811.34553B/31: Telegram
The Minister in Portugal (Norweb) to the Secretary of State
[Received 9:08 p.m.]
2858. For the Secretary, the Under Secretary and Matthews. The British Minister saw the Secretary General of the Foreign Office yesterday as anticipated in my 2854 of November 24 and supported our requests as planned.
From the ensuing conversation he gathered that Salazar was much preoccupied with the possible effects on Spain of any concessions to United States in the Azores. The question was raised as to whether in case Portugal granted to us as a power not allied with Portugal bases in the Azores the Germans might not cite this as a precedent for obtaining similar concessions from Spain in the Balearics.
Hopkinson remarked that he could hardly imagine the Spaniards could be so foolish as to do this at the present stage of the war to which Sampayo replied that one could never tell about Spaniards who were capable of doing the most surprising things at the most unexpected moments.
Further conversation purely informal in character turned along line of regarding additional facilities for us as merely constituting an extension of the existing agreement with the British in other ways of masking our activities under the British agreement. With respect to aircraft Sampayo said definitely that no questions would be asked about planes with British markings regardless of the nationality of the crews or ground forces. For planes with American markings he suggested that possibly some member of the British forces might be included in the crew of each plane. While we consider even this suggestion as excessive it is revealing of the way Portuguese and possibly British minds are working.