852.24/370: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Mexico (Daniels)
68. Your despatch No. 4551, April 11 and your No. 91, April 14, 5 p.m.53 You should take no action to facilitate the exportation of the planes to Spain.
The transshipment of any one of these planes would render the original American exporter subject to prosecution for violation of our laws governing the exportation of arms. A mis-statement by an [Page 586] applicant for an export license as to the country of ultimate destination of any shipment constitutes a violation of law. No applicants for license, except Cuse and Dineley, applied for export licenses naming Spain as the country of destination. None of the planes mentioned by the Spanish Ambassador was exported on licenses naming Spain as the country of destination. Most of them were legally exported to Mexico. The transshipment of these to Spain would violate the law requiring that the country of ultimate destination be correctly named in the application for license. Some of them were illegally exported without a license, and the exporters of those planes are now under investigation by the Department of Justice with a view to possible prosecution.
I am very grateful to President Cárdenas for the assurances which he has given in regard to the shipment of American arms to Spain via Mexico. You will remember that those assurances were first given before January 8 when all direct or indirect exports of arms to Spain were prohibited by law.
- Latter not printed.↩