800.8830/2449
The Assistant Secretary of State (Acheson) to the War Shipping Administrator (Land)
My Dear Admiral Land: In your letter of August 25, 194363 you indicated that it would not be practicable or advisable to permit direct vessel service from Venezuela to New York, as had been requested by the Venezuelan Ambassador in a communication to the Department of August 9, 1943.63
In view of the importance to Venezuela of such direct shipments, particularly with reference to the movement of coffee to this market in competition with other countries, the matter has been the subject of further oral discussion between officials of the Department and the War Shipping Administration in order to see if a more satisfactory reply could not be made to the Venezuelan Government. In the meantime another communication has been received from the Venezuelan Embassy dated September 6, 1943, a translation of which is attached,64 again urging that some action be taken on the matter. The Venezuelan Embassy now points out that as a result of the recent cancellation of the subsidy on railway freight previously granted by the Commodity Credit Corporation, the added cost of hauling coffee overland from New Orleans or Mobile to New York prejudices still further the position of Venezuelan coffee.
The total tonnage of coffee involved in the Venezuelan request is not, relatively speaking, very large, in as much as the entire Venezuelan coffee quota for the United States during the coming quota year is only 462,000 bags of 60 Kgs. each. In view of the small tonnage involved and bearing in mind the strain under which our interior rail transportation is now operating, I should be most grateful if you would give reconsideration to the Venezuelan request in the light of the new circumstances set forth in the Venezuelan communication of September 6, 1943.
Sincerely yours,