852.75 National Telephone Co./343: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Spain (Weddell)
46. Your 73, April 11, 9 p.m. and 74, April 12, 11 a.m.76 The Spanish Ambassador will be asked to call at the Department Monday or Tuesday and will be given a copy of the memorandum which you left with the Foreign Minister in Madrid on April 9. The Ambassador will be informed that we consider that a satisfactory solution of the Telephone Company problem is of fundamental importance to all future relations between our two countries; that it furnishes a basic test of the willingness of the Spanish Government to accord to American rights and interests in Spain the just and equitable treatment to which they are entitled and which that Government has repeatedly promised; that we consider this whole problem to be primarily a matter of principle and not a subject for bargaining; that consequently we are convinced that the time has come for the Spanish Government to give evidence of its good faith in making effective its past assurances by concrete acts, in the present case through restoring the Telephone properties to their rightful owners; that we find it difficult to believe that the Chief of the Spanish State will, as stated in your no. 73, refuse to receive the Ambassador of the United States or to give his personal attention to the settlement of a problem of such importance affecting the relations of our two countries; that in as much as we consider it essential that our Ambassador shall be able at all times to be received and to discuss with the head of the State to whom he is accredited any subject in which this Government is interested, we have again instructed you to request an immediate interview with General Franco. The Ambassador will be requested to inform his Government of the foregoing and to emphasize the seriousness with which we view this matter.
You should immediately request an early interview with General Franco in accordance with previous instructions, bearing in mind particularly the considerations set forth in the Department’s no. 41, April 11, 7 p.m. You may inform General Franco and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the contemplated interview with the Spanish Ambassador in Washington.
Reference last paragraph your no. 73, April 11, 9 p.m. You are being granted leave requested but should make no announcement thereof for the time being. In the event that no progress is made toward a solution of this problem in the near future it may then prove desirable to give the impression that you are returning to the United States to consult with your Government, but no action should be taken in this direction pending further instructions.
- Latter not printed.↩