Office of the Historian

825.24/9–644

Memorandum by the Acting Chief of the Division of North and West Coast Affairs (Lyon) to the Acting Director of the Office of American Republic Affairs (Armour)

[Washington,] September 6, 1944.

The underlying memorandum39 indicates that Chile has received in equipment about one-tenth of the Lend-Lease credit extended to her (approximately $5,500,000 out of $50,000,000). I recommend that we agree with Colonel Meals’40 suggestion and let Chile have a little material now. I think this will be beneficial from the point of view of:

(a)
Chilean-United States-Argentine relations.
(b)
Keeping Chile satisfied until the Staff conferences are held. The government (Chilean) officials will thus not be taken in by the arguments which undoubtedly will be raised that Chile has been completely deserted by the United States and should throw in her lot with Argentina.

C[ecil] B. L[yon]
  1. Supra. ↩
  2. Lt. Col. Robert W. Meals, American Theater Section, Operations Division, War Department.↩