740.33112 RP/5–2645
The Ambassador in Uruguay ( Dawson ) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 4.]
Sir: With reference to this Embassy’s despatch no. 5790 of May 7, 194588 transmitting a copy of a Uruguayan decree dated May 4, 1945 which contained a list of twenty-three Axis firms declared “intervened and subject to the control of functionaries to be designated by the Executive”, I have the honor to confirm the Embassy’s telegram 379 of May 25, 194588 and to enclose a copy88 of an Executive decree dated May 23, 1945 and published in the local evening papers of May 24 designating three interventors for each of twenty-one of the Axis firms listed in the May 4 decree.
Three interventors had been verbally appointed by the Executive on May 7 for Staudt y Cía. (PL) and its holding company Unitas S.A. (PL). (The Embassy is now in direct contact with these interventors.)
Official assurances have been received orally by the Embassy to the effect that these intervention measures constitute a preliminary step in the replacement program envisaged, and that a bill will be submitted to Congress providing for the necessary delegation of power to enable the Executive to proceed toward the ultimate elimination of objectionable Axis spearhead firms. As soon as material tangible evidence develops, the Embassy will report in detail (1) the actual scope of authority granted these interventors under the intervened-and-subject-to-control provisions of the decree, (2) the manner in which the authority is exercised, and (3) the resulting effects as they occur. The Embassy is informed that influential members of the Uruguayan Congress have become interested in the replacement program measures and are requesting information from the Government as to what specific instructions have been given the interventors and what concrete action has been taken pursuant to the above decrees.
Respectfully yours,
I Secretary of Embassy