837.6363/556
The Ambassador in Cuba ( Braden ) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 27.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to a letter, dated April 12, 1944, received by the Commercial Attaché71 from Mr. F. C. Randall, Chairman of the Petroleum Supply Committee for Cuba, enclosing a memorandum pertaining to the gas oil supply situation in Cuba. The burden of Mr. Randall’s letter and memorandum, copies of which are enclosed,72 constitutes a request on behalf of the Committee that Cuba be given an additional “national economy essential” quota of gas oil amounting to 9,500 barrels per month.
This matter was discussed orally with the Committee by the Commercial Attaché on the occasion of a meeting of the Committee on April 17, 1944 and it was indicated to Mr. Randall that the Embassy’s feeling was that such a request was unjustified at this time because of various important considerations. Among these is the fact that Cuba has not yet instituted any measures whatever, permitting it to [Page 964] avail itself of the extra gas oil that could be supplied from the six million gallon gasoline-gas oil exchange which the Prime Minister73 had earnestly and urgently requested be authorized by our Government, in his letter to me of January 11, 1944,74 and which was approved by our Government. In his letter the Prime Minister set forth the seriousness of the gas oil supply situation for agricultural purposes, and stressed that it was highly important that the exchange be approved inasmuch as he felt that it would go a long way towards solving the problem of Cuba’s gas oil supply for essential agricultural purposes. Another consideration touched upon during the meeting with the Committee was that the Embassy’s information showed that the quota of 6,000 barrels of gas oil per month furnished to Cuba last year for agricultural purposes has in large measure been diverted to other and less essential uses.
There would be very little assurance, therefore, that any additional allotments of gas oil for Cuban agriculture on a “national economy essential” basis, would not likewise be diverted and in large part wasted.
The Department’s attention is invited, moreover, to the exaggerations contained in a considerable portion of Mr. Randall’s comments with reference to Cuban agricultural activity with regard to certain crops, and its relation to the war effort.
In view of the foregoing, therefore, I consider that this request (which, incidentally, should have been presented, in accordance with established procedure, through ORPA) should be denied, and there is attached a copy of a letter, dated April 20, 1944,75 addressed by the Commercial Attaché to Mr. Randall in which it is indicated that the Embassy does not consider that it could appropriately sponsor his application before the interested agencies of our Government.
Respectfully yours,
Commercial Attaché