837.51/10–344: Telegram
The Ambassador in Cuba (Braden) to the Secretary of State
[Received 10 p.m.]
874. The ceremony announced in the second paragraph of my airgram 2183 of September 27, 1 p.m.22 took place at the Palace at 1 p.m. today, in the presence of the members of the Cabinet and the press. At this ceremony, which President Batista termed a “symbolic” one, he informed me that the Comisión de Fomento had remitted through the Chase National Bank, for Export-Import Bank’s account, a total $4,308,917.15 thereby, he said, fully liquidating all advances (including interest) received up to September 30, 1944 under the $25,000,000 credit.
[Page 989]Subsequent inquiry of the Chase Bank revealed that the remittances under reference had been made and that they consisted of $4,286,500 for principal and the balance for interest charges.
- Not printed; this ceremony was staged to give maximum publicity to the announcement by President Batista of the liquidation of financial obligations incurred through Export-Import Bank credits.↩