832.00/4366
The Ambassador in Brazil (Caffery) to the Secretary of State
[Received March 30.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to my strictly confidential despatch No. 10284 of February 27, 194318 reporting a number of accomplishments of the Embassy in all types of activity and to say that although the situation in Brazil is obviously satisfactory from our standpoint it is at the same time delicate if not explosive.
On the one hand, we have obtained vital military and naval concessions the most spectacular and important of which is the air transport “corridor” referred to sometimes as the “springboard to victory”. On the other hand, President Vargas in public utterances has referred to the indispensability of this route, and the extensive ancillary installations that make its use practicable, for the successful prosecution of the war in Africa and other theatres; recently the Under Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Leão Velloso, in refuting the suspicion in some quarters of United States aims to maintain permanent bases in the Hemisphere, made public declarations in the same tenor; and João Alberto,19 following precisely the same line and emphasizing also our essential need of Brazilian strategic materials such as quartz crystal, mica, etc., has recently been indulging in pointed criticisms that the United States has not been providing, and apparently is not disposed to provide, anything like an equitable quid pro quo. The point is simply that many Brazilians in high places are not unaware of Brazil’s trenchant contributions; and some of them pretend to find it difficult to square this fact with our alleged failure to deliver minimum essential requirements of the national economy as we have agreed to do (newsprint, coal, etc., etc.).
That is the general situation leading to a general diminution of enthusiasm for the United States which is helped along in various other ways. For example, while the Brazilian is receiving no appreciable increase in salary and wages, supplies of civilian goods throughout the nation are diminishing and prices rising precipitously; and the Brazilian, all the way from Manáos to Santos, has to observe the naturally not (to him) pleasant spectacle of increasing numbers of [Page 624] Americans, both civilians and in the armed forces, receiving “handsome” wages with which to outbid him and outbuy him in his own land.
I simply record these observations, which have been reported before, for the purpose of emphasizing that our Government must continuously be on the alert to avoid the appearance here of complacency, which might be disastrous, in the face of notable gains. It is a military axiom that it is sometimes easier to take a fortress than to hold it; and German propaganda will take full advantage of our shortcomings.
Respectfully yours,