Several months before the proclamation of the Republic of Cyprus, the United States had already developed a policy against the communist party AKEL and the trade-union federation PEO, which was close to it. Washington placed its bet on non-communist trade unions and the Cypriot security services. This is set out in declassified American documents from 1959–1960, examined by Sigmalive.
The key document is the secret directive “US Policy Toward Cyprus” of 9 February 1960. It was approved by the National Security Council and President Dwight Eisenhower.
“The most serious threat — the communists”
The directive states that, in the long term, the main threat to Makarios’s authority and to the future independent Cyprus came from the communists. AKEL is described as the only well-organized political force on the island. The authors linked its influence above all to PEO: the union then had about 35,000 members, which allowed the party to dominate the labor movement.
The directive instructed the United States, “as far as possible,” to help strengthen non-communist trade unions. Where appropriate, it also allowed support for a renewed ban on the Communist Party of Cyprus. Another point was to “cautiously” encourage the new government to create and train police and security services to combat “communist subversive activity.” The ultimate US goal was a stable, pro-Western Cyprus in which Western military and communications interests were protected.
Makarios and the right-wing front
The 1959 documents were preceded by talks between American diplomats and Makarios. In a telegram of 19 May 1959, Consul Taylor Belcher recorded that the archbishop regarded the right-wing Unified Democratic Front of Reconstruction (EDMA) as his political base against communism. According to the diplomat, Makarios was “pleased” that the left had not joined the front. He believed the communists could be defeated only if the right offered a program no worse than that of the left.
In the consulate’s assessment of 25 July 1959, Makarios deliberately made his conflict with Georgios Grivas public. He wanted to strengthen his position before decisions on the British bases and separate municipalities.
What the CIA director said
At a National Security Council meeting on 11 November 1959, CIA Director Allen Dulles was optimistic about Cyprus’s transition to independence. At the same time, he described Cypriots as “a people prone to violence,” and the communists on the island as a strong force that was “waiting for an opportune moment.” The next three and a half lines of his report remain classified.
A plan for the SEK union
After independence, the US embassy moved to concrete steps. In a secret report of 11 October 1960, Ambassador Fraser Wilkins proposed training SEK union personnel in the United States and sending an American trade-union organizer to Cyprus for at least six months. The embassy considered the departure of General Secretary Michalakis Pissas a condition for reorganizing SEK. According to the document, Makarios acknowledged that Pissas needed to be replaced. However, he wanted the union itself to decide this, or for Pissas to leave voluntarily, so that government intervention would not be visible.
The embassy also worked on an option under which the interests of workers at the Cyprus Mines Corporation would be represented by a joint committee of SEK and the Turkish Cypriot trade-union federation, without PEO. The £12,000 mentioned in the document was SEK’s debt, not American aid.
On 17 December 1960, the State Department broadly approved the embassy’s proposals, but limited the stay of the American trade-union specialist to 90 days.
https://lenta.cy/arhivy-ssha-kak-vashington-gotovilsja-protivostojat-akjel/
