832.51/962: Telegram
The Chargé in Brazil (Gordon) to the Secretary of State
[Received 2:05 p.m.]
4. Department’s 1, January 4, 1 p.m. and 2, January 4, 5 p.m. I have just seen Souza Dantas who stated that the total January 1st payments were remitted this morning.
The remittances due in January under the debt plan amount in rough figures to 706,000 pounds, 1 million dollars, 1.1 million paper francs, 70,000 florins, a total of approximately 930,000 pounds. In addition roughly 100,000 pounds are due as monthly service on the 1933 blocked credit agreement. In the last 3 months coffee exports have fallen by some 13 million dollars as compared with similar previous periods.
When I asked whether the situation might have been aggravated by recent substantial remittances of official exchange he categorically said no and reiterated that the present shortage was due solely to the foregoing factors.
I am seeing the Minister for Foreign Affairs at 2 o’clock.