851B.01/21
Memorandum by the Assistant Secretary of State (Berle) to the Secretary of State
As suggested, Mr. Hackworth,72 Mr. Atherton,73 and I met this morning with a view to determining possible policy in regard to the Island of Martinique.
We already have at hand the reports from Kennedy74 in London.
We agreed that Martinique might be treated in a manner somewhat similar to Greenland.75 It is, of course, a French colony and we fully recognized that. On the other hand, the French Government is not in full exercise of its sovereignty; we have Pétain’s own word for it that it acts under compulsion. The Island of Martinique is cut off from effective communication with its home government through the operation of the British blockade. It is likewise within the scope of the Monroe Doctrine, and of the Act of Havana.76 We could, accordingly, proceed on the theory that our consul there could deal with the Governor of Martinique directly rather than through the Vichy Government, exactly as we had dealt with the Governors of Greenland direct, rather than through Copenhagen.
[Page 517]Once this relationship had been established, it would seem logical then to open negotiations for the repurchase of the four hundred odd airplanes which are now in Martinique.
The method of operation should be the following:
- (1)
- Our consul in Martinique ought to be directed to make an immediate report as to political conditions there. Instructions have already been drafted.
- (2)
- He should then be instructed to call on the Governor of Martinique, and to establish a relationship of direct dealing, explaining the situation, and pointing out that the Governor now has, in some degree, sovereign functions so long as he is cut off from his home government.
- (3)
- As soon as this is done we shall then be in shape to open negotiations for the re-acquisition of the planes.