Page 202 - Gobierno ivisible

Date: 4/5/2011 Page: 202 of 237

Moscow also protested the balloons, and Hungary chimed in that American balloons had caused three Hungarian
air crashes. RFE replied that the balloons were not dangerous, that the "captive nations" had "attempted to shoot
down balloons by aircraft and ground fire" and that Czech intelligence had tried twice "to blow up our balloon
sites in Western Germany."

RFE called in its balloons during the Hungarian revolt. The program was not revived.

RFE figured in another cloak-and-dagger episode in December, 1959, when it charged that "a Communist
diplomat" had put lethal amounts of atropine in the salt shakers of the radio station's cafeteria in Munich.

If taken in sufficient quantity, atropine can cause delirium, convulsions, coma or death. The U.S. Army Counter
Intelligence Corps investigated and charged that Jaroslav Nemec, the vice-consul of the Czech consulate in
Salzburg, Austria, had given the spiked salt shakers to a Communist agent "for placement in the Radio Free
Europe cafeteria in Munich." The case was quietly dropped the next month, when the Munich public prosecutor
said the amount of poison in the salt cellars had not been sufficient to cause serious harm.

At times, RFE has come under critical attack for the content of its broadcasts to Eastern Europe. On July 9, 1959,
for example, there were news reports from Warsaw that the United States Ambassador to Poland, Jacob D. Beam,
had protested RFE's broadcasts because he felt they contained misinformation and too blatant a propaganda line.
At his press conference the same day, Secretary of State Christian A. Herter appeared to confirm the reports; he
said any recommendations from Beam "will be very carefully studied."

But it was RFE's role in the Hungarian revolt of 1956 that brought the most criticism and controversy upon it. At
the heart of the issue was the extremely touchy question of whether United States foreign policy should be aimed
at the "liberation" of Eastern Europe.

"In thirteen years," an RFE executive explained, "Radio Free Europe has incurred a heavy moral responsibility.
We must be extremely careful that what we say cannot lead to an ineffective uprising." Obviously, he had
Hungary in mind.

Nevertheless, a recent RFE fund-appeal booklet, Your Money's Worth, illustrates that the radio station still speaks
with a militant voice. 'The captive people," the appeal said, "desire freedom and do everything reasonable in their
power to obtain it ... Radio Free Europe helps the East Europeans resist Communism ... helps them keep alive
their faith in freedom ... Support Radio Free Europe ... it is one of the few ways you as a private citizen can take
an active part in the fight against Communism ... bring the battle to the Kremlin's doorstep."

The Soviet role in Hungary was a sickening spectacle to civilized men everywhere. In the first phase, Moscow
seemed willing to grant Hungary a measure of freedom. Then Russian tanks rolled into Budapest and brutally
crushed the Hungarian patriots.

In the aftermath of the blood bath, questions were widely raised about RFE's role. Had it incited the Hungarians to
revolt? Had it held out false promises of Western aid, knowing that this aid would not come? Was RFE, to put it
bluntly, partly responsible for the carnage in Budapest?

Various tribunals examined this question, but little was said publicly about some more subtle and basic under
lying questions.

These questions began with the Voice of America, the official voice of the United States Government. It is an
organ of the United States Information Agency, and it broadcasts around the globe in thirty-six languages.