823.24/172
The Secretary of State to the Secretary of the Navy (Knox)
My Dear Mr. Secretary: I acknowledge the receipt of Mr. Forrestal’s letter of December 1492 recommending that in view of the excellent cooperation manifested by both the Ecuadoran and Peruvian Governments in the present emergency, the restriction regarding the procurement of matériel by these two Governments, under the Lend-Lease Act, be terminated, and pointing out the desirability of permitting the Peruvian Government to obtain certain non-combatant matériel for the purpose of increasing the efficiency of the naval arsenal at Callao, a port which has been made available for the use of our naval forces.
I am pleased to inform you that this Department concurs in the views expressed in this letter and has instructed the Ambassador at Lima and the Minister at Quito to inform the Governments to which they are accredited that this Department is prepared to commence discussions relative to the acquisition of armaments under the provisions of the Lend-Lease Act.93
Sincerely yours,
- Not printed.↩
- These discussions resulted in an agreement signed on April 6, 1942. It provided for the transfer of armaments and munitions to a total of $17,000,000 and accorded Ecuador a reduction of 96.47 percent in the cost. The conclusion of the agreement was deferred by reason of the concurrent negotiations concerning bases.↩