Office of the Historian

834.00/4–2147

Memorandum by the Under Secretary of State (Acheson) to the Assistant Secretary of State for American Republic Affairs (Braden)

[Washington,] April 30, 1947.

I concur for the present in the recommendation on page 2 of your attached memorandum of April 23.32 This morning in discussing the matter with Ambassador Beaulac I [he?] referred to a suggestion which I [he?] wished to make on his return to Paraguay and which he said had your approval to the effect that the President of Paraguay might make an offer to the other parties to invite representatives of some of the other American Republics to observe elections which he was offering to hold. If the other parties refused an offer of this sort the Ambassador thought that we might well reconsider the decision not to permit the export of arms to Paraguay.

I said to the Ambassador that this seemed to me an excellent suggestion and that I thought if the offer was made and refused we should reconsider this question.

Dean Acheson
  1. Supra.↩