Office of the Historian

811.24532/18

The Under Secretary of State (Welles) to the Under Secretary of War (Patterson)

Washington, March 29, 1943.

My Dear Mr. Secretary: I enclose for your information a copy of despatch no. 159 of February 24, 1943,20 received in this Department from the American Consul at Para, Brazil recommending the withdrawal of the United States Army detachment at Manáos, Brazil. There are also enclosed paraphrases of telegrams20 exchanged between the Department of State and the American Ambassador at Bio de Janeiro on this subject.

In the light of the comment made by Ambassador Caffery in his telegram no. 1438, March 23,21 concerning the continued presence in Manáos of this Army detachment, I believe that you may wish to investigate the desirability of assigning this unit to other duty. I should appreciate being informed of any action taken by the War Department in this regard.

Believe me,

Sincerely yours,

Sumner Welles
  1. Not printed.↩
  2. Not printed.↩
  3. Not printed; the Ambassador recommended that the air forces remain one more month in Manáos, and he reported the rise of some resentment among Brazilians at the continued presence of the Americans.↩