840.51 Frozen Credits/8110
The Department of State to the Bolivian Embassy
Aide-Mémoire
The Government of the United States is again constrained to advise the Government of Bolivia that thoroughly reliable sources report that the foreign exchange facilities of the Banco Central de Bolivia continue to remain available to firms in Bolivia whose activities are considered inimical to the security of the Western Hemisphere, and that the exchange obtained by such firms is currently being utilized by them to effect the importation of substantial quantities of marketable commodities from Argentina, Chile, and Peru. This Government regrets that these transactions persist despite the provisions of Resolution V of the Third Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the American Republics and the resolutions of the Inter-American Conference on Systems of Economic and Financial Control. The continuation of such a course of action on the part of the Banco Central can only be injurious to hemispheric security.
His Excellency, the Ambassador of Bolivia to the United States, and His Excellency, Eduardo Anze Matienzo, Minister of Foreign Relations of Bolivia, have heretofore assured this Government that the Government of Bolivia would take all steps necessary to prevent the Banco Central from engaging in such transactions. It is hoped that henceforth the Bank will not grant foreign exchange to any firm whose activities are inimical to the security of the American Republics. Although some of the objectionable firms to which the Banco Central sells foreign exchange may be essential to the economy of Bolivia, it is submitted that the aspects of hemispheric security are of such magnitude that this Government continues to hope that a program [Page 630] will be formulated under which such firms may be eliminated in favor of enterprises which will bulwark, rather than threaten, that security.