811.20 Defense (M) Chile/625
The Ambassador in Chile (Bowers) to President Roosevelt
Dear Mr. President: I am enclosing for your information a copy of a telegram sent the Department today.16 It is terribly disheartening at a time when we have aligned Chile with us to the full in the vital matter of the Bolivian Junta, to have these new plans to reduce everything, purchases and prices, to the serious immediate disadvantage of Chile thrown in our laps. On the matter of wood pulp, we all feel very strongly. I, personally, cannot yet understand why it is impossible to give Chile 300 more tons of newsprint greatly needed, by taking that merger amount from Argentina, our enemy, openly now our enemy, organizing or trying to organize an anti-United States bloc in South America. It would still leave Argentina, with five or six thousand tons a month as against 580 tons a month for this outstanding democratic country. The press is now attacking on that score and this week it was the subject of discussion in the House of Deputies. It is dangerous, and very hard to understand. This view is warmly shared by every single member of my staff.
Sincerely,
- Presumably No. 41, 6 p.m., supra. ↩