834.24/7–1948
The Secretary of State to the Paraguayan Ambassador (Morales)
Excellency: I have the honor to refer to Your Excellency’s note D. 34 of July 19, 19481 in which authorization for the sale of various replacements and munitions for the Paraguayan Army is requested.
The possibility of making available to your Government all or part [Page 705] of the arms requested in your note under reference has been thoroughly explored by the appropriate departments of the Government of the United States, It is regretted that the arms desired by your Government do not exist in excess of those needed for the armed forces of the United States and that it is, therefore, impossible at this time for this Government to act favorably upon your request. In fact, the depletion of surplus military equipment as a result of transfers already arranged, and the expanded requirements of the armed forces of the United States, have brought about a situation in which virtually no surplus military material exists for transfer to foreign governments beyond the amounts for which commitments have already been made. (Some outstanding commitments for such transfers still exist and it may be expected that announcements of the culmination of those transactions will be made from time to time in the near future.)
In conveying this information, I wish, however, to inform you that the Department of the Army of the United States is preparing to make special arrangements in order to extend to the governments of the other American republics practical technical advice in connection with the acquisition of reasonable amounts of military equipment, needed for their national defense, from commercial sources in the United States. The Department of the Army has been informed of your Government’s interest in the acquisition of certain armaments and will be pleased to discuss the matter with appropriate representatives of your Embassy when the arrangements referred to above are completed.
Your Excellency is advised that under law all arms, ammunition and implements of war defined by the President’s Proclamation No. 2776 dated April 15, 1948 can be exported from the United States only with a license issued by the Department of State. The Department stands ready, within the limits of existing national policy, to give sympathetic attention to any requests for export licenses of reasonable and necessary amounts of military equipment which your Government may wish to procure from commercial sources in the United States. Any requests for export licenses should be directed to the Department of State.
Accept [etc.]
- Not printed.↩