Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, 1943, The American Republics, Volume V

740.00112A European War 1939/23174: Telegram

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

La Paz, January 7, 1943—5 p.m.
[Received 9:03 p.m.]

27. Department’s No. 5, January 1, 8 p.m.¹¹ Replacement of Proclaimed List firms. Embassy understands from Egger¹² that Mersereau, general counsel for the Export-Import Bank, is traveling to Ecuador soon leaving by January 11 and that Egger has discussed with him the possibility of his coming also to La Paz to advise on the basic organization of the Bolivian Development Corporation. I consider this an excellent idea and strongly recommend that if possible Mersereau do this both to discuss corporation problems with Egger and to discuss the replacement of Proclaimed List firms with the Embassy and the question of having an Export-Import Bank expert here. I hope Mersereau will be able to arrange his plans accordingly.

In the meantime while there is no formulated plan for replacement of Axis firms the attitude of the Bolivian Government on the issue of liquidation of Proclaimed List concerns remains unresponsive. I believe that with a definite plan for replacement Bolivian authorities may be expected to receive with more sympathy suggestions for strong action against such concerns. At the same time it seems necessary for us to establish a stronger motivation for this since at the present time Bolivian authorities apparently perceive no necessity or even desirability to move against Proclaimed List firms advancing that they are deemed essential to the national economy. Such motivation could be based on restrictions on sales of foreign exchange to Proclaimed List nationals and on the transportation of Proclaimed List goods by common carriers; both of these subjects are receiving attention of the Embassy and will be reported on in the near future. See also our telegram 26, January 7, 3 p.m.¹³

Boal

11. Not printed; this telegram indicated that United States aid in the form of sending an expert must be preceded by concrete evidence of Bolivia’s desire to eliminate Axis firms (740.00112A European War, 1939/22242).
12. Rowland A. Egger, Manager of the Bolivian Development Corporation.
13. Not printed; this telegram concerned the shipment of two locomotives destined to move nonessential Proclaimed List commodities (811.20(D) Regulations/9474).