Office of the Historian

500.CC/10–1944

The Chargé in Brazil (Donnelly) to the Director of the Office of American Republic Affairs (Armour)

Rio de Janeiro, October 19, 1944.

Dear Mr. Ambassador: Velloso32 continues to stress the importance the Brazilian Government attaches to Brazil’s being elected as a member on the Security Council. He says that Ambassador Martins has informed him that the question was raised by President Roosevelt at the Quebec Conference following Mr. Churchill’s recommendation that France be made a member of the Council.33 Martins is reported to have said that President Roosevelt remarked to Churchill: “If we agree on France, then I must take care of my good friends the Brazilians because they will expect to be included in the Permanent Council.”

The public and press here have been very lukewarm towards the Dumbarton Oaks proposals due chiefly to the omission of any reference [Page 933] to Brazil. They consider Brazil to be by far the most important country in the Americas, outside of the United States.

Sincerely yours,

Walter J. Donnelly
  1. Pedro Leão Velloso, Acting Foreign Minister of Brazil.↩
  2. Documentation on the Second Quebec Conference, September 11–16, 1944, is scheduled for publication in a subsequent volume of Foreign Relations.↩