625.116/28a: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Chargé in Chile (Scott)

53. The Counselor of the Chilean Embassy has called the Department and read an instruction received from Doctor Cruchaga, in which the latter expressed some apprehension regarding the penultimate paragraph of the note which you were authorized in the Department’s 49, August 13, to present to the Chilean Government, apparently feeling that the phraseology used indicated some attempt at interference in matters of Chilean domestic economy, and also that it appeared to close the door to any further discussion of these questions.

We said to the Counselor that there had evidently been a misconception regarding the intent and meaning of the paragraph in question, since neither this Department nor the Embassy could ever have the slightest thought of attempting to interfere in matters of Chilean domestic policy; the intent and meaning of the paragraph were that the existing temporary measures of the Chilean Government regarding restriction of commerce and the blocking of the transfer of American frozen credits were proving injurious to American trade, and that we had every confidence, counting upon the known friendliness and spirit of fairness of the Chilean Government, that it would soon find a way to remove these restrictions. We further pointed out that the note did not in any sense seek to close the door to further discussions, but that on the contrary the Embassy would welcome the opportunity of further discussion of these matters with Chilean officials on any and all occasions.

Hull