837.5018/73
The American Ambassador in Cuba (Braden) to the Cuban Minister of State (Santovenia)72
Excellency: I have the honor to refer to Your Excellency’s note No. 3728 of December 23, 1943,73 transmitting a memorandum in which the Office for Regulation and [of] Prices and Supply stated that it was not able to assure my Government that prices to consumers in Cuba would not be increased during 1944 for rice, wheat flour, beef, milk, and charcoal. Such assurance was requested by my Government for these commodities in its note No. 1155 of October 25, 1943,74 and also for lard, edible oils, beans, and alcohol, in return for the assurance by my Government of adequate supplies at stable prices for rice, wheat flour, and lard imported into Cuba.
The price stabilization understanding between Your Excellency’s Government and my Government was successful in 1943, and formed a part of the basic framework of the 1944 sugar negotiations. My Government therefore considers it of primary importance that an early mutually satisfactory agreement be reached for a continuation of the plan.
Every effort is being made in the United States to assure Cuba an adequate rice supply, and my Government is of the opinion that no increase in Cuban ceiling prices for rice should be put into effect.
With reference to the other commodities, my Government may find it difficult to justify the expenditures involved in assisting Cuba to stabilize prices unless consumers in Cuba receive the maximum benefits therefrom. It has therefore expressed the hope that any further increases in ceiling prices for basic foodstuffs such as recently were authorized in respect of black beans, milk, and beef can be avoided, and should such price increases be considered unavoidable, that they be made the subject of prior discussion with the appropriate officials and agencies of my Government.
I will appreciate receiving at the earliest possible opportunity a definitive reply from Your Excellency’s Government whether, in view of the explanatory comments above, the proposals made in my note No. 1155 of October 25, 1943, afford a satisfactory basis for [Page 921] implementing the price stabilization undertaking agreed upon between the representatives of our two Governments during the recent sugar negotiations.
Please accept [etc.]
- Copy transmitted to the Department in despatch 5751 of January 20, infra.↩
- Not printed.↩
- Foreign Relations, 1943, vol. vi, p. 217.↩