The Minister received my protest sympathetically, but without much
comment, although I know from other sources in the Government that he is
engaged in a continuous struggle with Falange to overcome the conditions
concerning which I protested.
I, of course, intend to press this matter with the Foreign Minister and
am hopeful of obtaining an improvement in the situation.
[Enclosure]
The American Ambassador in Spain (Hayes) to the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs
(Jordana)
No. 767
Madrid, March 19,
1943.
Excellency: I have the honor to refer to
various communications from my Government to Your Excellency’s
Government guaranteeing that no aggression will be committed by the
United States against Spanish territory or Spanish sovereignty; to
the Spanish Government’s acceptance of these guarantees; to General
Franco’s expression of hope to President Roosevelt14 that
nothing might happen which would disturb Spain’s relations with the
United States in any of their aspects; and to numerous statements by
Your Excellency that Spain intends to follow a policy of
impartiality toward both sides in the present war.
My Government, of course, viewed Spain’s prompt acceptance of our
guarantees with satisfaction, and has confidence in General
[Page 599]
Franco’s expressed desire
that relations between Spain and the United States shall not be
disturbed in any of their aspects. Needless to say, I likewise have
full confidence that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under Your
Excellency’s wise direction is endeavoring to ensure that General
Franco’s wishes in this regard, which correspond to the wishes of my
Government, are carried out.
Nevertheless, I am constrained to point out to Your Excellency that
certain agencies of the Spanish Government, particularly those
agencies having to do with press and propaganda activities, are
following a policy of marked partiality toward the Axis which is
tending to defeat the Caudillo’s announced policy, and which, in
fact, is prejudicing good relations between our two Governments.
The Spanish press continues to give excessive and systematic
prominence to news and tendencious articles from Axis countries, and
to feature alleged Axis victories while systematically minimizing
Allied victories. There is evident in this practice a concerted and
determined effort to impress the Spanish people with the superiority
of the Axis over the United Nations and to create among them a
strong preference for the former. Many Spanish newspapers still do
not publish war communiqués from the United Nations despite the
various promises made to the Embassy by the Foreign Office that such
communiqués would be published, and doubtless, too, despite the
efforts of the Foreign Office to obtain the publication of such
communiqués.
Many Spanish newspapers are prevented by the Government’s censorship
authorities from publishing American news photographs, and even
those newspapers which occasionally publish them are obliged to
publish a very much larger number of Axis news photographs.
American magazines are systematically prevented from being imported
and sold in Spain, whereas Axis magazines, most of which are of a
frankly propaganda nature, are permitted to be sold freely and
constitute a large portion of the current reading matter available
to the Spanish public.
The efforts of the Embassy and of the various American Consulates in
Spain to distribute informative material are systematically
interfered with by the Spanish authorities. Employees of the
Consulates have been arbitrarily arrested and detained by Falange
authorities; individuals who have called at the various American
offices for such material have been assaulted or intimidated by
Falange agents; persons have been fined for reading it; the list of
persons to whom it can be sent has been arbitrarily reduced by the
postal authorities, et cetera. In contract, the Embassy has evidence
that the Germans are afforded facilities to distribute their
propaganda material
[Page 600]
of all
kinds freely both to Spanish authorities and to private
individuals.
This Embassy, consonant with the wishes of the Foreign Office, has
refrained from distributing propaganda material which the Foreign
Office considers objectionable. The Germans, on the other hand,
distribute freely through the Spanish post office material of an
offensive and scurrilous nature, including vulgar caricatures of
President Roosevelt and Mrs. Roosevelt. Recently, also, a large
number of pro-Axis caricatures have begun to appear in the Spanish
press.
The Spanish Government-controlled radio is notoriously partisan in
its presentation of foreign news. For months past, it has confined
itself almost exclusively to broadcasting news and propaganda from
Axis sources.
Likewise, the Spanish Government-controlled news-reels convey to
Spanish cinema attendants pictures largely Axis in origin and
overwhelmingly Axis in intent.
Since it must be evident that in the present total war psychological
warfare has a very important place, and that the Germans have
attached a great deal of importance to such warfare, it should be
evident also that in giving special facilities to the Axis to carry
on psychological warfare in Spain, while depriving the United
Nations of the opportunity adequately to combat it, Spain is in
effect giving aid to the Axis which is clearly not consonant with
Your Excellency’s expressed attitude of impartiality toward both
sides in the war, or with General Franco’s expressed desire that
nothing should occur which would disturb the relations between Spain
and the United States in any of their aspects.
The relations between Spain and the United States are, indeed, being
prejudiced by the present marked pro-Axis partisanship of all the
instruments of publicity within Spain—press, radio, cinema
news-reels. Few Americans understand how a Government which directs
and controls all such instruments can permit them to be so seemingly
desirous of Axis victory, and at the same time can profess a desire
to stay out of the war and be impartial. Unfortunate as it is,
popular suspicion of Spain’s real intentions is thereby engendered
in the United States, with embarrassing consequences to my
Government in its dealings with Spain.
Despite my Government’s preoccupation with possible effects of the
pro-Axis publicity campaign conducted by agents of the Spanish
Government, I have refrained from protesting formally against this
evidence of partiality toward our enemies in the belief that Spain’s
foreign policy of impartiality would, through Your Excellency’s
efforts, become manifest not only in the attitude of the Foreign
Office, but in the attitude of other agencies of the Spanish
Government.
[Page 601]
This has unfortunately not yet been the case, and I am now obliged to
protest on behalf of my Government, and to express the earnest hope
that the Spanish Government as a whole, and not merely the Foreign
Office, will promptly adopt an attitude fully consistent with the
treatment which is being accorded Spain by the United States, which
is the treatment accorded to a neutral country.
I avail myself of this occasion to renew to Your Excellency the
assurances of my highest consideration.
