740.00112A European War, 1939/3751: Telegram

The Ambassador in Colombia ( Braden ) to the Secretary of State

558. My telegram No. 554, November 13, 11 p.m.35 This afternoon Minister of Foreign Relations after a long talk over the telephone with the President informed me as follows:

1.
The Minister had obtained from the Senate Secretariat, and would hold, the resolution which was to have been transmitted to other chancelleries. He was confident he could obtain the committee’s consent not to send it [at] all. Thus the most pressing feature of the situation had been adjusted.
2.
The President would see me so soon as possible after his return to the city on Monday or Tuesday.36
3.
Speaking personally as friend to friend and in most complete confidence he wished to convey to me the President’s thoughts which were basic and in substance as follows:
(a)
President Roosevelt, the Secretary and the Under Secretary, whom he and Santos admired as practically supermen, could always count on this Government’s unreserved dedication to American solidarity and democracy so long as he and President Santos remain in office.
(b)
They did not understand how our Government in its preoccupation with tremendous problems could simultaneously divert its attention to such relatively insignificant matters since there were at least nine or ten elements of the defense program far more important than the Proclaimed List. Our great attention to the latter could not be understood by the Latin mind.
(c)
A fundament of our inter-American program is consultation on all defense activities (the implication was clear that we had not consulted in regard to the Proclaimed List).
(d)
Colombia, by reason of its complete adherence to inter-American solidarity and the implementing agreements was obligated frankly to express any difference of opinion which might arise. Colombia’s [Page 306] views in these particulars had been made known to all the other chancelleries by its declarations at recent conferences.
(e)
In conclusion it was fatal to concentrate one’s attention on minor details.

I thanked the Minister for his action in stopping distribution of the Senate report, detailed the many misinterpretations, false accusations and injustices contained in that document which necessarily would be misunderstood and might do great harm in the other American Republics including the United States.37 It would be capitalized on by the Nazis everywhere including in Tokyo as I outlined to him October 29 in compliance with Department’s telegram No. 371.38 While there were more important factors in the defense program, at this time Proclaimed List was one of the most effective actions taken especially in combatting the strongly organized fifth column which we had in all of our countries. It was precisely neglect of details in the face of well-known German efficiency that had led to the downfall of one country after another, and in the face of the totalitarian menace to our very existence we could not neglect the slightest possibility of danger.

At one point in the conversation the Minister expressed the hope we might at least consult the Ministry on a few Proclaimed List cases. I observed that we had consulted with the Foreign Office committee on cases and pointed out that of 349 names listed there had been comment made by either the executive or legislative branches of the Colombian Government in only one instance where the accuracy of our information had not been questioned. Moreover, some Colombian firms obtained the business lost by the totalitarian. I emphasized our continued cooperation with Colombia in many different ways which involved substantial sacrifices by us and that it was [not?] for us to make such sacrifices in benefit of those whom we believe to be directly or indirectly dangerous to the defense of the United States or the hemisphere.39

I said the Senate report quoted only those parts of Habana agreement to Uruguay [sic] which provided for consultation and it omitted any reference to the obligations of each American Government to adopt all necessary measures within its territory and to eradicate the spread of totalitarian fundamentals. We had promulgated Proclaimed List strictly in compliance with these latter obligations.

At the end of this hour and three-quarters conversation the Minister [Page 307] thanked me for my statements to which he raised no counter arguments.

Braden
  1. Not printed, but see footnote 34, p. 303.
  2. November 17 and 18, respectively. Ambassador Braden’s interview with President Santos did not take place until Friday, November 21, when, as he reported in telegram No. 573, November 21, 7 p.m., (not printed), he reiterated the views expressed herein. President Santos replied that (1) under no circumstances would he permit the Senate report to be circulated to other American Governments; (2) he would instruct the Foreign Ministry to announce that constitutionally only the President had the right to communicate with other nations; hence, the concluding paragraph of the Senate report was ineffective. (740.00112A European War, 1939/3944)
  3. In telegram No. 347, November 24, 5 p.m., the Minister in Costa Rica observed that “the recent reported action of the Colombian Government in regard to our Proclaimed List has received continuous publicity here” (740.00112A European War, 1939/4013).
  4. Not printed.
  5. Part of this sentence apparently garbled.