832.796/326: Telegram
The Ambassador in Brazil (Caffery) to the Secretary of State
[Received 9:52 p.m.]
350. Department’s 220, April 19, and 226, April 22, 5 p.m.55 Camargo Aranha came in this morning. He referred to the conversation I reported in my telegram No. 290 of April 9, 6 p.m.;56 and said that as he had heard nothing further from us he had withdrawn his credit from New York and bought the Hermes plane and another plane which was either the one that came on the Lech57 or one for which the Lech was exchanged by the Germans: he was not sure about that.
In other words, he has no more money.
He added that if our Government can help him with the financing, he is perfectly ready to sell all of his present equipment to us on our order which includes 5 planes all told including the 2 new ones and a lot of recently arrived accessories from Germany.
He said moreover that he is prepared to de-Germanize completely the company including personnel as far as we wish him to go. In that case he must have permanent employment of American mechanics and two American pilots temporarily to act as instructors during a brief training period. (This obviously would contravene the present law against foreign pilots on Brazilian planes, a law which we have frequently invoked against Germans. Camargo Aranha said he could do nothing about that but hopes that I could.)
He added that Vasp could run on their present German equipment for 2 years more but he insists he prefers throwing in the German equipment and using American only.