837.51 Public Works Debt/328
The Ambassador in Cuba (Messersmith) to the Secretary of
State
No. 605
Habana, July 31, 1940.
[Received August
2.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to various
despatches of the Embassy with reference to the settlement of the
obligations due by the Cuban Government to Warren Brothers and Purdy and
Henderson, and to transmit herewith a memorandum covering a part of a
conversation which Secretary Hull had with President Laredo Brú on July
30. This reference to the obligations took place during an informal
conversation which Secretary Hull had with the President on the occasion
of a courtesy call which the Secretary made on the President.
Respectfully yours,
[Page 757]
[Enclosure]
Memorandum by the Ambassador in Cuba (Messersmith) of a
Conversation Between the Secretary of State and the President of
Cuba (Laredo Brú)
During the course of the Habana Conference the Secretary of State,
Mr. Hull, indicated a desire to pay a courtesy call on the President
of Cuba, Dr. Laredo Brú, in addition to the call which he made on
the President, together with the other delegates to the Habana
Conference. The call took place on July 30 at 11:30 a.m., and I
accompanied the Secretary.
The Secretary and the President talked informally on a number of
matters and exchanged views on matters of common interest. It is not
necessary to make a record of the conversation, except in the
following respect:
During the course of the conversation Secretary Hull spoke of the
importance of orderly and stable governments in this hemisphere, as
elsewhere, and of the necessity of governments maintaining their
obligations. In this connection the Secretary expressed to the
President his gratification that the President had recently taken
the initiative in order to secure a settlement of the obligations
due Warren Brothers and Purdy and Henderson. The Secretary spoke in
general of the importance of governments meeting such obligations
and indicated that the various agencies of our Government would find
it impossible to cooperate with Cuba in a program of economic
assistance of any kind unless these obligations were met. The
President replied that he thoroughly understood the importance of
the settlement of these obligations; that for that reason he had
very recently again taken the initiative; that he was pressing the
matter of settlement as hard as he could; and that he had spoken to
Colonel Batista, the President-Elect, to impress upon him the
importance of the matter. The President said that Colonel Batista
had indicated that he did understand the importance of immediate
settlement and that he had pledged himself to do all in his power to
bring about such immediate settlement. The President said that this
matter was now of more importance to the President-Elect than it was
to him, as his functions would cease in a few months. He was,
however, prepared to do everything in his power to bring about a
settlement before the President-Elect took over his office, and he
was working to that end.
The President expressed to Secretary Hull his belief that the matter
of the obligations would be settled within a very brief period.
G[eorge] S. M[essersmith]
