852.2221/1314: Telegram
The Counselor of Embassy in Spain (Thurston) to the Secretary of State
[Received 7:15 p.m.]
1108. Señor Quero Molares has informed me that he intends to conduct the American contingent into France Monday if possible. If this plan can be carried out the group should contain 309 men, as 105 certificates were delivered by the Consulate General yesterday at Ripoll.
When I inquired regarding steamship and other arrangements in France presumably being made by Amariglio and the Friends of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, Señor Quero remarked that the person and organization named merely constitute a “set up” for the Government—which in reality is defraying all costs of repatriation but prefers to act through them. Amariglio, he said, is on the Government payroll and acts solely under its instructions.