824.5018/10–1446
The Ambassador in Bolivia (Flack) to the Secretary of State
No. 421
[Received October 23.]
Subject: Food shipments from Argentina—New Argentine Chargé arrives
Sir: I have the honor to report that on September 26, 1946 the Argentine Chargé d’Affaires, Señor Carlos Torres Gigena, gave an interview to El Diario on the above-mentioned subject.
In this interview, Sr. Torres Gigena said that the situation was becoming more normal every day and that in this manner the keen desires of President Perón and of the Foreign Minister of Argentina49 were being crystalized. He went on to say that he hoped that the traffic [Page 424] would normalize itself very soon, but that the real problem reduced itself to a lack of freight cars and added that the same situation was true in Argentina where the lack of freight cars was likewise a problem.
On another occasion, the Argentine Chargé d’Affaires stated to the press that shipments to Bolivia had been curtailed shortly after the Revolution of July 21 due to the rumors which had been circulated at that time of uprisings by miners and Indians in Bolivia, and that the Argentine proprietors had been averse to sending in their rolling stock at that time in the face of such rumors, which had actually been current in La Paz for many days after July 21. It must be admitted that the currency of these rumors and the apprehension of the people of La Paz about such uprisings were indeed a fact at the time.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Thus far the Bolivian Government has not been in a position to furnish this Embassy with figures of imports from Argentina subsequent to the July Revolution, but there is little doubt that the volume dropped off sharply for a time. It now appears, according to general information, to be reviving although it is understood that little or no wheat is moving as yet.
Respectfully yours,
- Juan Atilio Bramuglia.↩