821.6363 Barco/417: Telegram
The Minister in Colombia (Caffery) to the Secretary of State
[Received 8 p.m.]
5. Last Monday, January 12, Rublee took up the Barco case. He finds royalty matter to be the principal difficulty. Gulf offers 5½ percent at port while Government wants 6 percent, which would be zone royalty, Minister of Industries says, under the new petroleum bill. Chaux states that Congress would never approve a lower royalty.
Rublee is still studying the matter. President’s agents are tactfully sounding out Congressmen today to find out how far the Government can go. He realizes that the high cost of pipe-line construction has a direct bearing on royalty in this case.