800.515/627a: Circular telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Brazil (Caffery)38
On March 4, 1943 Secretary Morgenthau addressed the following letter to the Ministers of Finance of the United Nations and the countries associated with them.
[Here follows text of the letter of March 4, 1943, printed in Proceedings and Documents of the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, volume II, page 1573.]
There appears to be some misunderstanding of the nature of the talks which are going forward in Washington. These conversations [Page 1070] are between technical experts and are of an exploratory character-Conversations with the representatives of some countries are now being held and we should like to complete the bilateral exploratory discussions before beginning informal group meetings of experts which are to be held if possible in the beginning of May. At the group meetings of experts who have come to Washington it is expected to summarize and synthesize the views that have been expressed on the various proposals submitted. These informal meetings of experts should not be confused with a formal conference of Finance Ministers which will be called for a later date if an adequate area of agreement emerges from the discussions among the experts.
In order to assure discussions with the technical experts of all countries within this time schedule you are requested to inquire of the Minister of Finance when the technical experts of his Government may be expected to reach Washington.
For your further information a copy of the preliminary draft outline of the proposal is being sent to you by air mail.
- Sent on the same date to Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay; sent as an airgram on the same date to Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Venezuela; sent as an airgram on April 22 to Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Haiti, Mexico, and Panama.↩