Office of the Historian

821.24/855

The Ambassador in Colombia (Lane) to the Secretary of State

No. 3315
Bogotá, February 4, 1944.
[Received February 16.]

Sir: I have the honor to enclose a translation of a communication dated January 31, 19442 addressed to the Colombian Ambassador at Washington3 by the Minister of War,4 requesting the Ambassador to present to the War Department a request for war material to be used by the Atlantic Coast Defense in accordance with plans worked out between the Colombian Army and United States forces in the Canal Zone. It is requested by the Minister of War that the equipment be supplied from stocks in the Canal Zone, following the procedure set forth in the Embassy’s despatch no. 3235 of January 19, 1944,2 and that it be charged to Lend-Lease.5

The list of equipment desired for this purpose is not enclosed, because of its length and detail, but at the end of the list the following statement appears:

“The Military Mission of the United States has checked the above requisitions against the requirements of the Atlantic Coast Defense, according to the Plan agreed upon by the Minister of War of Colombia and the Commanding General of the Panama Canal Department, and believes that the Mission Recommendations correctly represent the needs of the Colombian Army.

/s/ M. G. Faris, Colonel,
Chief of U.S. Military Mission.

Approved

/s/ Domingo Espinel, General Colombian Army
Chief of Staff.”

In transmitting to the Embassy this information the Minister of War has requested my support in helping to obtain approval of the request and rapid dispatch of the material. In view of Colombia’s [Page 804] recent declaration of a state of belligerency, and the increasingly close military and naval cooperation between Colombia and the United States, it is my hope that this request will be given favorable consideration. While the matter is being taken up through the Colombian Ambassador at Washington, it would be helpful to me here to have information from the Department to assist the Embassy in maintaining friendly relations with the Minister of War.

Respectfully yours,

For the Ambassador:
Paul, C. Daniels

Counselor of Embassy
  1. Not printed.↩
  2. Gabriel Turbay.↩
  3. Gonzalo Restrepo.↩
  4. Not printed.↩
  5. For Lend-Lease Agreement between the United States and Colombia, signed March 17, 1942, see Foreign Relations, 1942, vol. vi, p. 189.↩