810.74/567
Memorandum of Telephone Conversations, by Mr. Louis J. Halle of the Division of the American Republics
Section One:
I telephoned General Harbord on the evening of October 3 to read him a paraphrase of the message addressed to him by Mr. Beccar Varela of Transradio Internacional, which was contained in telegram [Page 156] no. 1908, October 2, 5 p.m.,90 from Buenos Aires. He wrote the message down as I gave it to him, then inquired as to the Department’s wishes with regard to the reply he should make. In accordance with Mr. Long’s instructions, I told General Harbord that it was the hope of the Department that he would find it advisable to indicate to Mr. Beccar Varela the desirability of not informing the Argentine officials in advance of the plans afoot for closing the Axis circuits maintained by Transradio. General Harbord said that Beccar Varela’s message more or less confirmed the view that R. C. A. had held right along that the contemplated action would result in the taking over of the company by the Argentine Government. He added that, however, it had been felt R. C. A. had no choice but to go along in view of the Department’s wishes. I assured him that the cooperative attitude of R. C. A. in this matter was very much appreciated by the Department, and added that while there was no absolute assurance of the reaction of the Argentine Government, it was to be hoped that, if it did take counter measures, these would be confined to ordering the immediate reopening of the circuits. He replied that this, of course, depended upon the political problem of how anxious the Argentine authorities might be to take over full control of the company. I reminded him of the assurance he had received, at a meeting in Mr. Long’s office, that the Department would do everything that it appropriately could to back them up in case they ran into serious difficulties as a result of the contemplated action. He said he understood and appreciated this.
General Harbord said he would consult with General Davis and Mr. Winterbottom and telephone me at 9:30 the following morning (October 4) to give me his message in reply to the one from Beccar Varela.
Section Two:
General Harbord telephoned this morning to say that it had been decided to defer sending a reply to Beccar Varela pending the opportunity of having another meeting with Mr. Long to discuss the matter. His opinion, and that of his associates, he said, was that the situation had now changed to one in which they were being asked to tell the Argentine directors of Transradio not to let their own Government know what was going on. He asked me to arrange for General Davis and Colonel Sarnoff to call on Mr. Long at 3 o’clock tomorrow. I replied that I would endeavor to make the arrangements. He said he would send General Davis down to Washington tonight, on the chance that the meeting would be arranged for tomorrow. He said that there would be no need for him to attend the meeting, even though the reply to Beccar Varela would go in his name.
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