831.6363/1675: Telegram

The Ambassador in Venezuela ( Corrigan ) to the Secretary of State

581. I earnestly recommend that President Medina’s personal and official assurances of full cooperation conveyed in my telegram 539, May 22, 2 p.m.,57 be accepted as satisfactory answer to my request for clarification of the questions raised in the Venezuelan Government’s memorandum of May 1357 concerning the refining of crude petroleum from new concession.

Pending receipt of my answer the Government has stopped all negotiations. The resultant situation is a matter of grave concern to petroleum operators in Venezuela. My answer would then, by a brief expression of our satisfaction and thanks, terminate the exchange.

In my opinion it would be unwise to let the geographical and juridical questions raised in the Venezuelan Government’s memorandum of May 13 complicate the present situation. It is a labored and legalistic document which raises many defensive sophistries which could be the subject of almost endless exchanges. The practical effects of the [Page 1669] resolution are nil for the present and problematical for the future and the questions raised in them and in the memorandum should be reserved for future discussions in general regional or world petroleum matters.

Corrigan
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