Office of the Historian

810.20 Defense/10–1044: Telegram

The Chargé in Brazil (Donnelly) to the Secretary of State

Rio de Janeiro, October 10, 1944—9 p.m.
[Received October 11—2:17 a.m.]

3648. My 3586, October 5, 3 p.m.32 I attended the inauguration of the staff conversations at the Catete palace this morning presided over by President Vargas.

In addition to the three Defense Ministers and respective chiefs of staff, Velloso33 was also present. Admiral Ingram,34 Generals Sorensen35 and Hertford,36 Commodores Braine37 and Dodd38 and Colonel [Page 124] Barclay39 and Captain Rend40 comprised the American military contingent. The President opened the session by referring to a memorandum which Ambassador Caffery had left with him on July 1041 proposing joint staff conversations, et cetera, on postwar security measures (this memorandum includes points 1 to 5 contained in item number 2 of the third paragraph of the Secretary’s memorandum to the President attached to Department’s instruction No. 6022 of June 10[12]).42 The President stated that he agreed with the terms of the memorandum which he added for all practical purposes amounted to a military alliance and that the memorandum would serve as the basis for the technical conversations to follow. He expressed his views in an extremely friendly and straightforward manner and reviewed the highly satisfactory military collaboration between Brazil and the United States which he recalled was initiated even before Pearl Harbor.

[Here follow two paragraphs on Brazil’s relations with other countries.]

The President expressed confidence that the conversations would be highly successful and said that he was especially pleased with the men who have been selected for that purpose.

Admiral Ingram and Generals Sorensen and Hertford stated to me that in their opinion the meeting had been highly successful. Despatch follows.43

Donnelly
  1. Not printed.↩
  2. Pedro Leão Velloso Neto, Brazilian Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs.↩
  3. Adm. Jonas H. Ingram, Commander of the Fourth Fleet.↩
  4. Brig. Gen. Edgar P. Sorensen, Commanding General, Sixth Air Force, Panama Canal Zone.↩
  5. Brig. Gen. Kenner F. Hertford, Deputy Theater Commander, United States Army Forces, South Atlantic.↩
  6. Commodore Clinton E. Braine, Chief of Staff, Fourth United States Fleet.↩
  7. Commodore Harold Dodd, Chief of the American Naval Mission, Brazil.↩
  8. Lt. Col. Ben W. Barclay, Military Attaché in Brazil.↩
  9. Capt. Charles J. Rend, Naval Attaché and Naval Attaché for Air in Brazil.↩
  10. Infra.↩
  11. Not printed.↩
  12. No. 18291, October 14, 1944, not printed.↩