411.12/1719
Memorandum by the Ambassador in Mexico (Daniels)35
Upon my call at the Foreign Office this morning Mr. Torreblanca, Acting Secretary, expressed the hope that the long-standing differences between the two countries with reference to claims could be adjusted before the Mexican Congress adjourns at the close of the present year. “In our proposition”, he said, “we were influenced by the financial situation of Mexico. Our budget for the year shows a deficit. We made the proposal of a settlement for thirty years because we are sure that if that is accepted we can meet every payment as it becomes due. However, if it will interest your Government, I feel sure that we could strain a point and reduce the time to twenty-five years.” He indicated that his Government wished to bring to an early close all these claims between Mexico and its creditor countries on this Continent and in Europe.
“Did Ambassador González Roa inform you that all the European countries had reached an agreement with our Government on a basis of 2.6 percent?” he asked.
I answered in the affirmative and added that European claims were confined to those arising between 1910 and 1920, the period embraced in the Convention of the Special Claims Commission, while many American claims came under the General Claims Commission and ran back as far as 1808.
I added that the State Department had stated that both the amount and the time of payment were not regarded as satisfactory.
- Copy transmitted to the Department by the Ambassador in his despatch No 907, December 19, 1933; received December 26.↩