811.34553B/10–244: Telegram
The Ambassador in Portugal (Norweb) to the Secretary of State
[Received 7:36 p.m.]
3043. Sampayo called me to the Foreign Office this p.m. and handed me the following letter from Dr. Salazar with the enclosures22 mentioned.
“For the purpose of saving time but in the conviction that the question of the indirect participation of Portugal shall be placed before and accepted in principle by the meetings of the delegates of the general staffs I send to Your Excellency in order to initiate the negotiation of the political part with which we are charged in accordance with Your Excellency’s wish two documents: the first is a draft agreement relative to the Santa Maria airdrome; the second is a text of a draft note which complements the first with a few political guarantees and assurances [of] an economic nature which I believe Your Excellency will find entirely reasonable and within possibility. Obviously the latter document lacks the final editing (which in any case will require a prior exchange of impressions and a few data which I do not at the moment possess) because it was my intent merely to cause to be clearly expressed the undertakings which the Portuguese Government desires of the United States Government.
I suppose that Your Excellency is disposed to begin immediately work on this subject and that you will find no difficulties of interpretation of the attached texts. In any case Ambassador Sampayo shall be at your disposal to furnish you any necessary clarification.
I shall be grateful to Your Excellency if you were to place at our disposal the English translation which shall serve as a basis for its study. With et cetera.”
Translations of the texts of the documents referred to will be telegraphed as soon as they are completed.23