Office of the Historian

710.11/2747

The Paraguayan Legation to the Department of State

[Translation]

Memorandum

1.
On the assumption that the credit for the $11,000,000 granted to Paraguay has not undergone any change, we wish to present immediately our request for the acquisition of war material covering this [Page 475] amount, reaching a separate agreement or leaving to a later date the decision concerning the dates of delivery.
2.
In connection with this general request for the $11,000,000 and with the desire to adjust ourselves to the information which the War Department gave us, we will formulate an urgent request for material valued at $2,000,000 to be delivered within the period of one year.
3.
The important matter is to insert the prices together with the possible date of delivery in the provisional list which we recently presented in order to enable us to use this information in drawing up our definitive request within the limits of the credit granted to Paraguay.
4.
Another important factor, which as yet we do not have, is the basic agreement for the acquisition of armaments. We know the conditions stipulated in the law of March 11, 19416 which do not present any difficulty but we are not yet informed as to the conditions of payment.
5.
The aforementioned law of 1941 places in the hands of the President of the United States the faculty of determining these conditions (Section 3b). As we know the equitable attitude of President Roosevelt and his proven good will towards our country, we should not be surprised to find in this basic agreement, especially that part relating to acquisition of munitions, periods for payment amounting to as much as 99 years and the consideration of moral rather than material benefits such as the indirect benefit arising from the Paraguayan decision to accompany the United States from the very first moment when the defense of the Western Hemisphere was taken into consideration.
Washington , June 27, 1941.
  1. Lend-Lease Act; 55 Stat. 31.↩