Editorial Note
For documentation relating to transfer of United States Air Bases in Guatemala to the Guatemalan Government during 1948 and 1949, see Foreign Relations, 1948, volume IX, pages 228 ff.
Effective July 1, 1949, the office of Military Attaché, which had been closed during the previous year, was re-opened subsequent to a request from the Ambassador in Guatemala (Patterson); for pertinent documentation, see Department of State files 121.5414/4–549, 7–1349, 12–2049.
On December 20, 1949, the United States and Guatemala signed a Military Air Transit Agreement, the principal use of which by the United States was to facilitate the flight of U.S. military aircraft between the United States and the Panama Canal Zone; for the text, see Department of State Treaties and Other International Acts Series (TIAS) No. 2042, and 64 Stat. (pt. 3), B122.
On October 12, 1949, the Guatemalan Chargé (Linares) approached the Department of State with an informal request for purchase by the Guatemalan Government of 18 P–51 aircraft from the United States for the purpose of strengthening the Guatemalan Air Force. In a memorandum dated December 27, 1949, Assistant Secretary of State Edward Miller indicated that the Bureau of Inter-American Affairs opposed the request and was prepared to inform the Guatemalan Ambassador that the aircraft could not be exported in view of prevailing unsettled conditions in the Caribbean area. (814.248/10–1749)