833.51/991: Telegram
The Acting Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Uruguay (Dawson)
Washington, July 13,
1942—6 p.m.
432. Your 575, July 11, 1 p.m. The Department will wait for further details which you mention before taking the matter up with the Export-Import Bank. The Department’s preliminary general views are as follows:
- (1)
- It would be disposed to recommend any reasonable credit proposal, and has confidence that Uruguay will request and utilize only such credits as would be directly productive or necessary to maintain [Page 722] the economic and political stability of the country. The willingness of the United States to extend appropriate credits to Uruguay has been evidenced on several occasions over the last few years, and the conservative policy of Uruguay with respect to utilizing credits has been evidenced by the fact that none of the credits extended by the Export-Import Bank have ever been used.
- (2)
- The amount of $30,000,000 seems quite large, especially for public works.
- (3)
- The real limitation on the construction of public works will be the question of materials and equipment necessary to carry out the projects. The military program has recently been greatly augmented and all of the past difficulties of obtaining supplies in the United States will be correspondingly increased. Financing of public works is thus definitely secondary to the obtaining of material for their completion. If your despatch does not already do so, please inform the Department in detail as to the amounts of materials which it would be anticipated will have to be imported from the United States to carry out the President’s program.
Welles