352.1121 Fernandez, Antonio/117: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Spain (Bowers), Then in France
B–385. As you may know, about 5 months ago we sent Vice Consul Fisher to Palma to endeavor to obtain the release of Antonio Fernandez Villa and his wife, who have been in prison for over a year. When Fisher encountered difficulties in connection with this case in Palma, we sent several messages informally to the insurgents through Bay at Seville urging that these American citizens be released and allowed to depart from Palma and if this were not possible that they be tried at an early date.
Last Friday they were sentenced to 20 years and 12 years imprisonment respectively. This sentence appears to us to be extremely harsh and excessive and I desire to do everything that we can properly do to obtain their release. We have received numerous petitions from over the country urging us to do everything possible to bring about the release of this couple.
In view of the sentence which was pronounced last week, I feel that it would be desirable for another appeal to be made to General Franco in behalf of Fernandez and his wife. With this in view I am quoting the text of a personal letter which I believe that it would be desirable for you to send to General Franco in their behalf. The letter may be written on Embassy stationery but should be signed without your title. It may be sent to General Franco through the intermediary of Yrujo18 or in such other manner as you consider appropriate. We have given careful consideration to this step and we are convinced that the sending of such a personal letter would have no bearing whatever upon, and raise no question in connection with, the subject of recognition.
The text of the letter follows: [Page 560]
“My dear General Franco: An American citizen, Antonio Fernandez Villa, and his wife, likewise a citizen of the United States, were sentenced to 20 and 12 years’ imprisonment, respectively, by a military tribunal at Palma de Mallorca, on November 19, last. Prior to the trial they had already been confined in prison for over a year.
The offense of which these American citizens were convicted was that of ‘sympathizing with the enemy’, a very general charge in support of which no evidence of subversive acts on their part has, so far as I am aware, been adduced. The principal evidence presented against them appears to have been a paper found in their bookstore, of which they have denied any personal knowledge or responsibility. An American consular officer was sent to Palma last June to investigate this case and endeavor to obtain an early solution thereof. During the past 5 months he has received frequent assurance from the military authorities at Palma that the case would soon be brought to trial, and that as the charges were not serious the sentence that would be imposed by the military court would be correspondingly slight. In view of all of these circumstances the decision now finally rendered by the military tribunal seems particularly harsh.
Since the military authorities at Palma expressed doubt concerning the American citizenship of the persons in question, perhaps because of their Spanish names and origin, detailed information in this regard was transmitted to you last August through the American consul at Seville and General Queipo de Llano. The records of the Department of State at Washington show that Antonio Fernandez Villa was naturalized as a citizen of the United States on February 1, 1926, and that his wife, Salvadora, was naturalized as a citizen of the United States on September 13, 1928. In this connection I am sure that it will not be necessary for me to repeat that the Department of State and American consular officers in Spain have always been most careful to extend assistance only to persons of American nationality.
In bringing this case to your personal attention, may I express the hope that you will grant a pardon to these American citizens. It is my understanding that they are prepared to leave Spanish territory immediately. Such an exercise of clemency would, I am sure, not only be an act of justice but would make an excellent impression in my country, where this couple have relatives and friends and where their plight has aroused widespread sympathy. In the event that this should be done, the American consular officer at Palma has been authorized to issue an American passport to Mr. and Mrs. Fernandez Villa for their return to the United States and to facilitate their departure from Spanish territory. Yours sincerely,”
You may of course telegraph me at once if you have any comments to make in connection with this proposed procedure before sending the letter. If you have no comments, telegraph when letter has been sent.19