837.51/2526
The Cuban Ambassador (Martínez Fraga) to the Under Secretary of State (Welles)
Distinguished Under Secretary and Friend: In accordance with the confidential conversations which I had the pleasure of having with [Page 557] you shortly before going to Habana on the nineteenth instant, I take pleasure in advising you that I discussed, in Cuba, with the Honorable President of the Republic and the Secretary of the Treasury the possibility of initiating, with the friendly cooperation of the Government of the United States, the opportune negotiations which would enable the Cuban Government to solve the urgent and extremely grave problem represented by the depreciation of its national currency.
As I stated to you in the course of the conversations referred to above, the depreciation of the Cuban peso continues and frequently becomes worse, in spite of the measures and provisions, many of them risky, adopted and put into force by my Government.
It is unnecessary to point out here the dangerous repercussions which such an anomalous situation has on the economic and financial relations between Cuba and the United States.
The experts believe that, if the depreciation is not remedied without loss of time, it will become endemic and, complicated by inevitable phenomena of lack of confidence, speculation and general economic insecurity, may nullify the generous efforts which our two Governments, in felicitous agreement, are realizing in other important fields.
The exceptional and difficult nature of the monetary depreciation, aggravated in the case of Cuba by the nonexistence of a central government bank which could prevent it in an adequate manner, explains, perhaps, the failure of the numerous attempts and heroic measures by means of which my Government has sought to solve so complex a problem.
Taking advantage of the cordial personal promise which you were good enough to make me in the sense of considering and studying confidentially the possibility of giving to Cuba the technical, and, should occasion arise, monetary cooperation which will permit the establishment of what, in the opinion of all the experts, is the basis of the solution, that is to say, a solid Stabilization Fund, and, complying with the confidential instructions of my Government, I take the liberty of enclosing a memorandum60 explaining what, in our opinion, might serve as a guarantee for the lending operation on which, naturally, must be founded the monetary cooperation to which I have just referred.
Equally substantial and important as this latter aspect of the solution, without doubt, is the advice or plan which the experts in the service of the Government of the United States might offer and suggest for the purpose of creating the Stabilization Fund.
I, therefore, reiterating each and every one of the reasons of various kinds, which I have personally set forth to you on former occasions, respectfully request that, if it be possible, you consider the request [Page 558] of the Government of Cuba that this letter formulates, and submit the possibility of this urgent collaboration to the competent authorities and experts concerned, thus adding one more to the long list of generous services and invaluable proofs of friendship offered by the Administration of President Roosevelt and by you to my country.
You will note that the enclosed memorandum only describes the history, nature, and status of the possible guarantee for the previously mentioned lending operation. Purposely, we do not even suggest the general lines of a plan for the desired Stabilization Fund because we wish the experts, whose authority is universal, on whom the Government of the United States relies, to be the ones who, by means of their valuable advice, shall determine at least the broad bases of the plan which it would be appropriate to follow.
Please accept [etc.]
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