Office of the Historian

710 Consultations 4/11–1144

Memorandum by the Under Secretary of State (Stettinius) to President Roosevelt

Washington, November 11, 1944.

You will recall in a recent conversation that you agreed that a meeting of Foreign Ministers was desirable but that the Argentine Government should not participate in the meeting. You also agreed that a representative of the Argentine regime might be invited however—as a kind of postscript—to present its case after the full meeting.

We have now received a memorandum from the Foreign Minister of Mexico in which he proposes a meeting of Foreign Ministers to discuss post-war problems and to which the Argentine Government would be invited provided that between now and that time a formula for recognition of the Argentine Government can be worked out along with the other American Governments.

In the attached draft of cable,29 which constitutes a reply to the Mexican Foreign Minister, we have taken the following position:

1)
We agree to the desirability of a meeting of the Foreign Ministers to discuss war and post-war questions but Argentina would not be invited.
2)
We do not agree with the Mexican Foreign Minister’s proposal to consult with the other Governments to find a formula for the recognition of Argentina, but
3)
We are agreeable to the appearance of a representative of the Argentine Government after the close of the meeting on post-war problems for the sole purpose of discussing the Argentine situation.

In other words, our proposal follows the lines of your views in our last conversation.

[Page 43]

I believe that the foregoing is an accurate summary of the cable to our Ambassador in Mexico, which you need not read if the line we are taking is agreeable to you.

This is urgent in that the Mexican Foreign Minister has furnished each of the other Governments of the Americas with a copy of his proposal to us and it is important that we lose no time in communicating our views to them in order to avoid premature action on their part. May I therefore ask your approval of this telegram at your earliest possible convenience.30

E. R. Stettinius, Jr.
  1. Telegram sent as 2006, November 12, 11 a.m., to Mexico City, infra.↩
  2. There is a notation on the file copy of the telegram (infra): “Approved by the President”.↩