Archive.[2] So what were they hiding?
Kissinger and Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger had routine breakfast meetings to discuss current business and when they met on 22 January 1975 Portugal was the first item on the agenda. With the political direction of Portugal uncertain during 1974 and 1975, Pentagon contingency planners had gone to work developing scenarios for U.S. actions in the event of developments such as a Communist coup. Tacitly acknowledging the need for initiatives to protect U.S. interests in Portugal –especially air field in the Azores, the archipelago of islands 900 miles off the country’s coast– Kissinger commented, “We should have a program.” He then pessimistically declared that “There is a 50 percent change of losing it.” To that Schlesinger responded, “We have a contingency plan to take over the Azores.” He parenthetically noted, “That would be stimulating Azores independence.” (more…)
