812.51/12–1946
The Ambassador in Mexico ( Thurston ) to the Secretary of State
us urgent
[Received 8:17 p.m.]
1120. Minister of Finance informed me this noon that two projects had been omitted from his recent memo (see Embtel 1110, December 17 and despatch 2238, December 1856). These relate to the highways which the Mexican Government desires to construct through the western area to Nogales and through the central area to El Paso. The total cost of these highways is estimated at slightly less than 50 million dollars. A supplementary memo regarding these projects will be submitted by Minister Beteta later this week.57
Beteta stressed the economic and political importance of President Alemán’s program and said that without foreign financial arrangements he will either have to abandon many urgently needed works or carry them out through difficult internal financing with the danger of further inflation, both of which courses he desires to avoid.
He expressed the urgent hope that we will reply as promptly as may be possible to the three numbered questions on page 1 of his memo,58 a translation of which accompanied the despatch cited.
- Neither printed.↩
- A copy and translation of the supplementary memorandum sent to Ambassador Thurston on December 23 were transmitted to the Department in despatch 2284, December 31; this memorandum discussed the two additional public works projects, specifically, the completion of the West Coast (Nogales-Guadalajara) and Central (Mexico City-Ciudad Juarez) Highways (812.51/12–3146).↩
- Not printed.↩