810.20 Defense/892½: Telegram
The Ambassador in Brazil (Caffery) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 28—4:05 a.m.]
736. For the Under Secretary. Department’s telegram No. 471, June 26, 4 p.m. I talked this over with Aranha: His offhand reaction was this:
[Here follows report of statement by Aranha that it would be a mistake to ask President Vargas to permit the sending of United States troops to northern Brazil, especially in view of the failure of the United States to supply arms for the Brazilian Army.]
Aranha has put into words what represents my opinion on this subject.
As the Department is aware, President Vargas has been leaning more and more in our direction during the past few months. He is definitely on our side but certainly the moment has not yet arrived when he could agree to this proposal and get away with it. He would think that I should know better than to put it up to him in this way at this juncture.
I asked Aranha if he thought it would improve matters any if we invited Brazilian forces to help defend some of our own possessions for instance. Aranha was so impressed with the point of view set out above that he did not want to think about that yet.
I repeat that we will think about the matter further and talk it over again in the next few days.