835.24/592a
The Liaison Officer With the War and Navy Departments (Wilson) to the Assistant Chief of Staff, War Plans Division, War Department (Eisenhower)
My Dear General Eisenhower: On March 19 I sent you, at the request of the Acting Secretary, a memorandum30 enclosing the text in translation of a note from the Argentine Ambassador indicating his Government’s desire to obtain certain motorized equipment. You referred this memorandum to Colonel Barber who on March 31 kindly sent me a communication30 showing various items of the above-mentioned motorized equipment which it would be possible to release promptly.
In this connection you may be interested to learn that, owing to the unwillingness of Argentina to sever diplomatic relations with the Axis Powers and to contribute to hemisphere defense in the same manner as other countries which have taken this step, a decision has been reached to refrain from facilitating to the Argentine Government the same kind of assistance that is being made available to many other American republics. As this decision will prevent the delivery of the motorized equipment desired by the Argentine Government, the Ambassador was informed that, in view of existing conditions, the Government of the United States regretted that it was unable to make available to the Argentine authorities the material in question.
Sincerely yours,