852.00/10196: Telegram
The Chargé at Tangier (Childs) to the Secretary of State
[Received October 31—9:58 a.m.]
539. My British colleague has informed me that on October 24 the British Ambassador in Madrid83 repeated to General Franco84 the assurances previously given to Jordana85 that the Allies had no intentions to interfere in the internal affairs of Spain or any designs to violate the territory of Spain including the peninsula and its insular possessions. Hoare is stated to have added that his Government wished to assure Franco that it was not plotting to restore “the Reds” to power in Spain and that it was not encouraging any separatist tendencies.86
Hoare has reported to his Government that although he has given similar assurances to the Spanish authorities on several occasions [Page 510] before, these last appear to have produced a particularly favorable impression.
The Foreign Office has authorized my British colleague to convey similar assurances to General Orgaz and he proposes to do this on November 2 orally and incidentally in the course of a courtesy visit.
Repeated to Madrid.
- Sir Samuel Hoare.↩
- Gen. Francisco Franco, Spanish Chief of State.↩
- Count Jordana, Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs.↩
- For correspondence regarding assurances to Spain, see vol. iii, pp. 248 ff.↩