Office of the Historian

811.20 Defense (M) Bolivia/334: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Bolivia (Boal)

Washington, August 20, 1942—4 p.m.

563. Refer your 693, August 18.77 It is suggested that you advise Zapata78 that there is every intention of undertaking an intensive development program immediately after an agreement is signed. It is impossible to estimate precisely the cost of this program but you may give assurances that it will be pushed vigorously and that we shall invest what is necessary to obtain significantly increased quantities of cinchona. If you feel that a specific commitment will facilitate an early agreement, you may commit $300,000 as the minimum amount that will be spent for this purpose. In addition, private firms have expressed considerable interest in the matter.

Hull
  1. Not printed; it reported that the Bolivian Foreign Office wished for a commitment from the United States to provide funds for developing the quinine industry (811.20 Defense (M) Bolivia/334).↩
  2. Raúl Espejo Zapata, head of the Political Economic Section of the Bolivian Foreign Office.↩