832.852/49: Telegram
The Ambassador in Brazil (Caffery) to the Secretary of State
[Received January 1, 1943—2:33 a.m.]
5568. Embassy’s telegram 5530, December 29. I have received the following personal letter from Aranha:
“In accordance with our last conversation I take pleasure in the hope of confirming to Your Excellency the statement that President Vargas—complying with the request made to him by President Roosevelt [Page 756] and Your Excellency—has authorized me to communicate to Your Excellency that powers were granted to me to study and make delivery of the Brazilian ‘ITA’ boats which he decided to turn over to the American Government for urgent purposes.
Your Excellency, who has such a good knowledge of our necessities, can well appreciate the difficulties which will result to our shipping and trade with the north of Brazil from the loss of these six ships.
Another important point which is also known to Your Excellency is the question of the safety of northeastern Brazil. Brazil does not have complete means of communication by land for that region. The program designed and initiated by the Government to complete such a communication system with the city of Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, has suffered constant interruptions due to the lack of railway materials.
Not so much from the standpoint of compensation but to remedy such a great handicap—made even worse as Your Excellency will be the first to recognize by ceding the best ships of our already deficient Merchant Marine—I ask Your Excellency to submit to President Roosevelt for consideration a statement of the most urgent Brazilian necessities connected with the transportation problem: Construction of the following railway stretches:
[Here follows the remainder of Mr. Aranha’s letter which is a detailed description of the railway routes and the needed construction materials and equipment; also, one paragraph of the Ambassador’s comment on certain details.]
Aranha has been very vague about the terms of the transaction.
He keeps on saying, “the ships are yours”, but he declines to give us details, presumably because he prefers to await receipt of our offer. However, he has requested me to find out the c.i.f. Brazilian port cost of the rails and has also expressed the hope that our Government would turn them over to his Government on the basis of Lend-Lease.
I recommend that the Department discuss the rail project with R. K. West who may be reached through Ex-Im Bank.
[Here follows another passage dealing with materials and equipment.]
Of the six ITA ships, five are available and acceptable. The Itaquice will require a minimum of 6 to 8 months to repair here due principally to renewal of stripped engine parts such as liners, heads, et cetera. If you are not interested in Itaquice, we may be able to substitute the passenger vessel Pedro II belonging to Lloyd Brasileiro, built in Glasgow in 1910, now classed in Bureau Verit as 6129 gross tons, reported to make about 16 knots at 90 tons of fuel oil. Log shows usual maximum speed 14 knots 72 tons fuel, 832 tons bunkers. Survey here shows vessel in general good condition. Passenger capacity 325.
In my opinion the Brazilian authorities would be willing to reach an agreement based upon the exchange of the ships for the rails and [Page 757] accessories, and our assurances that we would facilitate the granting of priorities for the equipment specified in item 2 of Aranha’s letter.