740.0011 European War 1939/26030: Telegram
The Ambassador in Spain (Hayes) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 25—12:20 p.m.]
1889. Acting on instructions in Department’s 1161, November 4, 6 p.m., I informed the Foreign Minister on November 12 that our Government is ready to give immediate consideration to the enlargement of the scope of its present economic arrangements with the Spanish Government in order to permit Spain to obtain from the United States certain needed commodities more readily and in greater volume. General Jordana expressed great interest and appreciation and said he would pursue the matter with me at a later date.
Yesterday he told me he had communicated the proposal to the Caudillo and the whole Cabinet and they were all pleased and reassured, especially by the prospect of procuring more foodstuffs; particularly wheat, and larger amounts of petroleum products. He specifically mentioned Spain’s need of regular supplies of aviation gasoline if its neutrality as well as its transport system were to be safeguarded. To this I replied that I imagined there would be slight chance of our giving serious consideration to aviation gasoline until his Government had complied with our request for detailed inventory of all military stocks of petroleum in Spain. He seemed surprised that we had not already been provided with it and promised it within a short time. He then said that in the near future he would submit a full list of Spanish requirements. He added, very significantly I thought, that Spain looked forward to greater economic dependence upon the United States and closer ties with us. It is my considered [Page 313] belief that Jordana surely and Franco probably are now contemplating eventual victory of the United Nations and can accordingly be counted upon by us as potential friends rather than enemies.