825.51/8–1546
The Assistant Secretary of State for American Republic Affairs (Braden) to the Assistant Secretary of State for Economic Affairs (Clayton)
On the basis of an inquiry addressed to the Department by the National Advisory Council, the Office of Financial and Development Policy has reopened the question of an Exim Bank loan to Chile for petroleum exploration and development.
[Page 639]In our previous discussion of this I believe we both were in agreement that the Department should strongly oppose such a loan.60
The two most important considerations which influenced my thinking on the matter then, as now, are: (1) the inadvisability of using public funds for purposes as tenuous as petroleum exploration and development, and (2) the repercussions of such a loan in Mexico, Venezuela, Peru and Colombia where our interests are not only political and economic but also involve national security. There is, furthermore, to be considered the implications of our petroleum policy in other areas of the world.
- In a memorandum of August 23, 1946, Assistant Secretary Clayton expressed agreement with the conclusion in this memorandum (825.51/S-1546).↩