810.20 Defense/5215/16
The Chargé in Guatemala (Cabot) to the Secretary of
State
No. 1573
Guatemala, November 9,
1940.
[Received November 13.]
Sir: With reference to the Department’s
strictly confidential Instruction No. 492 of October 5,
1940,63 I
have the honor to enclose herewith copy and translation of the
reply which I have received from the Foreign Office with respect
to the staff conversations held between Guatemalan and American
officers in this City in September last. This reply has been
delayed due to the absence of General Mendoza in the United
States.
The Department will note that although the points made in this
note largely cover those raised in the Department’s instruction
No. 503 of October 21, 1940,64 the Foreign
Minister has made it clear to me that this reply was prepared
before he had received the note which I submitted in accordance
with the Department’s instruction under
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reference: I shall of course forward the
Guatemalan reply to my second note as soon as it has been
received.
Respectfully yours,
[Enclosure—Translation]
The Guatemalan Minister for Foreign
Affairs (Salazar) to the
American Chargé (Cabot)
Guatemala, November 7,
1940.
Mr. Chargé: I have the honor to
refer to that Honorable Legation’s Note No. 111 of October
17 last,65 in
which you were good enough to inquire as to the attitude of
this Government with regard to the recommendations resulting
from the conversations recently held between high military
authorities of the United States and General Rodolfo A.
Mendoza, Chief of the General Staff of the Guatemalan
Army.
I take pleasure in informing Your Honor that the Ministry of
State of the Office of War has today communicated to me that
the Government of the Republic accepts the following points
discussed in the above-mentioned conversation:
- 1.
- The Government of Guatemala is interested in
sending to the United States some agents of the
investigation service to receive training under the
Federal Agency of Investigation (FBI) in the methods
employed by that secret service.
- 2.
- The Government of Guatemala does not object to
having a military airplane of the United States come
to the country with the object of taking aerial
photographs of airdromes, maritime ports and other
strategic regions, it being understood that the
Government of the Republic will receive copies of
all the photographs taken and that opportunity will
be given Guatemalan aviators to receive instruction
in all the aspects of this type of work.
- 3.
- The Government of Guatemala sees no objection to
the coming to this country of the following officers
of the United States Army:
- a.
- A doctor to make a study of the climate,
diseases, hospitals, shelters, water (quantity and
potability).
- b.
- An engineer to make a similar survey of the
highways, railways, rolling stock, repair shops,
wharves and landing facilities and construction
materials.
- c.
- An officer of the signal communication corps
to make a similar survey of facilities and the
system of electric communications.
With regard to the suggestion that the Government of
Guatemala make use of a small launch, preferably armed, to
reinforce the patrol which the aerial forces and land
observers are actually maintaining along the coast, I much
regret to inform Your Honor that this will
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not be possible inasmuch as in
the Pacific it is not possible to use a small launch, and a
larger craft for this purpose does not exist.
I request that Your Honor be good enough to communicate the
above to your Illustrious Government.
I avail myself [etc.]
