Office of the Historian

632.6231/58: Telegram

The Ambassador in Brazil (Gibson) to the Secretary of State

Rio de Janeiro, May 29, 1936—9 p.m.
[Received 10:15 p.m.]

137. My 136, May 29, 8 p.m.11 Not being able to find the Foreign Minister I have impressed upon the Secretary General:

1.
That Aranha had assured the Department in the name of President Vargas that the matter had not progressed beyond a preliminary exchange of views.
2.
That I had transmitted to the Secretary of State an assurance from the Foreign Minister that we would be allowed to examine the text before signing and that he would welcome an expression of your views; and
3.
That consequently if the signature takes place before such examination (a) my Government would not be accorded the opportunity which had been promised to formulate its views in the light of our trade agreement, (b) the assurances from the President and Minister for Foreign Affairs would remain in a very peculiar light.

I am endeavoring to get in touch with Macedo Soares and also to have the matter brought to the attention of the President tonight. In the meantime, I venture to suggest that the Department remind Aranha of the definite assurances already given and impress upon him the desirability of action on his part.

Gibson
  1. Not printed.↩