Diplomacy: Cracking the Nest Eggs

• Share

The memorandum was signed by Secretary of State Dean Rusk, and ad dressed to all U.S. embassy personnel overseas. Strictly taboo, forthwith, is that fine old tradition of turning a tidy buck by peddling the autos brought into their host countries duty-free under diplomatic immunity.

The order applies worldwide but hits hardest in Latin America, where prohibitive import duties sometimes quadruple the cost of a foreign-made auto.

In Chile a 1965 Chevrolet Impala runs $15,000; even a two-or three-year-old Chewy brings double the original price.

The same more or less applies in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and every diplomat — U.S. or otherwise — considers it part of the game to build up a nest egg by importing and reselling a car every two or three years. When he left his post last year, one ambassador put two cars on the market, one of them a Lincoln Continental; another departing embassy official unloaded a three-year-old Buick for $ 1 1 ,000.

Latin American governments have not complained particularly about the sales — after all, that might not be diplomatic. But the U.S. is anxious to improve its image abroad. From now on all car sales become the responsibility of the ambassador, and the difference between cost v. market price will go to local charities or U.S.-sponsored activities—to be chosen by the ambassador. Moaned one staffer in the U.S. embassy in Buenos Aires last week: "The collective loss to the people in this room will be $250,000. What's worse, we don't even get to choose the charity."