Office of the Historian

714.44A15/4–2048: Telegram

The Acting Secretary of State to the Embassy in Guatemala

confidential
Washington, April 23, 1948—4 p. m.

154. It is not considered desirable (urtel 198, Apr 20) to raise question Guatemalan closure Belize border at Bogotá. Dept approves your discussing case informally with Arévalo on basis of American interests involved as distinct from main British-Guatemalan dispute. Guatemala might relax controls sufficiently to permit Weiss–Fricker to resume lumbering operations without necessarily reopening entire border.1

Lovett
  1. Ambassador Kyle informed the Secretary of State in despatch 326, June 24, not printed, that the American lumbering companies were granted a provisional two months’ permit to transit the border during the remaining period of the dry season, and this enabled them to salvage something from threatened heavy losses. However, according to Mr. Weiss, they did suffer substantial financial loss due to the long interruption of normal operations (714.44A15/6–2448).↩