Office of the Historian

837.61351/3657: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Cuba (Braden)

Washington, February 13, 1943—9 p.m.

201. Your A–276, February 10, 9:05 a.m. The Cuban counterproposal has been carefully studied by the interested Government agencies. You are requested to present to the Cuban Government a memorandum, of which the text is quoted hereafter. As will be seen after reading this text, the two Governments are in accord on the principal features of the proposed sale of the 1943 crop. It is fair to say that there is not only an agreement in principle on all of the important points essential to a satisfactory arrangement but there is also substantial agreement on what ultimately will be various clauses in the contract. It has been felt necessary, however, in order to avoid future complications in connection with the drafting of the contract to rephrase certain paragraphs of the counterproposal presented by the Cuban Government. This has been deemed desirable in order (a) to make certain paragraphs conform more exactly to what at least has been our understanding of the outcome of earlier discussions and (b) to set forth our point of view with respect to certain paragraphs that appear for the first time in any proposal, such as the paragraphs on direct-consumption sugar and the quota for producers of syrup.

In as much as the principal features of this deal have now been agreed upon, the best procedure would seem to be for appropriate representatives of the two Governments and of the Cuban Sugar Stabilization Institute to meet together and, on the basis of the Cuban counterproposal as amended and clarified by our memorandum, to draft the text of the contract. Any other procedure, such as the continued exchange of memoranda, seems not only unnecessary but also inefficient. It is therefore proposed that the Cuban representatives proceed to Washington at the earliest possible moment for the drafting of the contract.

[Here follows text of the memorandum referred to above.84]

  1. This memorandum was presented to the Cuban Government with Embassy’s note No. 202 of February 15. In reply, the Cuban Minister of State (Martínez) in note No. 481 of February 22 listed several desired alterations but acknowledged his Government’s agreement with the Department’s view that the time had arrived for the drafting of the 1943 crop purchase contract (837.61351/3672).↩