Foreign Relations of the United States, 1947, The American Republics, Volume VIII

711F.1914/1–2147

The Secretary of State to Mr. Murray M. Wise, on Special Mission to Panama

Washington, January 24, 1947.

Sir: In accordance with arrangements made by the Department and Ambassador Frank T. Hines, United States Embassy, Panama (see Department’s telegram no. 30 of January 20, 1946 [1947] and the Ambassador’s reply telegram no. 38 of January 21⁷) you are to proceed to Panamá and assist the Ambassador in the negotiation of a new defense sites agreement in accordance with the following instructions:

The Department is interested in the prompt agreement with Panama on the provisions of a new defense sites agreement. Our need for the continued use of sites still held under the 1942 accord, and for certain additional ones, to insure the security of the Panamá Canal has been made known to the Panamanian Government. The basis for the defense negotiations in which you are to participate is Draft “D” prepared jointly by the State, War and Navy Departments and transmitted to the Department with the Embassy’s despatch no. 3090 of December 18.⁸

The Department is of the opinion that the agreement in its present form is too lengthy and detailed, that leases should not exceed a maximum of thirty years, (if the Panamanians will assent to such duration), that the additional acreage requested for the Rio Hato site should be reduced, and that rental for private lands should not exceed $50 per hectare per year while that for public lands should be $1 per year for all tracts.

The Department is also of the opinion that the War Department’s desire to establish post offices on the Panamanian sites is not in keeping with the principle of Panamanian sovereignty and that all reference to them should be eliminated from the draft. The Department recognizes as justifiable the Panamanian request that the Inter-American Highway at Rio Hato should be realigned in such a way as to by-pass the airstrip and thus avoid any cause for our Armed Forces to interrupt Panamanian traffic at any time. The Department is informed that the Army is willing to reroute the road at that point.

The Department believes that Panama should feel obligated by the provisions of the 1936 General Treaty to negotiate and sign a new defense sites agreement and that Panama should not condition its approval on extraneous economic or other unrelated matters (see Embassy’s telegrams no. 317 of May 10, 1946 and nos. 770 and 776 of December 24[23] and 28, 1946,⁹ and Enclosure 5 to despatch 3013 of December 8, 1946¹⁰).

This Government recognizes and supports the full sovereign and independent status of the Republic of Panama. Recognition is made of the position in which the Panamanian Government now finds itself with respect to its publicly declared interpretation of the expiration date of the 1942 Agreement, an interpretation which this Government cannot accept (see Department’s telegram no. 499 of September 24, 1946¹¹). The Department understands that the Panamanian Foreign Minister insists that his Government requires a “face-saving device” or “symbolic return” of the presently held defense sites before it can announce the signing of a new agreement. Accordingly, if insisted upon by Panama, the Department is prepared to enter into an interim agreement, provided that in so doing there is no compromise of this Government’s interpretation of the termination clause of the old agreement; provided that the interim agreement remains in operation until the new definitive agreement becomes effective (in the Department’s opinion, the duration of the interim agreement should not exceed a few hours or at the most a few days) and provided the interim agreement contemplates a “trusteeship” rather than a so-called “joint” control over the old bases until such time as the new agreement shall have entered into effect. The War Department has advised that short of the extinguishment of the 1942 Agreement before the signing of a new one, it will be agreeable to any provisions for an interim agreement which meet the minimum requirements of the Commanding General, Caribbean Defense Command. The Department agrees with the War Department that it would be inadvisable from every consideration to withdraw, even temporarily, from the bases now occupied under the 1942 Agreement.

The Panamanian authorities may be informed that it is to the best interests of both governments, in compliance with their joint treaty obligations to provide continuous security for the Panama Canal, a security which likewise insures the defense of Panama and figures greatly in the defense of the hemisphere. It may be added that this Government is most anxious to negotiate, (seriatim and daily during your presence in Panama until agreement is reached) the provisions of the defense sites agreement before announcing publicly and before discussing in any detail the Panamanian requests on which the United States is now prepared to make commitments. In the negotiation of the defense sites agreement, it is believed that the only commitment which can be proposed, other than possible modifications to the provisions of Draft “D”, is an agreement to realign the Inter-American Highway in such a way as to bypass the Bio Hato airstrip.

Should Panama so desire, once an agreement has been reached on the defense sites, announcement thereof may be deferred until agreement is reached on other matters.

In connection with matters other than the defense sites, this Government is prepared:

(1) To reiterate its assurances of fulfillment of the following previous commitments:¹²

(a) to transfer the Panama Railroad station to a new site provided by Panama,

(b) to maintain our public policy of granting to Panamanians the same opportunity and treatment of employment accorded citizens of the United States,

(c) to consult and cooperate with Panama in the prevention of the smuggling of commissary items from the Canal Zone into Panama,

(d) to give assurances of a permanent market in the Canal Zone for Panamanian produce,

(e) to negotiate a convention for the realignment of the Colon Corridor,

(f) to improve transportation facilities over the Canal at Balboa

(2) To offer the following new commitments:

(a) to realign the Inter-American Highway in such a way as to bypass the airstrip at Rio Hato,

(b) to enter into an aeronautical agreement for the coordination of air traffic over Panama,

(c) to furnish through the Civil Aeronautics Administration both general and private service radio communications for all commercial aviation over Panama and to furnish to the extent deemed necessary for defense purposes a system of air traffic control in Panama in conjunction with air traffic control in the Canal Zone,

(d) to construct a dock at cost for Panama at the Coiba Penal Colony,

(e) to provide Panama insofar as military requirements permit with circuits in existing telegraph and telephone lines and cables,

(f) to transfer Paitilla Point to Panama subject to the approval of the Congress,

(g) to transfer to Panama the Aspinwall, Vialette, and Huerta San Doval tracts subject to the approval of the Congress,

(h) to consult with Panama on the advisability of revising the existing monetary agreement,

(i) to eliminate immediately the 25% cargo differential charged by the Panama Railroad Company.

(3) While no commitment can be entered into with respect to Panama’s expressed interest in receiving financial assistance, the appropriate officials of this Government are prepared at any time to enter upon an examination of the problem. The relevancy of the Encanto Claim to any financial assistance to Panama is already known to the Panamanian Government.

Sincerely yours,

For the Secretary of State:

Spruille Braden

7. Latter not printed.
8. Not printed. The draft was dated December 17, 1946.
9. For texts of these telegrams see Foreign Relations, 1946, vol. xi, pp. 1098, 1138, and 1140, respectively.
10. Not printed.
11. For text, see Foreign Relations, 1946, vol. xi, p. 1115.
12. Department of State Executive Agreement Series No. 452.