File No. 612.6363/330
The Chargé in Mexico ( Summerlin ) to the Secretary of State
725. Your 716, January 23, 7 p.m., taken up with Pani who replies in a note dated 26th that foreign companies have not been prohibited from drilling wells; that the interpretation of the Attorney General and consulting attorneys of the departments relative to Article 27 of the Constitution does not prohibit foreign capital from being invested in the oil industry, but requires foreign capital to submit to the new laws by renouncing its nationality and organizing as Mexican companies; that this does not imply intervention in the said companies and much less the confiscation of their properties; that [Page 688] the attitude of the present Government in all its dealings with foreign interests has been in accord with the assurances given by President Carranza to Ambassador Fletcher on August 2 last. He adds that since the promulgation of the Constitution, the Government has adopted a benevolent policy toward American companies, giving them an opportunity to adapt their business to the conditions created by the said law, and that any concrete complaint which may arise where the interests of an American company are jeopardized shall, when brought to the attention of his Department, be given careful attention.