852.00/6314
Memorandum by the Chief of the Division of American Republics (Duggan)
The Brazilian Ambassador telephoned me this morning at eleven o’clock with regard to the Uruguayan proposal that belligerent rights be recognized in Spain. He said he had received a telegram from his Foreign Office containing the following information:
That the Brazilian Government would like to reply to the Uruguayan note in accord with all the other Governments of this hemisphere, but particularly the Government of the United States;
That it will await the reply of all the other Governments before replying itself;
[Page 385]That its own point of view is that the present situation represents partiality towards one of the parties;
That belligerency in fact exists and that there is plenty of justification in international law for recognition of belligerency;
That it is convenient to clarify the situation just because it is a European matter;
That Brazil does not intend to recognize Franco, and
That in any case Brazil will not act in an isolated way and will be largely influenced by the attitude of the United States.
The Ambassador interpreted this telegram to mean that his Government is not unfavorable to the Uruguayan proposal; that it does not, however, have any intention of recognizing Franco, and that since on the basis of the information his Government has regarding the probable reply of the United States it appears that the United States will not accept the Uruguayan proposal, Brazil will wait until all the countries have replied and then will endeavor to harmonize its reply with the others, particularly with the reply of the United States.