812.50/374

The President of Mexico ( Avila Camacho ) to President Roosevelt

[Translation]

Very Esteemed Mr. President: I address these lines to you to confirm to you the expressions of satisfaction which I conveyed to you by telegram1 on the occasion of the termination of the work with which our Governments charged the members of the Mexican-American Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation.

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I sincerely believe that the friendly development of these labors should be considered one of the immediate practical fruits of our interview in the month of April and although I am convinced that the spirit which prevailed in the negotiations was the same spirit of constructive good neighborliness which in years past has animated our peoples, I am also certain—in so far as the activities of the Mexican delegates are concerned—that the results obtained were due, primarily, to your inspiration and to your good judgment in selecting them from among the group of your most competent collaborators.

For that reason, I wish to convey my appreciation of the kind personal interest which you gave to a matter of such importance to the two nations. Nevertheless—and in the spirit of absolute frankness which has characterized all of our contacts—I should feel that this letter was incomplete if I did not add that, in my judgment, the excellent work of the Commission needs to be completed by a series of measures to make feasible its conclusions.

Taking into account the natural complexity of the bureaucratic system, within an organism having such enormous ramifications as that which has aroused the will of the American people to meet the obligations of the war, I consider it useful to bring to your attention the possibility that the offices in the United States charged with carrying out the recommendations of the Commission take note of the desirability of organizing—with respect to the shipment of articles requested by Mexico—a simpler system of processing, perhaps not identical with that already in effect as to Canada,2 but which would be equally rapid and efficient in the granting of the indispensable priorities.

In matters of such transcendental importance time is an essential factor and anything that is done to expedite the issuance of the export licenses will redound in mutual benefit and will consolidate the hopes awakened in Mexican public opinion, even more than the meetings of the Commission, the origin of the meetings; that is to say: the presidential accord from which emanated the initiative to call them together.

In view of the nature of and the justification of these hopes—which, on the other hand, are not disproportionate if the incomparable productive capacity of the United States is taken into account—it has seemed to me opportune to write you, for I am certain that our opinions will again coincide as to the urgency that a labor begun under such auspicious circumstances promptly acquire a character of reality daily more apparent.

Assuring you in advance of my gratitude for the dispositions which you may believe adequate to adopt for the administrative direction [Page 253] of this question—which, in principle, has been determined in a clear and equitable manner—I am, with best wishes for your well-being and with the same esteem as always, with very cordial greetings, your friend,

Manuel Avila Camacho
  1. The text of this telegram of July 15, 1943, and the reply of the same date from President Roosevelt were released to the press on July 17.
  2. For the announcement of an agreement whereby exports to the American Republics were to be jointly programmed by the United States and Canada, see Department of State Bulletin, May 22, 1943, p. 454.