763.72113/950: Telegram
The Chargé in Guatemala (Thurston) to the Acting Secretary of State
[Received March 31, 2.28 a.m.]
Mr. Catlin6 was received day before yesterday by President Cabrera who apparently is ready to enter into definite negotiations for sale of Empresa Electrica.
During this audience the President requested Mr. Catlin to obtain for him a loan of $10,000,000 to be devoted he stated to the establishment of a national bank. This measure will serve the double purpose, the President stated, of stabilizing exchange and emancipating Guatemala from domination by Germans and Jews.
Mr. Catlin desires to know if it is agreeable to the Department that he negotiate with the President for this loan and that he submit the proposal to his principals.
Such a loan appears to be inevitable and it would seem desirable that reputable American capitalists should negotiate it. If it is our intention to encourage the supplanting of present German owned undertakings here with American interests, it is almost imperative that economic conditions be remedied by some such means as this.