711.35/7–3146
The Ambassador in Argentina (Messersmith) to the Secretary of State
No. 471
Sir: I have the honor to make the following report on a conversation which I had with President Perón on Monday evening, July 29, 1946, and with the Foreign Minister, Dr. Bramuglia, on Tuesday afternoon, July 30, 1946.
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I said that I was particularly happy to know from what the Foreign Minister had said that it had been decided to proceed rapidly with the ratification of the Acts of Mexico City and San Francisco. I said to the President that I wished to reiterate, not only in my official capacity, but in a purely friendly way, that I thought it was highly desirable for the Congress to proceed with the ratification of these Acts as soon as possible. I recalled to the President that every one of the American countries was watching what the Argentine would do in the matter of ratification; I said that I was sure that all of the countries of the United Nations, and particularly those which were fully independent and self-respecting, were watching such action in the same way and with the same interest. I said that if the Senate did not approve these Acts under the present constitutional regime and therefore ratify the act of the provisional government in having adhered to the Acts of Mexico City, on the basis of which to a large extent the Argentine had been admitted to the United Nations meeting in San Francisco, there would be created a most damaging situation with reference to Argentine prestige and the international situation of the Argentine. …
I also said that in a purely unofficial way I wished to state that the lack of ratification in the near future might lead to serious inconveniences for the Argentine as questions might be raised about its continued presence in the United Nations. I said that if the Argentine did not ratify the Acts of Mexico City and San Francisco, it was quite possible that some country would raise the question as to whether the Argentine was properly in the United Nations Organization and that without doubt such an initiative would meet with a good deal of sympathy in a number of quarters.87
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[Page 293]… The conversation with regard to this point closed with the President stating that he would immediately the following morning take up this question of speeding up ratification and that he would make his position in the matter again unequivocally clear to the Senate which was one of desire for immediate ratification.
I then asked the President whether the Foreign Minister had fully informed him with regard to our conversation of July 25 on enemy property, enemy aliens, and schools and institutions. The President said that the Minister had fully informed him and that he was in complete accord with what the Minister had said. I said to the President that since that conversation I had examined the supplementary lists of some hundreds of firms which the Foreign Minister had left with me on July 25, and that I had found that in the opinion of this Embassy most of the firms in that list were either of no importance or were firms on which this Embassy and the British Embassy had no information. I said that a careful examination of the list by us showed that there was a total of eighteen firms among these hundreds which I thought required the attention of the Argentine Government, in addition to the 69 firms on the list given me by the Foreign Minister on June 25 and with respect to which firms the Minister had said immediate action was being taken, to meet compliance by the Argentine Government in the matter of enemy property. I said that I was confident that if the Argentine Government proceeded with the nationalization, Argentinization, or liquidation of the 69 firms mentioned in the list which the Foreign Minister had left with me and if appropriate action was taken in the case of the 18 firms on the list which I was going to submit to the Foreign Minister where such action was found to be justified by the ownership, and activities, of the persons in these firms, my Government would consider that the Argentine Government had complied fully in the matter of enemy property under its inter-American commitments. I said that I had not discussed this phase of the matter with the British Embassy, but as the information which the British Embassy and we had was identic and as we had collaborated in these matters, I was sure that such action would be satisfactory so far as the British Government was concerned.
The President said that instructions had been given to the Junta to proceed with the appropriate action in the case of the firms on the list which the Minister had given me and that all attention would be given to the observations which this Embassy would make with regard to the 18 firms I had referred to in addition.
With respect to enemy aliens I said to the President that the Minister had discussed this matter with me fully but that there was a list of several hundred aliens concerning which the Minister wished to [Page 294] consult this Embassy and of which list the Minister had only one copy and had not yet sent me a copy. I said, however, that as the Minister had indicated that the Argentine Government was prepared to act under its laws and procedures with respect to the German agents and practically all those persons of any importance to whom their attention had been drawn by this Embassy and by the British Embassy, it was my hope that the action taken by the Argentine Government in the field of enemy aliens would be as satisfactory as that outlined by the Minister in the matter of enemy property. The President said that the Argentine Government had no interest in these enemy aliens and that he wished to have as rapid a liquidation of the matter as possible.
In the matter of enemy schools and institutions, I told the President that so far as I could see, and I have so informed my Government already, I felt that the Argentine Government had taken adequate action.
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Respectfully yours,
- The Ambassador reported in telegram 2041, August 20, 6 p.m., that the Argentine Senate unanimously approved the agreements of Mexico City and San Francisco (835.00/8–2046).↩