Office of the Historian

824.24/925: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Bolivia (Boal)

Washington, December 25, 1943—6 p.m.

1468. The following letter is being sent to Mr. Leo Crowley55 setting forth the policy to be followed by the Foreign Economic Administration with regard to Bolivia:

“With reference to the request of the Foreign Economic Administration as to the policy of this Government with regard to Bolivia, I have to inform you as follows: For the immediate present the Department proposes to withhold action authorizing the recognition of the new government in Bolivia. The orientation of the new regime and its probable policies do not, in general, give the Department reason for optimism. The Department does not think it advisable at the present time to make any public announcement of the control measures herein recommended and the Foreign Economic Administration is particularly requested not to issue any release bulletin or administrative order for the public revealing the recommended action. The Department recommends, as regards economic relations, that the Foreign Economic Administration and other appropriate agencies undertake the following action:

1.
Referring to exports:
(a)
Hold without action all export license applications for Bolivia until further notice.
(b)
Hold all requests for freight space for goods destined for Bolivia until further notice.
(c)
Suspend action on all freight space requests for merchandise to Bolivia.
2.
With regard to imports:
(a)
Conduct routine activities in the field with producers and private contractors.
(b)
Undertake appropriate informal steps, if any, with a view to preventing rubber shipments to Argentina, which would be a violation of United States-Bolivian Agreements,56 and with a view to preventing quinine shipments to Argentina.
(c)
Permit the existing state of suspension to continue with reference to negotiations regarding tin.
(d)
For the present undertake no activities related to special procurement.

“There is also under consideration by the Department the question of requesting port representatives of the War Shipping Administration to take up, in a quiet manner, the possibility of asking ship operators to hold back existing cargo for Bolivia on which space has been booked and substituting therefor cargo destined for other South American ports on the West Coast. It may be impossible, without cancelling all outstanding export licenses, to suspend the loading of lumber on the Pacific Coast and other merchandise booked for sailing in the near future. The Department has under consideration whether either the latter or the former measures should be carried out and requests the Foreign Economic Administration to take no action in this regard pending further advices to you. I shall be pleased to keep you acquainted with regard to developments in Bolivia and the policy to be followed towards the new government. It is suggested that your staff take up with the Department, through established channels of liaison, the details of the policy set forth above.”

With reference Embassy’s no. 1966 of December 16 and no. 1987 of December 22, and in view of the above, the Department cannot authorize any press publicity here indicating a facilitation of freer export flow to Bolivia through simplification of Decentralization Plan. You will be advised further concerning this particular question.57 Please inform Kazen.

Hull
  1. Administrator of the Foreign Economic Administration.↩
  2. For text of agreement of July 15, and exchange of notes of the same date, see Foreign Relations, 1942, vol. v, pp. 574–580.↩
  3. The Embassy was informed in telegram No. 11, January 2, 1944, that the Government was accepting a recommendation of the Emergency Consultative Committee for Political Defense for joint inter-American consideration of recognition of the new Bolivian Government, and that pending this action the Department had decided to lift the restrictions on handling export licenses for Bolivia and on the loading of ocean shipments to Bolivia (824.24/925).↩