862.852/15
The Chargé in Mexico (Boal) to the
Secretary of State
No. 9198
Mexico, September 27,
1939.
[Received September 29.]
Sir: I have the honor to enclose a memorandum
of a conversation I had this morning with Licenciado Beteta, Acting
Minister for Foreign Affairs, with regard to the desire of the Mexican
Government to purchase certain German vessels in Mexican ports.
The enclosed is transmitted for the strictly confidential information of
the Department.
Respectfully yours,
[Enclosure]
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Chargé in
Mexico (Boal)
Mexico, September 27,
1939.
In the course of my conversation with Licenciado Beteta this morning
he said that the Mexican Government has been negotiating with the
German Government with a view to purchasing two of the German ships
(tankers) now in Mexican harbors since the Mexican Government is
badly in need of tankers. The object is to credit them against
German indebtedness to Mexico for oil, which amounts to about 18
million marks. The German Government has not yet replied. He said
that this purchase would be in lieu of taking the German material
which was originally proposed in exchange for delivery of oil which
occasioned the Mexican credit in Germany. He said that he was
acquainted with the suggestion that all German vessels now in
Mexican ports might be purchased by American interests, and that he
thought this was a very good idea. He said that, although he knew
for a certainty that the German ships are now under the control of
the German Admiralty, he thought title still rested with the
individual German steamship companies, and that he thought Mexico
might be able to make some arrangement with Germany for the purchase
and eventual transfer to the American interests, retaining that part
of the purchase price which would represent the balance of Mexican
credits in Germany. He said he supposed it would be necessary to
give some assurance that they could not be resold to belligerents. I
gathered that his idea was to have the American interests buy only
those ships which are not tankers, and that Mexico would keep the
two tankers, presumably buying them separately under the
negotiations already initiated.
Licenciado Beteta also said that the Mexican Government had recently
purchased two ships in the Scandinavian countries—the Bita
[Page 61]
and the Binta—both tankers. The Mexican Government had paid
something like 103 thousand dollars for one of these, and an amount
close to that for the other. Apparently the ships had not as yet
been delivered, and he was rather disturbed lest war conditions
would obstruct the consummation of the deal, or lest they should
fail to reach Mexico.
He said that recently Mexico had purchased a tanker from the Cities
Service Company in the United States, but that our Maritime
Commission had refused to allow the transfer to take place. He
understood that this refusal was not directed at the Mexican
Government, but was destined to preserve American shipping for
American needs.
