711F.1914/434
The Ambassador in Panama (Wilson) to the Secretary of State
[Received March 12.]
Sir: I have the honor to report, for the sake of the record, and with special reference to my despatch No. 321 of October 29, 1941, and to the Department’s instruction No. 341 of November 21, 1941,25 as follows:
During my conversation on March 5 with the President (see despatch No. 922 of March 9) I said to him that I wished to make [Page 597] clear one aspect of these negotiations, in order to avoid any possible misunderstanding or charge of bad faith that might otherwise arise in the future. I said that in my conversation with Foreign Minister Fábrega on February 2626 I had spoken at length on this particular point, and that I wished to mention it to him. I stated that it was of course clear that we were negotiating the present lease agreement on the basis that the defense sites would be made available temporarily to the United States and that they would be evacuated and revert to Panamá as soon as conditions no longer warranted their continued use. I said, however, that the military advisers of our Government had pointed out that with the development of aerial warfare and the tendency towards undeclared wars beginning without previous warning, that in their opinion there would always be a necessity in the future, if the United States Government was to maintain, operate and adequately defend the Panamá Canal, for the retention by the United States of a certain number of these defense sites. I said that these military advisers felt that many of the defense sites, such as gun positions and some of the air fields, could be abandoned, once so-called peaceful times had been restored, but that in their judgment certain auxiliary air fields and particularly aircraft warning stations would have to be maintained for all time hereafter. I said that in my judgment it was very likely that at the close of this present war, when the United States Government under the terms of the agreement we were negotiating would prepare to evacuate these sites, it would be found necessary to request the Government of Panamá, as a result of experience gained in the war and as a measure required for the effective protection of the Canal, to lease or make available in some manner on a long term basis certain of these defense sites. The President made no comment nor did he raise any objection to what I had said. I might add that when I expressed myself in the same sense to Foreign Minister Fábrega on February 26, he said that he appreciated this fully, and that there was no reason that he could see why the Panamanian Government at the time contemplated should not consider the matter and undertake a negotiation for such sites. He stressed that this would of course be a new negotiation.
Respectfully yours,