810.20 Defense/11–944
The Ambassador in Cuba (Braden) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 13.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to the Department’s instruction No. 4602 of October 26, 1944 requesting my comments on the letter of September 21, 1944 from Admiral William D. Leahy setting forth the desire of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to see concluded with Cuba an arrangement whereby the air bases at San Antonio de los Baños and San Julián may be utilized by United States air forces after the war.
I believe it will be impossible to obtain a lease of these bases as the Cuban Government, under the pressure of public opinion, will probably be forced to require the fulfillment of our present military agreements whereby these bases are to be turned over to Cuba six months after the conclusion of the present war. I believe, however, that it will be possible to obtain the use of these facilities by our military (and/or naval) air forces in cooperation with the Cuban military authorities. It is probable that the Cuban Government will wish the Cuban flag alone to fly over these bases arid to have the supreme authority rest with the Cuban military authorities.
I believe that President Grau and the present Government will accede to our request to operate military craft into and from these bases and over the territory of Cuba without burdensome restrictions. As, however, the Cuban Government may raise the question of reciprocity for Cuban aircraft flying to the United States, I should appreciate instructions as to whether such reciprocity arrangement is contemplated in the proposed agreement.
There will likewise, in my opinion, be no objection by the Cubans to the installation and maintenance by us of radio, weather, communication, and other facilities for the operation of the bases. Here again it is probable that the Cuban Government will wish to have general over-all supervision and that, as the bases may be operated jointly by the Cuban and the United States military forces, joint operation of these radio and other facilities may also become necessary although I think this situation can probably be accommodated to our satisfaction in practice, if not in the agreement itself.
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Respectfully yours,