819.00/11–2649: Telegram
The Ambassador in Panama (Davis) to the Secretary of State
niact
760. No editorial comment yet on Assistant Secretary Miller’s recognition statement.1 Text of Arnulfo Arias reaction:
“In connection with the news that has circulated today on the possible suspension of diplomatic relations with Panama on the part of the Department of State, I consider it my duty to state, for the sake of the country’s tranquility, that such news must not be cause for alarm, for everything points to the fact that it was issued when the Department still lacked exact knowledge of the latest action by the National Board of Elections and by the National Assembly. We must have confidence in the justice of our cause and in the spirit of justice [Page 728] of the United States. And we must also be certain that when the latest events are known there, the Department of State will reach the inescapable conclusion that the Government which (sic) I have the honor presiding, represents, without doubt, the will of the immense majority of the Panamanian people at the polls, as evidenced in the elections held on May 9, 1948, and has been started within the framework of the Constitution and the law.
- For a summary of the press conference of November 25, 1949, at which Mr. Miller stated that diplomatic relations between the United States and Panama did not exist, see Department of State Bulletin, December 12, 1949, p. 910. For the Secretary’s statement confirming Mr. Miller’s remarks, released to the press November 30, see ibid., p. 911.↩